Reaching For The Sky Award Recipient

Salem Afeworki LEED GA, ENV SP Energy and Sustainability Manager at the City of Costa Mesa. She is a passionate sustainability professional with many years of experience supporting organizations to achieve their clean energy, resilience and climate goals in the United States, Europe, Latin America and Africa. She has advised many cities and counties in Southern California on how to best address environmental challenges and recommended insightful policy, technological or technical solutions.

She has a multitude of specialized fellowships and has received numerous awards for her work including the 2019 Energy Executive by National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a 2017 Eco Leader by U.S Green Building Council Orange County, a Certificate of Recognition by County of Orange for the 2016 Engineering Award and the 2016 Urban Land Institute Orange County/ Inland Empire Emergent Leadership Award in category of Engineering.

Salem has her bachelor’s degree in journalism and communication from the University of Asmara, Eritrea, a master’s degree in Environmental Management & Auditing, specialized in Renewable Energy, from the Universidad de Leon, Spain. She also has completed highly specialized leadership programs including a Climate Change Science and Solutions certificate from MIT and a Sustainable Environmental Management certificate from UC Berkeley.

Source: https://www.una-oc.org/scholarships2019

The “Reaching for the Sky” Scholarship Contest

The idea is to support the work of our Young Professionals around the 2030 agenda in Orange County by recognizing their job and impacting their thinking globally by acting locally. 

The scholarship grants $500 dollars to a young professional who has demonstrated an impact in Orange County regarding one or more Sustainable Development Goals.

We reward for the efforts and initiatives. We bring the opportunity to expose your work, connect with like-minded individuals across the region, state, and the country to advocate about the importance of the 2030 agenda. This invaluable experience promotes you not just personally but also professionally adding tangibles to your CV.

This scholarship is thanks to a generous donation made by the Kien Nam Group. The scholarship of reaching the sky is a metaphor to remind us about breaking the glass ceiling and reaching the sky. Its name is a tribute to Trinh N. Pham or “Sky” Pham who made this possible thanks to his donation.