Kelly Stefanski

Background

About Kelly Stefanski

I am a graduate of a Civil and Environmental Engineering Masters degree from Cornell University with a focus on water resources and international development with 3+ years of interdisciplinary working experience in the private and public sector. I am committed to using science as a force for social, environmental, and economic improvements. I have studied and volunteered abroad in both Vietnam and Hondura, these travels have shaped my curiosity to understand the relationships between engineering practices and their impacts on socioeconomic variables, with a purpose of promoting local-level community empowerment through engineering problem solving. In my professional work, l have blended my biology and engineering background through stream/ecosystem restoration, permaculture design systems, stormwater and flood mitigation, and greenway projects. I aim to explore our relationship to the natural world and design our built world with environmental and public health in mind. I also served on the board of AguaClara Reach, a safe drinking water non profit that currently provides over people clean drinking water through gravity fed, locally sourced, and community driven water treatment technologies. Seeing how others live across the globe inspires me to find solutions that integrate cultural and environmental aspects specific to each region, bringing people familiar with the land into the conversation to create revolutionary change that can emerge from within the community. I have a passion for the health of the planet and people to ensure that all have access to and will continue to have access to safe drinking water and nutritious food options. A better future is only possible through inclusive and sustainable actions. Community building has been an important part of my work to concrete and center solutions around communities. I recognize the technology is only as useful as the relationships we build.