2009 Young Alumni Award Emily Holland '97 One of Emily Holland's Favorite Quotations Comes from Nelson Mandela: "The Grea
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2009 Young Alumni Award Emily Holland '97 One of Emily Holland’s favorite quotations comes from Nelson Mandela: "The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." Since graduating from Bishop’s in 1997, Emily has devoted her time and energy to working with people around the world who have survived great loss and are determined to sustain themselves and their communities. After Bishop’s, Emily attended Princeton University. While in college, she held a number of internships that took her around the globe. The summer after her freshman year at Princeton, she worked in Cyprus with a Senior Fulbright scholar to further the bi-communal peace process between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. The following summer, Emily traveled to Rwanda on a fellowship, where she worked with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to monitor the health and welfare of children orphaned by the Rwandan genocide. She also created an educational handbook for Rwanda’s National Unity & Reconciliation Commission. The summer after that, Emily received funding to go to South Africa, where she studied the country’s Truth & Reconciliation Commission. She graduated from Princeton magna cum laude with a B.A. in Politics and a certificate in African Studies. Emily’s first job out of college was as a production assistant and coordinator for ABC News, where she worked on the programs Primetime Thursday and Good Morning America. A particularly moving and memorable moment was assisting Diane Sawyer with a September 11th tribute. Later she worked for CNN, producing stories for Anderson Cooper 360° and Paula Zahn Now. Emily once produced an interview between Paula Zahn and exiled Liberian dictator Charles Taylor. Emily has worked as an in-house producer and senior special projects officer for the International Rescue Committee, the organization where she worked as an intern in college. In these roles, Emily wrote articles and produced films that centered on the organization’s work with refugees and displaced people around the world. Her stories detailed the IRC’s efforts in Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Sudan and in refugee communities across the United States. “While the stories of what people have endured are shocking,” says Emily, “the change and hope that IRC schools, clinics, women's centers, water projects, and small businesses are bringing is inspiring.” Years after visiting Rwanda for the first time, Emily’s work brought her back to the country. She traveled with Tom Brokaw, former anchor of NBC Nightly News and former co-chair of the IRC Overseers, to visit the IRC’s projects in Rwanda. In January 2007, Emily traveled to Darfur, Sudan to help filmmakers document the crisis there. She lived and worked in Darfur for two months. She recalls the incredible impression that this trip made on her. “The suffering was mind-boggling, the fear draining, and the individual stories of men, women, and children affected by the Darfur conflict harrowing at the deepest level. Still, I encountered hope, bravery, and resilience at every turn.” When Emily returned from Darfur, she spoke at universities, colleges and high-schools, including Bishop’s, about the crisis and what people could do to help. This fall, Emily begins law school at the University of California, Berkeley. She plans to pursue a career in international human rights law. She continues to mentor students and serve on the board of Princeton in Africa. She has just co-authored a memoir about a woman who is helping former child soldiers who fought in Liberia’s 14-year civil war, which will be published next year. At Bishop’s, Emily was in the Acting Workshop, played field hockey, loved Latin, and was president of Beyond Bishop’s Campus (BBC). She recalls her teachers and coaches as inspiring educators, mentors and friends. “Bishop's prepared us to enter the world while empowering us to change it for the better from our backyards. Thanks to Bishop's, I've committed myself to service, friendship, and learning for life.” Emily also thanks her incredible family, “the greatest support system a girl could hope for!” Her father Lindsay, her mother Nicole who teaches AP Art History and European History at Bishop’s, and her brother Peter who graduated in ’00. “They encouraged me to reach for the stars while always reminding me that family and friends are the most important things in life.” .