Williams Economics Major Named Global Citizen Finalist

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Will Turett, an economics major of Williams College and native resident of Irvington, N.Y., has been honored as a finalist for the IES Abroad Global Citizen of the Year Award. 

The IES Abroad Global Citizen of the Year Award is the first student-focused study abroad award of its kind, recognizing six U.S college students who studied with IES Abroad in 2017, positively impacted their communities through academic, philanthropic, or personal efforts while abroad, learned from their cross-cultural experience, and continued to better their communities, at home and abroad.

Through internships abroad with the European Environmental Bureau and European Forum Alpbach, Turett invested his translation and research skills and was able to partake in once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to share knowledge globally. 

One winner from Grinnell College, Yesenia Ayala, and four other finalists - from Loyola University of Chicago, University of California-Berkeley, Villanova University and Yale University - join Turell as the next generation of global leaders as part of the 2017 Global Citizen of the Year Award. 

IES Abroad is a not-for-profit organization providing access to 140 study abroad and internship programs in 34 cities around the world. IES Abroad received inspiring submissions from its students across more than 30 different U.S. colleges, such as Williams College, University of California- Berkeley, and Yale University, to name a few.

As part of their applications, student winners shared a range of meaningful contributions and anecdotes, such as working with students from low-income communities in Santiago, translating documents to support the work of an environmental bureau in Vienna, volunteering with a nutritional health organization in Buenos Aires, and bringing attention to the individual stories of women in Spain and Morocco.

As the winner of the Global Citizen of the Year Award, Ayala will receive a $1,000 cash prize, and the five finalists will each receive a $200 cash prize.


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Williamstown, Five Other County Towns Receive Seasonal Community Grants

Staff Reports
BOSTON, Mass.  — Five months after Williamstown's town meeting opted into the commonwealth's Seasonal Communities program, the town has received its first grant from the state under the program.
 
Gov. Maura Healey Tuesday announced nearly $2 million in Seasonal Community Grants to help all 24 municipalities in the program statewide.
 
The funding helps communities advance housing projects with the potential to support 594 year-round homes, including affordable housing developments, infrastructure improvements and planning efforts that will help unlock future housing opportunities.
 
"From the Berkshires to Cape Cod and the Islands, our seasonal communities are an important part of what makes Massachusetts special," Healey in a news release. "But we know these communities face unique challenges, especially when it comes to housing for the people who live and work there year-round. That's why we created the Seasonal Communities designation and are backing it up with funding to help local leaders build more homes, support their workforce and keep their communities strong for generations to come."
 
That list of awardees includes six Berkshire County towns:
 
• Egremont — $60,687 to support septic and well construction for Phase II of Town Hall Housing, adding affordable housing units (20 units).
 
• Great Barrington — $84,731 to conduct a housing needs study, develop a Housing Production Plan and support the design and engineering of roadway and streetscape improvements near Reed Street and Main Street.
 
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