Georgia Behrens

The Eleuthera solar panel project is a project I organized and have been leading for more than a year. With the help of my peers at the Island School, I organized a group of students to set up solar panels around the island of Eleuthera, to help with electricity pollution and bring more sustainable energy to the schools and homes there. I was in charge of survey building to find the best solar energy outcomes for each building. I also assigned different roles to each student participant. Now, I host a monthly Zoom meeting with current Island School students, to keep up the project's mission. I also help them brainstorm new ways for them to improve the community of Eleuthera.

The Surfrider Foundation is an organization that focuses on the health and wellbeing of our oceans. From coastline protection to plastic reduction, the foundation's mission is to help maintain a healthier environment for both marine organisms and humans. Throughout the past three years, I participate in local beach cleanups and hold seminars educating community members about coastline protection and plastic pollution. I've also worked with the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, studying the eating habits of mammals to help reduce and educate others about the harms of certain types of waste.

Over the past 4 years of volunteering, I've had various positions. My main job is to serve food to people in need and deliver donations of food. I've also helped with advertising and, during the holidays, handing out gift cards for food to homeless people. With the ongoing homeless crisis in San Francisco, which spiked during COVID, the San Francisco Marin Food Bank aims to stop hunger in the city by helping more than 53,000 households. 60% of the food provided is healthy fruits and vegetables. Throughout the past four years I have greatly enjoyed creating more positive change!

When I returned home from my semester away, I wanted to share my knowledge about environmental sustainability and social media impacts with students from under-resourced backgrounds. I started my own program at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Academy, a school nearby. Reaching out to school administrators, I proposed presentations to students in grades 1-8 to educate them about plastic pollution and mental health impacts of social media; educating them and working with the students to brainstorm ways to become more sustainable. I'm now scheduled to speak to a parent group, as well.

Bungalow Kitchen is a high-end restaurant in Marin. It is part of the Mina Group, which was started by award-winning chef, Michael Mina. There I welcome and seat people, knowing that first impressions are key. During some shifts, I'm in charge of working the computer and updating the kitchen on numbers of covers and incoming customers. I also make sure everything is set up for servers at each costanza, increasing efficiency and decrease stress.

Johnny’s Doughnuts is a local doughnut shop in my town that provides great customer service. They use recipes passed down across generations. There I interacted with customers of all kinds. I led with patience and a commitment to service. My job mainly consisted of handing doughnuts to the customers, making coffees and other beverages, working at the register, and assisting my coworkers with clean-up. I also opened and closed the shop.

I was stroke seat of the women's Varsity A boat. My role required me to set the rhythm for our boat in order to get the right stroke count down. During land training, I led workouts and set an example for the rest of our team. I ultimately stopped rowing, due to the negative climate of coaching, which I brought to the attention of the Association.