From the president
Nicole Meselsohn, a junior at Bard College, leads Women in Fire, a series of hands-on workshops, trainings and activities focused on building a near peer mentorship program for young women interested in emergency management and firefighting. Ms. Meselsohn actively engages with the local community around Bard College as a volunteer firefighter and NYS certified EMT. Deeply committed to serving her community, Ms. Meselsohn has participated in multiple community events including a Resilience Cafe. She was selected to attend Bard's prestigious annual Get Engaged Conference where she presented on her project to an international audience of youth leaders.
Personal Statement
I joined my local fire department as an EMT in my freshman year of college, a time when there were only two female firefighters amongst twenty men. I was asked if I wanted to take classes in the fire service as well, a career that I had never thought of as a possible future path for myself. Going through training, every difference with our male counterparts often feels discouraging as there are not many female role models in the fire service. I founded Young Leaders: Women in Fire with the hopes of showing young women in middle and high school that there is a place for them in the fire service. Through monthly workshops, we connect students with female leaders in the fire service from different communities to give them the confidence, skills, support, and encouragement needed to become successful in male-dominated fields, such as the fire service.