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Cohort 1

Jurisdiction: Washington

University: Meredith College

Hometown: Raleigh, NC

Berekia Divanga was a fellow in the city manager’s office for the City of Washington, where she assisted departments with public relations and intergovernmental communication. Divanga played a pivotal role in the application process that earned Washington recognition as a Small Town of the Year by the NC Rural Center. She assisted with a $5 million grant application to secure funding for the Washington Medical District Stormwater Project, gathering feedback from local businesses to guide the application. Divanga’s work helped secure more than $3.2 million to improve infrastructure and mitigate the impact of future storms.

Divanga graduated cum laude from Meredith College with a bachelor’s degree in environmental sustainability and economics and a minor in geoscience. While at Meredith, she served as vice president of Omicron Delta Epsilon and was the student life representative for the Meredith International Association. She was also a member of Pi Delta Phi honor society. Divanga served as a community asset analyst intern with Triangle Land Conservancy and was a volunteer interpreter and a reporter for Pona Bana, a program working in partnership with UNICEF in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to defend children’s rights.

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