Since 1992
Print and digital marketing
BRIDGTON — Cassandra Varanka, sponsored by Bridgton-Lake Region Rotary Club, has been chosen by Rotary International as one of 50 winners of its annual peace leadership fellowship.
It’s the first time the BLR club has sponsored a candidate for the fellowship, which awards an 18-month scholarship to study at one of 
Varanka, who is the niece or Bridgton Rotarian George Szok, was chosen from some 600 applicants and will study at the University of Queensland’s Rotary Centre for International Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution in Australia, starting in early 2023. The center is part of a global program to advance research, teaching, practical training and knowledge on issues of international relations, conflict resolution and peace-building. It offers a tailored master’s degree in International Studies, aimed at potential world and community leaders, designed to have a practical effect on addressing international and regional conflicts.
The fellowship, worth more than $75,000, will fully fund tuition and fees, room and board, round-trip transportation, and all internship and applied field study expenses.
Peace fellows are selected from around the globe based on their experience in peacebuilding and their potential for future leadership roles in conflict resolution. Varanka has extensive policy experience in nuclear disarmament as a congressional aide, and in leadership positions at Foreign Policy for America and Women’s Actions for New Directions. Her goal is to use newly acquired skills to forward the use of diplomatic rather than military solutions for conflict resolution.
She heard about the award from Szok, a longtime Rotarian with the Bridgton-Lake Region Club. After her impressive presentation at a club meeting in April, the board and membership voted to endorse her as an applicant. She was interviewed by members of the Rotary District Peace Fellowship Subcommittee, and ultimately endorsed as the sole candidate from District 7780.
A New England native, Varanka lives in Washington D.C. She is especially attached to Bridgton, where her parents have a vacation home and her uncle resides.
Club President Jessica Putnam said, “We couldn’t be prouder. This is the first time we have recommended a candidate for this global fellowship, and it has inspired us to seek out candidates in the future. We work with so many outstanding young people in the Lake Region. Another global peace fellow could be among them.”
Bob Gravino, district foundation chair, said Varanka “represents the best attributes that Rotary is seeking in an applicant, one that both your club and the district can be proud.”
For more information, visit rotary.org/en/our-programs/peace-fellowships or lakeregionrotary.com.
