Nicole Mason (B.S. ’07, M.S. ’10) has been working tirelessly to help others around the world, utilizing the UVM alumni network to make it happen.

Mason reports in a phone interview from her home in California, “I took a Women and Minorities in Engineering summer course. I learned that the things people need most are electricity, buildings, and roads.” She explains that, in her research, she found that women, herself included, view the ability to make a difference as highly motivating in their career choices.

Mason later had the opportunity to work with a professor on a gravity water system in Honduras. From that point on, she did not look back on her global service mission. She has been to Honduras more than ten times; she serves on the board of Clara Vista, a nonprofit founded by fellow UVM grads; she founded the nonprofit Common Action for Sustainable Development (CASD) in Nepal and the USA. After the devastating 2015 earthquake in Nepal, when Mason “didn’t think [she’d] make it out alive,” CASD built 200 temporary shelters.

The cross-disciplinary skills she learned at UVM put her on an equal playing field with those who are much older than she, Mason says, “I’m still ahead in thinking about alternative technologies, which UVM really stressed when I was there. UVM was also really supportive of the idea that there are skills outside of engineering that make people effective engineers.”

While her humanitarian work has largely been voluntary, it is also a part of what makes her such a desirable employee. According to Mason, “Everywhere I work they appreciate what I’m doing. They have been flexible about giving me time off, so I am making a living and doing what I love.”