Nandar Winn Kerr received a 2018 Student Service Award at the college’s Student Wellness Retreat, April 5-7, in Albany, N.Y.

Among her primary volunteer activities are her commitments to New York Cares and SUNY Empire’s 2017-2018 Student Leadership Institute.

Winn Kerr is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Public Affairs, with a concentration in law and public administration.

In her native Myamar, she was a practicing attorney. As a New York Cares team leader, Kerr has participated in more than 90 projects, donating 300+ service hours, mostly in food distribution. New York Cares is the largest volunteer network in the city. Last year, more than 64,000 New Yorkers volunteered in New York Cares programs at more than 1,300 nonprofits and schools, improving education, meeting immediate needs and revitalizing public spaces. In her role as an “ambassador” to volunteers for the nonprofit organization, she also assigns jobs to volunteers, is a resource for supplies, knowledge and site safety, and coordinates site activities. Her primary area is feeding the hungry through Food First pantries. In 2016, she received the President’s Volunteer Service Bronze Award, a 2016 Mayoral Service Recognition Certificate and a recognition letter from New York Cares Executive Director Gary Bagley.

In addition, she volunteered with the New York Legal Assistance Group on its Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service in January ’18.

At the college, Winn Kerr volunteered for the 2018 Student Wellness Retreat planning committee and is a member of the ESC 2017-2018 Student Leadership Institute. Her SLI experience already has motivated her to reflect on her experiential learning gained through working with a nongovernment organization in Myamar following Cyclone Nargis in 2008. Kerr served in various positions with Searchers-Myamar that supported multi-year relief efforts in the Irrawaddy Delta and lower Myamar region, often at great personal risk due to military suppression of local and international aid groups.

In Myamar, she provided professional legal aid as a volunteer. Recently, as a SUNY Empire student, she completed research on conflict resolution among the military, the Rakhine indigenous population and Rohingya people of western Myamar. Through 12 years of progressive learning since becoming a lawyer, Kerr has demonstrated a commitment to understand legal challenges as a proponent for reforms in her native nation’s transition to democracy.

Recipients of the Service Award must be a matriculated student at the college and must have a 3.0 or higher cumulative GPA. They also must list up to three organizations with which they have significant service and involvement.