Autumn Brunelle graduated as valedictorian from Cass Lake-Bena High School in Minnesota where she was captain of multiple sports teams and involved in many extracurricular activities. She is now a student at Dartmouth College studying Environmental Studies and Native American Studies. Through an internship funded by the Rockefeller Center and John French Memorial Internship Fund, Autumn worked as an Outreach Coordinator for the Center for Environmental Leadership where she helped bring awareness to climate issues facing indigenous coastal communities and recruited students to the organization. The internship provided Autumn valuable experience working for a non-profit organization and insight that will help guide her career path.

1. Autumn Brunelle graduated from Cass Lake-Bena Highschool in
Cass Lake, MN as valedictorian. At Cass Lake-Bena, she was the
captain of the volleyball, basketball, and softball team. She was
also the first chair alto saxophone in her band, was on the
speech team, and was the president of her graduating class,
president of the National Honor Society, a student
representative on the Cass Lake-Bena school board, and
president of student council. Autumn broke numerous school
records on her softball team including: academic all-state, and
most strike-outs pitched in a season and a career. At
Dartmouth, Autumn plans to major in Environmental Studies
with a minor in Native American Studies. She is currently
assisting her professor with research on climate change. She plays intramural sports, a member
of the Dartmouth College Marching Band, as well as Kappa Delta Sorority. After graduating,
Autumn hopes to attend graduate school for conservation.
Autumn was funded by the Rockefeller Center for a Spring 2014 Internship, with generous
support from the John French Memorial Internship Fund.
Executive Summary from Autumn’s final report:
The Center for Environmental Leadership (CELT), is a non-profit organization and
educational branch of the Climate Institute. CELT’s mission is to provide solutions for those
affected by climate change, specifically indigenous coastal communities. As the spring 2014
Outreach Coordinator, my role was to bring awareness to climate issues that indigenous coastal
communities are facing today, and to recruit both Dartmouth students and Native American
students to CELT. While in this position, I held
numerous luncheons and informational sessions for
Native American students at Dartmouth, as well as for
the general Dartmouth community. The largest event
that I held was an informational session that included
the latest updates from the Climate Institute and CELT,
and our plan to establish connections between Tuck
Business School, Thayer Engineering School, Dartmouth
[JOHN FRENCH MEMORIAL FUND PUBLIC POLICY INTERN PROFILE]
“This new knowledge, sense of
purpose and dedication have
motivated me to consider a
career in law and ensure that I am
always trying to grow personally
and better the world around me.”

2. College, and Tribal colleges across the country. This event also included talks from CELT fellows
regarding their research around the world on indigenous coastal communities and climate
change, and a talk from the president of CELT and the Climate Institute: John Topping Jr.
Aside from holding events, I also was given the opportunity to participate in the Indigenous
Peoples Climate Change Working Group in Boulder, Colorado. While at this conference, I was
able to promote CELT’s idea of partnering with tribal colleges, and I was able to listen to first-
hand experience from indigenous communities most affected by climate change. As a follow-up
to this conference, I wrote a blog post for the home page of the Climate Institute, and created
numerous video clips of indigenous leaders with the hopes of creating a short film that will be
used to fund projects for indigenous communities struggling with impacts of climate change.
This internship helped me to understand the inner workings of a non-profit, which is
important to my professional career goals. I have always been interested in the concepts of
non-profit organizations, however, I had never been involved with one. Working for CELT, I was
very much exposed to the triumphs and tribulations of working for a non-profit organization. I
now better understand how a non-profit can impact the world. This also helped me to have
better judgment on where I want to go with my professional work. I would love to thank the
Rockefeller Center for the opportunity to participate in such an internship and I would like to
thank the John French Memorial internship as well as the members of the Class of 1930 and the
friends and family of Mr. John French for supporting my internship opportunity. Without that
help, I would not have been able to participate in the CELT internship and I would have missed
out on extremely valuable skills and lessons that I obtained through the internship.
Autumn and Dr. Dan Wildcat after the Indigenous Peoples Climate Change Working Group conference in Boulder, Colorado.