PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, Washington, DC & Boston, MA 

Senior Advisor, Office of External Affairs and Office of the Regional Administrator, New England

August 2009- 2013  

• Served as EPA liaison for Circle The City, President Obama's America's Great Outdoors inititative signature project in Boston.
• Managed the White House Environmental Round Table program. Oversaw the travel schedule and stakeholder meetings for over 40 senior officials at 8 agencies, resulting in over 200 round table discussions with Obama Administration officials. 
• Developed and managed the first ever agency-wide coordinated intern program. The program grew to over 30 students every semester. 
• Developed and managed a $45,000 budget for a nation-wide OnCampus college ambassadors program that allowed students to serve as EPA liaisons from their schools.
• Managed agency stakeholder communication and outreach for the White House inter-agency outreach plan during the BP spill, the largest environmental crisis in U.S. history.
• Advised the Associate Administrator in the first restructuring of the EPA's external affairs office in 20 years. 

THE WHITE HOUSE , Washington, DC

Associate, Office of Presidential Personnel, Environment and Energy Cluster 

May 2009- August 2009

• Worked with senior personnel on the selection process of potential political appointments for the Obama Administration. 
• Played key role in facilitating White House workshops on Obama Administration appointee positions.  

SCOTT MURPHY FOR CONGRESS, Albany, NY 

Legal Assistant 
April 2009

•  Key member of Saratoga County's recount team. Analyzed and documented 740 challenged ballots (out of 1800 absentee ballots).

OBAMA FOR AMERICA, POST-ELECTION TASK FORCE, Chicago, IL
Post-Election Analyst

• Wrote the Chapter on Events with the Candidate for the post-campaign manual of best practices, which was shared with the President and senior campaign leadership.  

OBAMA FOR AMERICA, IL, IA, IN, VT and VA

Regional Field Director and Field Organizer 

March 2007- November 2008

• Centrally managed 13 campaign offices and 32 field organizers across seven Virginia counties, including  Prince William (58% Obama) and Loudoun (54% Obama) counties, both of which were nationally watched bellwether counties that were largely responsible for the campaign's victory in Virginia, and neither of which had voted Democratic since 1964. 
•  Directed volunteers and staff and prepared the pre-program for three Senator Obama and three Senator Biden events that ranged in size from 250 people to 90,000 people, including the event the night before the general election.
• Managed the daily regional press relations with national and international press (Washington Post, NY Times, and BBC).
• Coordinated fundraising of over $20,000 for extra office space and other office necessities in IA and VA.

DUCKWORTH FOR CONGRESS, 6th DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

Field Organizer 
June 2006 - November 2006

• Recruited, managed, and trained over 500 volunteers in Hanover, Wayne, and Winfield Townships
• Planned and organized events (35-150 people) for the candidate, including working with the local and national press.

EDUCATION

Bennington College 2001-2005 

I studied politics and international relations with a focus on civic engagement, and spent two semesters abroad in Cuba and Israel.

Bennington is the way education should be. It is not about a number or a letter, it is about giving students the freedom they need to discover what they are truly passionate about and teaching them the skills they need to succeed in life.

Bennington is somewhat like a live Pinterest world of education, with constant sharing, collaborating, and creating.

International Center for Photography, 2006

There is some type of camera with me wherever I go, usually more than just my iphone. After college, I taught myself to color print.  I completed a photo project on Identity in the Middle East that is on permanent display at The Woodblock in Hoosick Falls, NY. Before  moving to Chicago I took a three week intensive digital photo class at the International Center for Photography in New York City. 

"And if a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, it's as though I've neglected something essential to my existence, as though I had forgotten to wake up. I know the accident of me being a photographer has made my life possible." - Richard Avedon 

Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, 2005

The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies (AIES) allowed me to merge my passions for Middle East peace and the environment while exploring my childhood dream of living on a kibbutz. AIES, which prepares future Arab and Jewish leaders to work cooperatively to solve the region's environmental challenges, is the premier environmental education and research program in the Middle East.  It was Arava and a class on environmental law that made me want to work at the Environmental Protection Agency. 

Boston University, Democratic National Convention, 2004 

This summer program brought together my love for photography and politics. I attended the university and participated in a special program about photojournalism at the Democratic National Convention.

Global Exchange, Cuba 2003 

I attended a cultural immersion program in Cuba, where I studied Spanish and the Cuban government.

INITIATIVES & PROJECTS

THE WHITE HOUSE CHAMPIONS OF CHANGE: Leaders in the Fight Against Breast Cancer 

I organized and spoke at the White House Champions of Change Breast Cancer event. You can read the blog and watch a video of the full event here.

GOAT PLUS LION, LLC
My sister and I started our own online website to sell jewelry and art. We are currently working with Ed Levin Jewelry, which was founded by a family friend. The jewelry is made in Cambridge, New York, at a small factory 15 minutes from my family home in Vermont. The site is a work in progress but you can check it out here.

SHIRA'S SOUTHERN VERMONT FOOD GUIDE

I moved back to Vermont in the fall of 2011 to take care of my father, who had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer. To keep busy and sane, I researched local farms and started a food blog to help connect the local residents to their food. You can read it here.

CIVICURE
My father had a passion for the arts and a loyalty to Hoosick Falls, New York, where his family lived after they escaped Germany during WWII. He founded CiviCure, The Civic and Cultural Restoration Project, in order to support the revitalization of the Hoosick economy through active stewardship of its rich heritage, rural environs, and the art that they inspire. Over the years, I helped my  father with the project by taking photos of the community and its art. After my father passed away in 2012, I took on a leadership role, raising money to ensure that CiviCure continues to serve the community. You can check out CiviCure here.

RENOVATIONS AS ART 
I bought my first home in April 2012 and have since overseen the renovations of my kitchen and bathroom, as well as small updates in the bedroom and living room. I took inspiration from images on Pinterest and created my own Pinterest boards to communicate what I was looking for in the remodeled spaces. I worked with Noah Soroka and a friend from college. You can check out photos of the project here.

PRAISE

"There is no one that gives more, works harder and smarter, and wins the hearts of their colleagues along the way than Shira Sternberg." - Seth Oster, Chief Communications Officer, KPMG & former Associate Administrator at EPA

"Shira is one of the most creative, driven and unfailingly optimistic people I've every had the chance to work with.  Above all, she has more heart than anyone I have ever worked with - you will understand her effervescence immediately when you meet her.  It is unmistakable, irreplicable, and an incomparable asset to any organization." - Katie Ingebretson, Founder & Partner, K Plus K Enterprises & former Regional Field Director at Obama for America


"Shira Sternberg has a keen ear for what makes other people tick.  Underneath that bubbly exterior is a sharp analytical mind, belonging to someone who knows her stuff.  Shira is a political animal: never underestimate her." - Rachel Tiven Esq, Executive Director, Immigration Equality

"The most big-hearted woman in Vermont, Massachusetts, or Florida, the marathon-running, kitchen-building, boundary-smashing, food-blog-writing, art-making, breast-cancer-vanquishing, EPA-super-hero, bouquet-loving, beach-running, hand-written-mail-sending Shira Sternberg!"- Sara El-Amine, National Organizing Director, Organizing for America & former Organizing for America Organizer and Regional Field Director


"Shira is the best daughter anyone could inherit.  Shira is a unique combination of sweet and tough, always smiling even when she’s sad.  Shira can win the heart of anyone regardless of age, sex, political affiliation, or other creed; and she knows how to engage people in projects she believes in.  I love Shira and admire her outgoing nature and her drive." - Mary Ann Stein, President, The Moriah Fund 

"Shira glows in everything she does. She is a passionate feminist, environmentalist, and friend. I met her when she attended my feminist club and her brilliance and personality lit up the room from the first day she was there. She has imagination and drive. In a word: amazing." -Tamara Schulman, Attorney, Goodwin Procter

"I praise Shira's political acumen, a strategist who translates town-board success into winning a presidential election. I praise Shira's entrepreneurialism, generating business value and wealth from just creativity and ideas. I praise the breathtaking beauty of the young woman I have watched grow from being the favorite neighborhood babysitter into a brilliant, compassionate, exuberant woman whose future is unlimited." - Jennifer McCormick, Assistant Deputy Director of State Operations Office of Governor Andrew Cuomo 

“Shira Sternberg is joy and laughter, beauty and wit, kindness and wisdom, strength and savvy, determination and intelligence, organization and creativity, spirit and substance, leadership and collaboration.  She is an irresistible, inspirational force – there is no stopping her.” –Sara Eckhouse, U.S. Department of Agriculture & former colleague at Obama for America 

"I have hired many people over my 30 years of working in the private and not-for-profit sectors and I have no hesitation endorsing Shira.  She is thoughtful, innovative, friendly, smart, honest, demanding, and entrepreneurial.  My philosophy is to hire great people to ensure a great organization.  Thus, hiring Shira is therefore a must!" - Sally Gottesman, Co-Founder and Board Chair, Moving Traditions