After a decade of work with Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Sarah J. Weber, GSAS ‘05 was given the Swanstrom-Baerwald Award for her achievements as a leading expert in the management of global health grants. Fordham University presented the award to Weber this past Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in a packed Keating Hall. The Swanstrom-Baerwald Award recognizes members of the Fordham community who promote international peace and development while excelling in the service of faith.
Several major names in the political and Catholic domain were in attendance, including Archbishop Bernadito Auza, apostolic nuncio and permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, Dr. Henry M. Schwalbenberg, director of the Graduate Program in International Political Economy and Development (IPED), Michele Broemmlesiek, executive vice president for Overseas Operations CRS and of course, Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the university. Each of these guests spoke at the event highlighting CRS, the Catholic community, the global society and Weber’s role in all three domains.
Weber graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1997. She specialized in environmental studies and social sciences and was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship. Weber spent a year in Botswana where she studied a small-scale community and helped facilitate the development of natural resources. After her time in Africa, Weber returned to the U.S. and began studying at Fordham University as an Arrupe Fellow. Through the program, Weber visited Northern Mali as a part of her microfinance graduate studies. In 2005, through Fordham’s graduate program in International Political Economy and Development (IPED), she earned her MA degree with distinction.
With CRS, Weber has worked on many projects in several different countries. In Ghana, Weber assisted in the designs for a water and sanitation project. In June of 2005 she was deployed to Monrovia, where she played a key role in the development of a post-resettlement program. Afterward in Benin, she led a startup of a Global Fund grant to combat malaria. Recently, Weber has worked in Baltimore at CRS’ headquarters, providing tech support to country teams for a Global Fund public health portfolio worth over $105 million.
The ceremony began with an opening prayer from Archbishop Bernadito Auza. After his prayer, McShane welcomed the audience and introduced all the on-stage guests. In addition, McShane made a few comments regarding Auza and Dolan’s involvement with Pope Francis’ visit to New York City this coming September.
“I don’t want you to pressure them,” McShane assured the students in the audience, “but I do want you to convince them that this [Fordham] is where the Pope should come visit.”
McShane then returned to Weber and praised her for her service to the developing world as well as the Church.
“She has lives the mission of the university in a spectacular way, I would say emulating the good shepherd,” McShane said.
Afterward, Schwalbenberg gave a brief introduction and history of the Swanstrom-Baerwald Award. The award is named after two people: Professor Friedrich Baerwald and former Bishop Swanstrom. After fleeing Germany for the U.S. due to his involvement in the German Catholic Party and the German Labor Ministry during the rise of socialism, Baerwald published a paper about the German economy during the interwar period and joined Fordham’s department of political philosophy and the social sciences in 1935. Then, Swanstrom studied under the tutelage of Baerwald. Eventually, Swanstrom went on to help found the CRS and served as executive director from 1947 until 1976.
Finally the award was conferred to Weber by Dolan. Dolan expressed his love of Fordham and how he “feels at home.”
“You learn a lot of things here at Fordham,” Dolan commented, “but one thing I never want you to forget is CRS and its alliance with Fordham.” Dolan also recounted an interaction with Hillary Clinton following the devastation in Haiti after the 2010 Earthquakes. According to Dolan, Clinton stated to him that the devastated country needs three things, “The Catholic faith, CRS and Archbishop Bernadito Auza.”
He asserted that the success of CRS is due in part to Weber and her work and proudly concluded, “Way to go Sarah.”
With Weber’s acceptance, she also premiered CRS’s newest video to educate those about the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. She also shared her biggest challenge with her work.
“It’s scary investing everything you have and not knowing if you’ll get the results you’re looking for,” Weber explained.
“To really make change, to really be like the people we hold dear in Catholic social teaching, we must not only commit but also care,” said Broemmelsiek in his closing remarks. “And today we are recognizing someone who does just that.”
