Empowering Women

Watson Scholar Teaches Women Sustainability And Hospitality

Racheal Stern, a junior from San Diego studying social entrepreneurship at the Watson Institute, works to empower underserved women through sustainability and hospitality. 

Stern transferred to Lynn in the spring of 2019 after visiting a shoe store in Delray Beach and meeting a woman who spoke highly of the university. Over her spring break, Stern visited Lynn and ended up applying. 

During her first semester at Lynn, Stern discovered the Watson Institute, a program that enables students to major in social entrepreneurship, through Assistant Professor Antonella Regueiro, a faculty fellow to the Social Impact Lab. Stern applied and transferred to the Watson Institute, and she began her journey as a Watson Scholar this fall.  

“I transferred into Watson [Institute] after transferring into Lynn University because I realized I always had this passion for social impact and wanting to use business for good,” said Stern. “I want to ensure that no matter what field of work I was going into I was incorporating social impact and social change. To me, it was super important that I was able to major in something that I always felt really passionate about.”

Stern is passionate about providing people opportunities that they would not have otherwise. Stern works hard to understand how social enterprise can impact the global community, and Stern aspires to implement her most effective and viable project in the real world.

“My Watson project is empowering and educating underserved women through sustainability and hospitality. I am currently working on a catering company that works with women who are homeless, single mothers, [or] previously incarcerated,” said Stern of her project. “I want to hire them through a training program that we offer and then put them [in] the workforce through our own catering company. The company would teach them how to make and produce meals through sustainable foods made out of a sustainable kitchen.” 

Stern is also involved in her sorority Theta Phi Alpha and serves as the academic excellence chair. In this role, Stern ensures her sisters maintain GPAs above the minimum requirement to remain in the sorority and encourages them to do well in their classes. 

In addition to her roles in Theta Phi Alpha and the Watson Institute, Stern also serves as secretary for Knights of the Roundtable, Lynn’s student government, and works on Quest Literary Magazine as an editorial assistant. 

“I am passionate about social entrepreneurship because I wanted to help other people find what they are passionate about and help provide something long term, not just an interim job that does not give them the finances that they need for themselves or their family,” said Stern. “That’s why I want to be a social entrepreneur and really excel in my field because a lot of people could use an opportunity that will not only allow them to find meaning in their job but to be happy and provide honest income.” 

Stern continues to work hard on all of her projects, from her role in student government to serving the community as a Watson Scholar. 

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