Brandy Filtzer, 19, of Hanalei, is a manager at Bubba Burgers, but in a few short months she’ll travel to far-off lands most Kaua’i teenagers only dream about after falling asleep watching the National Geographic channel. Filtzer has just finished
Brandy Filtzer, 19, of Hanalei, is a manager at Bubba Burgers, but in a few short months she’ll travel to far-off lands most Kaua’i teenagers only dream about after falling asleep watching the National Geographic channel.
Filtzer has just finished her first semester at Kaua’i Community College, and has accepted a job with the United Nations International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), a group that recommends governmental policies to help plan development that allows a society to sustain itself. The IISD also tries to improve the well-being of the environment, economy and society through responsible planning.
A key meeting for the IISD will be the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, from August 26-September 4. Delegates will exchange views on major global events, environmental disasters and new institutions over the past 30 years. They will also discuss the 10 successes and shortcomings since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio.
Filtzer is working for the Earth Negotiations Bulletin, an online newspaper concerned with United Nations’ environmental policies. Brandy’s job is to help distribute the bulletin to all delegates attending UN meetings.
As part of her training last October, Brandy flew to Rome.
“The people were beautiful, the buildings were amazing…it was like walking through a museum,” she said. She will fly to Bali in Indonesia later this month to provide support to the team of writers and digital editors during the final preparatory meeting for the summit.
“There are some exciting things going on in preparation for this meeting,” said Langston James “Kimo” Goree VI, director of IISD Reporting Services.
“It’s such a small world that we met and the job got offered,” Filtzer said.
Students are usually hired from the New York area, but this year the IISD decided to hire someone from Kaua’i. Goree vacations in Hanalei every summer, and Brandy said she’s met the family for the past few summers, not knowing until last year that she’d be able to work for Goree and travel the world.
Brandy’s upcoming travel for IISD will be almost non-stop from August until next June and will take her to Bali, Johannesburg, Bonn, Geneva, Beijing, New Delhi, Santiago, Sevilla and New York.
However, Brandy’s world tour is not just about having fun and meeting new people. She’s clearly looking out for her future, and said she plans to finish up at Kaua’i Community College after her job is completed.
“I’m hoping to meet a lot of new people and learn about different cultures…and make some contacts so if I decided to major in something I could work in that field,” Brandy said.
Staff Writer Kendyce Manguchei can be reached at kmanguchei@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 252).
