Hi everyone! My name is Katherine Fazzini and I am a senior Finance student. I have minors in Economics and Hispanic Language & Culture and a certificate in Sustainability. I am in Dr. Sanchez’s Sustainability Capstone and I am working with Colleen, Becca, and Kelly on this project. A fun fact about me is I am currently training for my first marathon! I will be running the Philadelphia Marathon in November. I also enjoy rock climbing, hiking, waterskiing, and snow skiing. I am the youngest child and have three older siblings.

The goal of this project is to create sustainable economic development in Fayette County. The county has been experiencing brain drain. We are working with Daniel Cocks and Michael Edwards. Prior years have worked on creating asset maps of the area, brainstorming tourism plans, performing SWOT analyses, and using social media to create traction. Our goal is to expand on what prior years’ teams have worked on and also brainstorm new ideas. I think this project is important because it focuses on performing ethical research. Moreover, there are areas like Fayette County all throughout Appalachia and I think there is real potential in all of these places. Developing these counties can also have impacts on the political, social, and economic profiles of entire regions and states. The question we are trying to answer is: “How do we support economic growth in a community that will help build a sustainable future and close the socioeconomic gap between Appalachia and the rest of the nation?”

Going into this project, I was not entirely sure what to expect. My initial goals were to connect with the stakeholders and other local people to understand their priorities and what they hope will come from this project. Now, I am really excited to learn more about Fayette County, the people that live there, the tourist attractions, and how the county has changed in recent years. I am very excited to visit the area and see the Connellsville Canteen. I think that small towns like Connellsville and Uniontown can be really interesting and fun to explore. I am excited to go meet people and learn more about the area.

I am planning to pursue a career in Finance. Last summer, I interned with J.P. Morgan in Philadelphia and really enjoyed it. I am interested in banking and financial planning. Although sustainability may not seem like it is directly linked with finance, I feel like it is a very important subject. Additionally, ESG has become increasingly important in recent years, so I feel like knowledge in sustainability is applicable no matter what company or field I end up in. My mom was a chemical engineer for Boeing, and she specifically worked on ensuring that parts they developed abided by environmental regulations. My older sister works for a native plant garden called Mount Cuba in Delaware. In my family, environmental education and sustainability have always been very important. I love nature and being outdoors, so I have always enjoyed learning about the environment and what I can do to help preserve it. That was what initially drew me to the Sustainability Certificate. Now that I am wrapping up my classes, it is very cool that I get to participate in a project that will have real, tangible implications and can actually help a lot of people.

I decided on this project because out of all the options, it was definitely the most appealing to me. Also, my parents have a lakehouse in Deep Creek, Maryland. Deep Creek is not very far from Fayette County. I was in Maryland for the summer when I was 16 so I actually got my license in Uniontown, PA. My parents have biked through Connellsville and they stayed in the area. When I drive to Maryland from Pittsburgh, I drive through the county. Coming from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, there are definitely vast differences between the cities and Fayette County. I am excited to be able to contribute value and be able to actually help this area. I also am minoring in Economics so brain drain is a topic that I have learned a lot about and I am looking forward to practicing some of the concepts I have learned in a real environment.

I think there are many skills that I will refine during this semester. I am excited to work with a variety of different people. I already feel like I have met so many new people at Pitt from participating in this project. I am excited to expand my network to the people of Connellsville and Uniontown. I also think that this project and experience will really challenge me to think creatively and problem solve. In most classes, our projects are based on theoretical problems. Most of these projects are simplified for the sake of time and to make it more digestible for students. This project is not made up. It is a real problem that we get to work on. Also, this project will allow us to refine our teamwork skills. Working in a team has the potential to be very challenging, but it is something that is critical in the professional world. I think that creating a positive team dynamic and practicing strong communication skills are critical. This project allows us to work on that.

All in all, I am really excited for this project. My primary goals are to learn as much as I can, develop strong relationships with my team members, our stakeholders, and members of the Fayette County community, and be able to create real economic value that will help Fayette County now and for many years to come. I am most excited for our site visit because I think that it will give my group extremely valuable insight into what initiatives have been successful in the past, and what our group can do to continue to help going into the future. I am excited to learn from the different professors and students working on this project as well. It is interesting to see the different sides of this project and how we all are working together toward one common goal.