Two CC Faculty Honored by AAFPA

The African Female Professors Award Association recognized several awardees during its inaugural awards ceremony on Thursday, September 21. Five professors and one legacy award winner were honored during the event. Two of the awardees, Janine Fondon and Dr. Audrey Murph Brown, are Cambridge College faculty at the Springfield Regional Center. 

In addition to teaching classes in business and diversity, Janine Fondon is President and CEO of UnityFirst.com and African American Newswire. Both media outlets serve as a platform for networking, communication and outreach to African Americans and other individuals interested in diversity-related news. Before launching Unity First , Janine was Manager of Internal Communications for BankBoston. She has won numerous excellence and community service awards, including the National Council of Negro Women Regional Woman of Conviction Award, Business Inclusion Council Community Service award and a Massachusetts (Framingham) Civil and Human Rights Award, to name a few. Janine is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Newspaper Publishers Association, the New England Minority Supplier Development Council and the Massachusetts-based Business Inclusion Council.

Dr. Audrey Murph Brown serves as a school counselor with Mary Lynch Elementary School where she helps develop trauma-sensitive classrooms. She was instrumental in establishing an Educator of Color Caucus within the Springfield Education Association (SEA). Through her efforts, the SEA provides a space where educators can discuss the challenges minorities face in education. She has also volunteered at international organizations to bring school supplies and textbooks to struggling communities and countries. She believes it is important to live each day with a purpose and encourages her students to do so every day. Dr. Murph Brown teaches undergraduates courses in human services, criminal justice and psychology.

The honorees were also joined by Dina Morris, Assistant Regional Center Director, who addressed the audience and discussed the importance of diversity and inclusion at Cambridge College.