When Linda Starodub (MES ’79, MBA ’81) returned to York’s Keele campus for the 50th anniversary of the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change (EUC), formerly the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES), her commitment to supporting York students and their futures only strengthened. Linda recounted how her York studies contributed to her 30-year globetrotting career with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and explained what led her to establish a legacy gift in her Will.
Tell me a bit about yourself, and what sparked your interest in international development?
Well, I grew up in a diverse Toronto neighbourhood. Someone gave me a globe when I was a child, making geography my favourite subject! A long Eurail trip hooked me on train travel and made me curious about how cities evolve. So, my Master of Environmental Studies at York started out in city planning, but shifted to international development after a series of overseas volunteer stints. Happily, the FES learning model facilitated my academic transitions. Once I graduated, FES kept me on as a research fellow, which meant I could take up a government grant to do overseas research on NGO development aid. This also allowed me to complete a York MBA on managing non-profits.
How did your time at York help launch your international career?
My time at York was transformative and led to my first UNDP job: backstopping a variety of development projects in Sierra Leone. Other African postings followed, and I did short assignments in dozens more developing countries while based at UNDP headquarters. Working in a global organization inspired my mid-career, part-time PhD on cross-cultural organizational development, and resulted in me leading different human resource functions within the UN, including UN Volunteers.
I retired 12 years ago, and still live in Vienna, hosting frequent visitors, and travelling by train in Austria and beyond. Volunteering energizes me, so I sing in a choir, and happily assume “offstage” tasks with one of Vienna’s few English theatres. I also volunteer as a career advisor, and with charities that help the homeless.
What made you decide to leave a legacy gift to York’s Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change?
Being at the Faculty’s 50th anniversary a few years ago reminded me how much my career depended on my time at York. It would be great if EUC students could benefit from experiences like mine: being able to discover and forge their own paths, and evolve with ease, with fewer roadblocks. I found ways to get practical international experience that enriched my academic pursuits. Since it’s not always easy to fund international opportunities, I want my legacy to provide for that in particular.
“It would be great if students could benefit from experiences like mine: being able to discover and forge their own paths, and evolve with ease, with fewer roadblocks.”
Linda Starodub
I believe it’s important for students to gain a comparative understanding of environmental issues in different parts of the world – as with the uneven impacts of climate change. Being attentive to the “interconnectedness of things” was integral to my environmental education at York. As one FES prof would quip – “There is only one system, and hence no such thing as a free lunch.”
It strikes me that my “boomer” generation doesn’t always absorb the truth of that “one system” perspective, and thus often fails to do everything it can to make the environmental message an urgent one. (I certainly cringe when I consider how the carbon footprint of my globetrotting could and should have been drastically reduced).
What impact do you hope to make through your gift?
I hope that my legacy will help EUC students avoid the blind spots of my generation and find more effective ways to achieve the long overdue environmental interventions that the planet so plaintively needs. That would truly be a positive, longer-reaching legacy.
DID YOU KNOW?
You can set up a student award in your name, or in honour of someone special, for $25,000 with a current gift or pledge. You can also arrange a named award with an enduring legacy gift in your Will.