In March, Maria Fernandez ’92 was appointed incoming chair of the President’s Council of Cornell Women, and in July, she was appointed deputy secretary for education by New York Governor Kathy Hochul.
In her role as chair of PCCW, Fernandez will lead a council of more than 750 alumni working to enhance the involvement of women students, faculty, staff, and alumni as leaders within Cornell University and its many communities. As deputy secretary of education, Fernandez will oversee the many agencies supporting education, including the State Education Department and the State University of New York system.
Previously, Fernandez was an advisory consultant at Employment Practices Solutions, focusing on the intersection of employment law, compliance, and DEI. Prior to that, she was vice president and head of ethics and compliance for Direct Energy. Fernandez, who worked at IBM for more than twenty years, is also an adjunct professor in the Compliance LL.M. program at Fordham Law School; the coleader of the Latino Lawyers of Cornell; a member of the Cornell University Council; and a member of the Law School’s Mary Kennedy Brown Society.
