Outstanding Graduates

Photos by Elizabeth Tichenor

MS 11

Katharina Ruland is an international student from Germany who lived in the US in high school. After earning a BA in business administration from University in Germany, she decided to return to the US to intern at Bosch in Palo Alto.

Katharina quickly fell in love with California and began a master of science degree at GGU to enhance her marketing skills. During her studies, she grew increasingly enthusiastic about social media and online marketing, becoming an active member of Students for Sustainability and Marketing clubs, paving the way for her current internship position as an online marketing coordinator at Sustainable Life Media. Katharina plans to continue her marketing career within the sustainability industry sector. She thanks her parents and husband for supporting her during her studies at GGU.

MPA 11

Sandra Poole grew up in Napa, California, the daughter of a welder and a waitress. After dropping out of high school at 16, and getting divorced after a brief marriage, she raised three daughters, a younger brother and eventually a grandson, by herself.

Sandra’s first venture back to school resulted in a license as a psychiatric technician followed by work at hospitals in Napa and Sonoma. This forged the path to working as a union representative, which culminated in her position as CEO and chief negotiator of a public sector labor union for more than 20 years. She completed her bachelor’s degree in government at Cal State Sonoma.

She worked for three years as a labor mediator for the State of California, and mediated more than 200 labor disputes across Northern California. Currently, Sandra is the labor relations director for the County of Santa Clara and an instructor at UC Davis. Her proudest accomplishment is raising three loving daughters who lead happy, productive and stable lives.