Mercy College honored five alumni for their accomplishments at a virtual 2022 Alumni of Distinction Awards Event on Friday, including Spring Valley resident Jackie Cassagnol.

Mercy College honored five alumni for their accomplishments at a virtual 2022 Alumni of Distinction Awards Event on Friday, including Spring Valley resident Jackie Cassagnol.

The annual event celebrates Mercy alumni for their contributions to the community and their dedication to strengthening the College’s programs. The event also raises support for the Alumni Legacy Scholarship Fund, established by the Mercy College Alumni Advisory Council to support the children, grandchildren and/or legal dependents of Mercy College alumni. The Scholarship Fund is the only fund designed specifically to provide educational support to second-generation Mercy students.

Mercy College’s 2022 Alumni of Distinction Awards honorees and Class of 2022 inductees into the Mercy College Alumni Hall of Fame are Curtis L. Archer ’79, President, Harlem Community Development Corporation; Nneka Bell ’17, M.B.A. ’19, Small Business Owner, Celebrities Fashion Group, Inc. and Celebrities Quality Painting, Inc.; Jacqueline Cassagnol ’09, M.S. ’10, P.M.C ’11, Founder and President, Worldwide Community First Responder; Justin Gerrish ’06, Audio Lead, Equinox Media; and Melissa Meza Melkonian, M.S. ’05, Founder and Head of School, American Dream Charter School.

Cassagnol was honored by the Rockland Economic Development Corporation in 2014 as a “rising star.”

As the college said in its news release about the hall of fame, Cassagnol is the founder and president of Worldwide Community First Responder (WCFR), Inc., a non-profit organization that has trained more than 400,000 community members to provide health education, first aid and disaster-preparedness training. She has presented locally, nationally and internationally at nursing conferences about WCFR’s collaborative efforts to improve global health outcomes. In addition, she has presented at International Research Congress Conferences in China, South Africa, and Ireland regarding health education and disaster preparedness projects that she initiated through WCFR in the United States and Haiti. Cassagnol is a founding member and past vice-president of the Greater Nanuet Chamber of Commerce. She is a member of the Rockland Community Emergency Responsive Team, Leadership Rockland, the Haitian American Nurses Association, and the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. She was named a “rising star” by the Rockland Economic Development Corporation; a “safe community” award winner by Volunteer New York; Nurse of the Year by the March of Dimes, and Nurse of the Year and President’s Choice award winner by HANA of Rockland County, Inc. In 2018 she was inducted into the New York Academy of Medicine, and in 2020 she received a National Jefferson Award, known as the “Nobel Prize for Public Service.” Cassagnol earned a B.S. in Nursing, an M.S. in Nursing Administration, and a Post-Master’s Degree Certificate in Nursing Education, all from Mercy College. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Nursing at Pace University.

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