Rep. Sheila Babauta chosen as NMC commencement’s keynote speaker

Rep. Sheila Jack Babauta (D-Saipan) will serve as the keynote speaker for Northern Marianas College’s 41st Commencement Exercises on May 20, 2022. Babauta has been serving as one of the representatives for Precinct Four since 2019.

The decision to have Babauta as the keynote speaker was made by the graduating class of 2022. 

“The class of 2022 nominated Rep. Sheila Babauta as so many of us have been inspired by her work within our community,” Class of 2022 representative Alyssa Attao said. “She has done amazing things to represent the CNMI both locally and nationally, which has instilled a sense of pride and belonging for many of us.” 

Babauta was part of the Obama Foundation’s leadership program in the Asia-Pacific region in 2020, and is currently an Environmental Justice Movement fellow at the Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School in New York. 

As a representative in the 22nd CNMI Legislature, Babauta chairs the Natural Resources Committee, and is a member of the Health and Welfare, Education and Workforce, and Ways and Means committees. She also serves as the floor leader for the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation.

She is the chairwoman of the Friends of the Mariana Trench, the secretary of Our Commonwealth 670, and was a delegate at the “It Takes Roots” delegation in Glasgow, Scotland.

Babauta is also a community college alumni, as she graduated from Kapi’olani Community College in Hawaii with her Associates of Arts in Liberal Arts before transferring to the University of Hawaii at Manoa to obtain a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and a BBA in International Business.

NMC president Galvin Deleon Guerrero, Ed.D. said the class made an outstanding choice for their keynote speaker.

“Rep. Sheila Babauta is an inspiring voice for a new generation of leaders focused on sustainability and stewardship,” Deleon Guerrero said. “We look forward to amplifying her voice at this year’s graduation.” 

She will speak to one of the college’s largest graduating classes, where more than 300 students will get their college degrees this Friday. This year’s ceremony will take place at the Koblerville Gymnasium at 4pm. 

The commencement ceremony will be broadcasted live on the college’s Facebook page at facebook.com/NMC.Proa. For more information, visit www.marianas.edu. (PR)