Ana Flood ’25, an English and government double major and scholar in the Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy from Sherman, Connecticut, was awarded the 2025 Anna Lord Strauss Medal.

The award is given annually at Commencement to a graduating senior who has done outstanding work in public or community service, including service to the College. It is presented in honor of Anna Lord Strauss, who served as national president of the League of Women Voters, held five presidential appointments to national and international committees and missions, and served Connecticut College as a trustee for the extraordinary term of 32 years.

Flood has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to public service and social justice at Connecticut College; in New London; and in Boston, Massachusetts. A leader and a trailblazer, Flood brings people and resources together, creating communities of care to support the at-risk and marginalized. 

On campus, Flood has served as president of the Feminist Coalition, co-chair and senior adviser of Asian Students in Action (ASIA), vice president and senior adviser of the PERIOD Club and a mentor for local middle school students through the ENRICH program. She also conducted outreach for SafetyNet, the peer education component of the Office of Sexual Violence Prevention and Advocacy. In Boston, Flood served as a fellow with Forest Foundation, was a grant writer for the Matahari Women Workers Center and completed an internship with YWCA Cambridge.

Flood coordinated a pioneering collaboration between ASIA and the United States Coast Guard’s Asian Pacific American Council; revived a student initiative to raise and distribute more than $7,000 to marginalized Conn students; and led an initiative to install 32 free period product dispensers across campus, package and distribute 8,500 tampons and pads to public health organizations, and provide 226 free sustainable menstrual cups to menstruators on campus and in New London.

In a letter nominating Flood for the Strauss Medal, Director of Career Development and Curricular Management Dot Wang said Flood “inspires people to do the hard work” of change. “Bringing people together to the benefit of everyone involved is Ana’s strong suit. Her ability to not only help in crises, but develop a system to provide ongoing support where it is needed embodies her public service mindset.”