Rosina Belcourt (’08, majoring in history and religion) – With an impressive resume of social service activities in high school and college, and a commitment to a career in community organization, Rosina will intern with the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization.  The GBIO was founded in 1996 by a group of 45 clergy and community leaders motivated by “a common desire to transcend the historic divisions in Boston that existed between neighborhoods, particularly around race and class issues.”  Her project will focus on campaigns to implement the MA new Health Care Reform Bill, especially as it impacts the elderly, so that access to quality, affordable health care is assured.

Etse-Hiwot Girma (’08 economics major) – Etse will work with Artists for Charity (based in Georgia, US) on projects in her native Ethiopia, to leverage her economics training to work toward project sustainability of a children’s home in Addis Ababa, and also on a microfinance project they are beginning in that Country. She will be focused both on building a fundraising structure and on local business development, which she hopes will further her career interest in economic development in African countries.

Consuelo Gonzales (’08 major in Romance languages) – Consuela’s main focus will be working with legal and domestic abuse issues of Latina immigrants in her native Albuquerque, NM, in preparation for a legal career devoted to social justice.  (She also got the opportunity to spend the first 2 weeks of her summer on a Wesleyan Without Borders project in support of a women’s collective in Peru, so she will be very busy.)  In Albuquerque, she will work with Enlace Comunitario to help clients gain a better understanding of the legal system and the issues concerning them.

Emily Malkin (’08 major in European history) – Interested in a career in international economic development (inspired in part by a semester in South Africa with the School for International Development), Emily will work in the Washington, D.C. office of Tostan, a development NGO based in Senegal that promotes sustainable economic community development in Africa (active in 400 villages).  She will focus on community outreach, fundraising, publicity and website development; she speaks French and Xhosa.  Like the others, Emily’s resume is full of impressive achievements and commitments in social service areas.

Kira Mandella (’09 government major) – Family and background considerations have made Kira passionate about affordable housing policy, and she will further that interest working with the Policy & Investigations Division of the NY City Council.  She will pursue field research and policy analysis, which she sees as fundamental to effective public policy.  In doing this, she will work with experienced people to learn social science field research methods and with policy experts to examine the results of the research and their impact on policy formulation.