Major(s): Biology, Environmental Studies
Minor(s): African Studies
What is your current role? What was your journey in arriving there?
I am the Director of JustME for JustUS. I started out as an organizer and worked my way up while building out our organizational capacity over my time with JMJU.
What do you enjoy about your work? What do you struggle with?
I love community organizing, and I love the people that I work with. I get to interact with folks doing awesome work throughout the state and build power in a good community. I also love that every day is different as the Director and sole full-time employee of a small nonprofit because my scope of work touches so many things: fundraising, network-building, programmatic work, org culture, etc.
Do you have any advice for students thinking about entering your industry?
It can be hard to break in! But, if you have the ability, even a part-time paid opportunity or 5hrs/wk volunteering can give you such valuable experience and connections that can help you down the line. Unpaid labor is inequitable and can be so inaccessible, but, in the youth climate space, there are so often stipends and wages for part-time experience.
How did your time at Wesleyan influence your career choice/journey?
I got to really explore climate justice through a wide variety of lenses that have made learning the landscape of rural climate work feel exciting, stimulating, and important. My exposure to activism at Wes definitely strengthened my desire to do community organizing work, and I am so grateful for all the experiences I had, even as an observer, of the power of youth organizing.
Updated as of September 29th, 2023
