Intern at Women at Risk International, Grand Rapids, MI
Hailey Bouwman interned over the summer with Women At Risk, International (WAR) in Grand Rapids, Michigan working to combat critical risks of violence toward women domestically and around the globe. WAR specializes in intervention work through culturally sensitive, value-added projects that seek to uplift whole communities and target issues of violence at the root causes. Hailey's work centered around threat research and data collection, preparing localized reports for risk characteristics of human trafficking in addition to leading research in response to crisis situations.
"Working at a nonprofit like WAR meant that every single day would be a new challenge, whether it was chasing down an open safehouse for a woman in need or wading through stacks of reports for the next team meeting. I was blown away by the depth of WAR's work both in the US and abroad, especially as WAR proved how important it was for nonprofit programs to be culturally sensitive to the communities they work in and to be a hand up instead of a handout. Working with WAR was an affirming and encouraging experience that you can find people passionate about their work and handle difficult work in a light office environment."