Lauren Creany, Special Gifts Officer, Development Office

Creany volunteers with Oregon Volunteers’ AmeriCorps Program, as a peer reviewer for grants for non-profits and schools applying to host AmeriCorps programs in order to address issues related to education, healthy futures, clean energy/environment, veterans, and economic opportunity. This work is important to Creany because she believes that AmeriCorps service is one of the best ways to handle intractable problems in our communities. “A strong AmeriCorps program is a boon both for the AmeriCorps members involved in the service as well as the communities they serve,’ Creany says. Creany also volunteers to coordinate the Oregon alumni interview program for the private highschool she attended.  Creany says, “Interviewing students for Choate has been unexpectedly rewarding this year because I’ve had the opportunity to meet some really interesting and talented young people.”

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Elena Blanc, Anthropology, Class of 2012

In the summer of 2011, Blanc worked in New York City at Domestic Workers United, an organization that provides resources, support, and a collective voice for maids, housekeepers and homecare workers. Blanc will be providing domestic workers with information about the “Domestic Worker’s Bill of Rights” and resources for violations of these rights. She says, “The recently passed ‘Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights’ for the first time guarantees these women basic labor rights, but without the workers themselves understanding the legislation and learning about ways to address violations, the rights guaranteed by this legislation will only be on paper.”

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Bibek Kafle, Economics, Class of 2013

In the summer of 2011, Kafle worked alongside Suraj Pant, a Davis Projects for Peace award recipient to develop a computer lab in Hungi, a rural Nepali village. The lab is furnished with ten computers and Internet facilities for the students and teachers of the school. Outside of school hours, the lab generates income to cover maintenance costs and serves the wider community by offering computer literacy courses and by renting time for Internet usage. The lab hopes to equip students with computing skills, thus expanding and improving their access to learning resources and information.

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Alex Houston, Psychology, Class of 2013

In the summer of 2011, Houston was an intern for the Innocence Project of Florida (IPF), an organization that investigates meritorious innocence cases and secures DNA testing to advocate for the release of wrongfully incarcerated inmates. In addition, IPF provides transitional and aftercare services to exonorees and advocates for necessary criminal justice reform to avoid wrongful incarcerations in the future. “As a native Floridian, I have always been interested in Florida’s legal system, which is infamous for having some of the most problematic laws regarding prison sentences and compensation for exonorees. This internship allows me to promote social justice while learning how psychology interacts with the legal process,” she writes.

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Nick Kappeyne van de Coppello, Class of 2011

Kappeyne is the Development/Event Management Intern for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a non-profit dedicated to developing prescription medicines with psychedelics in order to enhance psychotherapy. Kappeyne also volunteers as a Chapter Organizer for Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), an international grassroots network that mobilizes and empowers young people to push for sensible drug policies to achieve a safer and more just future.

 

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Jodie Moon, Linguistics, Class of 2013

Moon will spend the summer working for the Korean NGO Healthcare and Hope Alliance (HHA) as a coordinator of an empowerment project for patients of thalassemia and their families in Laos. Thalassemia, a hereditary and chronic blood disorder that causes malfunctioning in hemoglobin molecules, has a relatively high incidence rate in Southeast Asia but remains largely unknown to the Laotian public. By creating a booklet written in Lao including a basic definition of the illness, its treatment strategies, dietary recommendations, and suggested physical exercises, HHA’s project aims to “to efficiently communicate the methods of patient monitoring and care at home, address the toll that thalassemia has taken on the patients’ self-esteem, and compile relevant information for future patients”. The patients and their families will play an integral role as crucial partners whose ideas and evaluations will guide the project throughout its duration. By directly engaging the children and their families in a partnership Moon hopes to ensure that the booklet reflects their needs and help the patients come to an awareness of the value of their voices. Moon writes, “I plan to return to Reed with an “improved set of communication and organizational skills with which I can contribute to the ongoing campus initiatives on diversity and social justice.”

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Ned Carson, Spanish Literature, Class of 2013

Carson will work for Beyond el Campo, a literacy and education initiative in Costa Rica. By hosting book groups for readers of all ages, literacy camps, English classes, reading hours for young mothers, and special events, Beyond el Campo brings together the community of Los Santos through the joy and inspiration of reading. Carson will work with the local directors of the Biblioteca Pública to bring the library into the community and to help get eager residents into the library. In addition to making the library an inviting space to learn and play, Carson will focus specifically on building the reading habits of children through a fun and rewarding book club that will keep them sharp while they are out of school on vacation, and give them a new perspective on just how fun and rewarding reading can be. For Carson, this internship represents a tremendous opportunity to use his skills and experience as a teacher and leader in a brand-new context where he can make a real difference: “A community without a good school or public library lacks the joy, inspiration, and plain usefulness of a solid collection of books, a good librarian, a decent internet connection, and a nice public space where one can learn new things along with friends and neighbors. I will work to be the best leader and teacher I can be by helping the men, women, and children of Santa Cruz become the readers they can be.”

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Molly Franks, Class of 1997

Franks worked for the Washington County Pride Project, a non-profit program for the LGBTQ community that works towards youth leadership and community organizing to counter homophobia and to educate the surrounding Portland community. Currently, Franks works for the Multnomah County Health Department.

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Laura Schreiber Brass, Psychology, Class of 1974, Graduated from Stanford:

Brass is the Chairman of the Board at Crossroads Jerusalem. Crossroads Jerusalem provides critically needed services to English-speaking at-risk youth, giving them the tools they need to move on with their lives.

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Kathleen Worley, Professor, Theatre

For the last fifteen years, Worley has participated as a volunteer leader for Wilderness Volunteers, a non-profit that organizes low-cost one-week conservation projects in natural settings throughout the United States in conjunction with public land agencies. Wilderness Volunteers’ motto is “Giving something back,” and fittingly, Worley marvels, “Even in just seven days of working, you see something happen because of what you did.” Worley has led trips in Northern California, Alaska, Nevada, Hawaii, Utah, Colorado, and Oregon. She says, “I don’t think I would be the same person if I couldn’t leave the city and go walk by a stream or drive out to the mountains; it means so much to me to do something to keep these things as possibilities for others.” Worley encourages Reedies to participate in service work and believes that the experiences and the relationships that come out of it will inevitably serve them in the long-run.

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