Making the Most of It

 

 

Many believe that studying abroad is one of the most meaningful experiences available to college students. Anjali Miller, a rising senior, saw the importance of studying abroad firsthand when her older brother, Christopher Miller ’19, participated in ILR’s Vietnam Winter Program.

 

Miller saw how ILR’s Global Service Learning programs allow students to make a positive impact in the places they travel to and saw the program in India as a way to learn more about her Indian heritage. Since being accepted into the program last December, Miller had prepared to be part of the tenth group of ILR students to spend a summer working with the Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement in Mysore, India. However, the spread of COVID-19 halted international travel, including that of ILRies. 

 

Service learning travel to India was cancelled for 2020 in April, but Miller learned a few weeks later that she could participate in the program remotely. She was initially skeptical that a remote program could be meaningful. She also learned that instead of researching labor law, she would be part of the Socio Economic Empowerment Program to develop training program curriculums. 

 

Although the changes to Miller’s summer plans were dramatic, she said she found the work inspiring. The Socio Economic Empowerment Program provides vocational training to women living in rural and tribal communities, helping them create additional revenue streams for themselves and their families. The training programs include vocations such as tailoring, plumbing and agricultural work, and are tied to the program's 143 self-help groups, in which women work together toward economic independence. Miller said she learned from the women in the program, her mentor and other students.

 

Despite the distance, Miller found ways to connect with the organization she served. Although her mentor, Dr. Chauhan Dennis, had limited access to the internet, they had Zoom calls several times a week. In addition, Miller participated in a week of educational seminars covering topics such as the founding and mission of the organization, India labor law and health care in rural India. Miller said she was impressed by how the organization prioritizes feedback from the communities it serves. 

 

Although the remote abroad experience was unexpected, Miller said she learned a great deal and was gratified to support vocational training skills. 

 

 

Tyler Pearce’s passion for the labor movement drove him to apply to the ILR School. Raised in a union family, Pearce understood the benefits that labor unions provide communities and hopes to build a career in labor relations and unions. While at ILR, Pearce found the High Road Fellowship, a summer internship program that places Cornell students in community organizations across Buffalo to engage at the grassroots level to work toward a more equitable society. 

 

As a rising junior, Pearce saw the fellowship, as well as his High Road placement at 1199SEIU -- a union representing 450,000 health care workers -- as an opportunity to marry his passions for labor relations and community engagement. 

 

The mission of the High Road Fellowship is fundamentally place-based. Students traditionally live in Buffalo for the duration of their employment, which allows them to develop a deeper understanding of the communities they seek to serve. The spread of COVID-19, however, meant Pearce would  participate in the fellowship by working for 1199SEIU from his home in Brooklyn. 

 

Pearce’s main project was researching the rise of for-profit nursing homes in Western New York and its effect on unions such as a SEIU. He also engaged in advocacy and campaigns surrounding the COVID-19 crisis. As the largest union of health care workers in the nation, SEIU supports people working on the front lines throughout the pandemic. In Buffalo, Pearce joined the fight to provide nursing home workers with hazard pay, safer working conditions and better personal protective equipment. 

 

When Pearce applied to work with the SEIU in February, he did not know how important his work would become. Pearce says that he is “happy that I get to work with SEIU during this time because so much needs to be done with our health care workers.”

 

 

 

Theresa Grace Mbanefo is a rising junior who was drawn to ILR because of her interest in law. Early this year, she began searching for summer opportunities that would allow her to explore this interest. Mbanefo developed plans to work in her home city of Minneapolis, both as an Urban Scholar, which would allow her to explore public service, and as an intern in treatment court, where she would learn about legal work surrounding mental illness and substance abuse.

 

However, the spread of COVID-19 impeded both of these opportunities. Despite all of her planning, Mbanefo found herself in May without any summer plans.  

 

Determined to have a meaningful summer learning experience, she kept looking. A friend told her about Political Leaders of Tomorrow. Run by the organization Women Winning, it trains young, pro-choice Minnesotans in political work. In addition to  training sessions, Political Leaders of Tomorrow participants are partnered with a pro-choice woman candidate running for office in Minnesota and given opportunites to helps with their campaigns. 

 

Although Mbanefo has never had a strong interest in local politics, she said she felt that Political Leaders of Tomorrow would allow her to explore how politics connect to her interests in policy and law while helping her to build a network in Minneapolis. 

 

Soon after being admitted to the program, Theresa Grace was assigned to work with candidate Esther Agbaje on her campaign to be a Minnesota state representative. However, this was not Theresa Grace’s first interaction with Agbaje. 

 

Agbaje is a Nigerian-American woman who graduated from Harvard Law School and has since worked as an attorney and as a foreign affairs officer with the U.S. Department of State, where she worked on legal projects in the Middle East. Mbanefo, who has a Nigerian heritage, said she is inspired by Agbaje's career and commitment to public service. Before she had even heard of Political Leaders of Tomorrow, she reached out to Agbaje to say she was excited to see Agbaje running for office. Agbaje replied and when she learned Mbanefo was a Political Leaders of Tomorrow intern, she requested that Theresa Grace be placed on her campaign.

 

The campaign role went from an in-person experience to a virtual one, but the value of the work and the training in communications, endorsement research and fundraising was not diminished. “Campaigns are going to happen whether we like it or not,” said Mbanefo, “and 2020 is a very important election year.”  Although this summer was far from what Mbanefo envisioned, she said the opportunity to work with  Agbaje and campaign colleagues made her summer experience meaningful.