Students Making a Difference: International Development Work in the Field
On October 29, 2015, the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law hosted an event for its 2015 Crook Fellows, allowing them to share their experiences from their internships they participated in this past summer. The event highlights the William H. Crook Program in International Affairs dedicated to promoting global economic development and fighting poverty. This year, the Crook Fellows worked all across the globe on a wide range of projects.
Alexandra Noble worked with InterAction, an alliance organization in Washington, D.C. of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). There, she contributed to the NGO Aid map, which tracks where aid is being implemented across the globe. She worked on improving data sets and with the communications team, encouraging other groups to use the map, increasing the overall effectiveness of the map.
Marcelle Cohen worked in Bogotá, Colombia with the Alianza Iniciativa de Mujeres Colombianas por la Paz, a women’s rights and peace-building NGO. There she conducted research on truth commissions and interviews with women activists on their programs, which contributed to a report titled, “Women Building a Culture of Peace in Colombia.” The report was instrumental in building a donor database that will facilitate program funding, securing donations that will improve the organization’s internal communication capacity, and facilitating continued research on women’s rights in Colombia.
Steven Damiano interned with the Bread for the World Institute in Washington, D.C, a nonprofit organization that provides policy analysis on hunger and strategies to end it. Steven worked on a briefing paper on the role of domestic resource mobilization in US development policy and conducted interviews with government officials, contributing to the 2016 annual hunger report published by Bread for the World.
Amara Chhin worked with the Cambodian Living Arts in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, whose mission is to facilitate the transformation of Cambodia through the arts. Amara conducted an impact evaluation study of the Plae Pakaa Theater, identifying opportunities for improving its effectiveness such as, creating a stronger rehearsal facilitation, improving the consistency and rate of salaries, increasing supplemental benefits, and building stronger communication between artists and managers.
Beatrice Halbach interned in Paris, France with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which works to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. Beatrice worked on a project that focused on improving living standards in rural areas and contributed suggestions for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by providing a policy tool kit of positive and failed policies that have been used in rural areas of developing counties.
Leo Carter worked with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Washington D.C. and Beijing, China, where he focused on working to combating the illicit global ivory trade market. Leo was a member of the federal affairs team in DC, where he attended briefings and hearings on Capitol Hill, organized conservation events, and assisted WCS lobbying efforts with policy makers. While interning in Beijing, he contributed in numerous efforts to include working on bilateral and multilateral environmental agreements and in monitoring the online ivory black market.
Isabel Hovey interned in Kumasi, Ghana, with Exponential Education, an education-focused NGO started five years ago by LBJ School alum and former Crook Fellow Helen Gradstein. Isabel worked as a performance evaluation and management consultant, evaluating the efficiency of Exponential Education programs in a variety of areas such as internal performance evaluation, external performance evaluation, and assessments of stakeholder relevance. She identified a number of solutions for improving efficiency and effectiveness such as training staff on the importance of relationship building as a way to improve safety and security in country and offering professional development opportunities to staff members.
The program is funded by the Eleanor Crook Foundation named in honor of William H. Crook, a pioneer in global development. Ambassador Crook established the Office of Economic Opportunity at the request of President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 and was national director of Volunteers in Service to America, now known as AmeriCorps. He also served as Ambassador to Australia. Upon returning to Texas, he had a distinguished career in business and remained active in poverty relief, establishing two orphanages in Ethiopia during the 1985 famine.