Welcome Summar Ghias!

Summar Ghias, IOFA Program Development Intern

As a travel journalist, I had once enjoyed writing abridged tourist-friendly blurbs on the latest vacation hot spots. This type of surface examination had still managed to cater to the anthropologist in me; my research would most often unintentionally shed light on the many social and cultural nuances that are inherent to distinct locales and the societies that make them up. Three years out of college, and I knew it wasn’t enough. I thought back to the narrative journalism class that had led me to Andrea, a Guatemalan refugee who had been granted asylum, but who had endured horrific circumstances while being smuggled into the United States.

Her story was a powerful look at the ways in which violence can uproot the lives of families across the world. But what struck me most was the sexual violence her peers had gone through as a form of “entry” into the country by coyotes in the trade – something Andrea had avoided by handing over the only money she had brought with her. I decided my time as a magazine journalist was limited. I would actively pursue avenues to helping young women and girls, not simply write about the places in which they lived. Now a year into my graduate education at the Social Service Administration at University of Chicago, I find myself committed to doing just that.

As a participant in Heartland International’s summer exchange program for emerging grassroots leaders, I helped create joint projects with local participants in Nicaragua and Belize, initiating dialogue on human trafficking and assessing gaps in social services particular to each country. It is with this experience that I’m committed to helping eradicate human trafficking from the world’s vocabulary at large. I’m thrilled to be a program development intern at the International Organization for Adolescents, where I’ll be working with local and national anti-trafficking efforts in collaboration with the Cook County Human Trafficking Task Force team and on outreach and awareness raising on the subject. Let the journey begin!

IOFA Welcomes Loyola Legal Intern, Agnes Zielinksi!

Hello everyone,

My name is Agnieszka (Agnes) Zielinski and I am IOFA’s new legal intern. At IOFA, I will be assisting IOFA’s Program Specialist and Attorney, Sehla Ashai, representing victims of trafficking as well as researching a variety of issues in human trafficking in order to contribute to IOFA’s Building Child Welfare Response to Child Trafficking Project. I am very excited about this opportunity as it my chance to learn about the work IOFA has done to combat human trafficking as well as advocate for vulnerable youth.

Currently, I am a second year law student and Civitas ChildLaw fellow at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. My particular focus in law school is child advocacy. My passion for working with children has been a life-long one. I especially became interested child welfare and juvenile justice when I took a class entitled “Sexual Exploitation of Children” during undergrad. This class encouraged me to intern at the Public Defender’s office, teach youth at the juvenile detention center about their legal rights, and pursue a path in child advocacy.

I have only been at IOFA for a couple of weeks, but this position has reinforced my belief that child advocacy is the right path for me. As a child of Polish immigrants, this position truly unites my passion for working with vulnerable youth and my passion for working with immigrants. I hope to use my Polish language skills to reach out to the Polish and Eastern European community. This is an exciting time for me and I look forward to the next few months!

Best,

Agnes

IOFA Welcomes Graduate Intern, Cheryl Winter, to our Chicago Office

As a frontline for victims of human trafficking, Emergency Department personnel and other health workers may be the first, and in some cases, the only service providers to come into direct contact with victims of human trafficking. Additionally, nearly one third of victims of trafficking, receive medical assistance from healthcare providers and remain unidentified while experiencing exploitation. It is imperative that health professionals be included in capacity building programs that equip providers to better identify and respond to child victims of trafficking.

This summer, we are joined by several interns, who will be assisting us with program outreach, capacity building, research and evaluation. One of these interns is Cheryl Winter, a graduate student from Washington University in Saint Louis, who is working toward dual Masters degrees in Public Health and Social Work. With a background in communications, training facilitation, and evaluation, Cheryl will dedicate her time at IOFA to developing partnerships with hospitals and healthcare providers, identifying gaps in service provision and health provider policies, and adapting training materials for health providers to better identifying and responding to the needs of trafficking victims.

Cheryl reflected on her new position with us saying, "I'm so thankful for the chance to connect with health providers and continue building the capacity of local organizations committed to ending human trafficking and providing services to victims of trafficking. It's inspiring to work on a project that not only has the potential to impact others' lives, but that is so urgently needed. It's a tremendous opportunity to work with IOFA and I'm looking forward to all that I can learn and contribute!"

Welcome to Charlotte Cahill - IOFA Resource Development and Policy Intern!

Hi all,

I’m Charlotte Cahill, IOFA’s new Resource Development and Policy intern. I’m very excited about this opportunity to learn more about the work IOFA is doing to fight trafficking and advocate for vulnerable adolescents. And, I hope, to make a contribution to that work!

I’m especially enthusiastic about being at IOFA because, while its mission really resonates with me, I took a rather roundabout route here. I recently completed a PhD in the history of American politics, public policy, and foreign relations at Northwestern University, and am still teaching classes there in history and international studies. In addition, I decided that I would like to work with an organization that was more directly involved in the rights-based work on which I so often lecture my students. In fact, my decision to study the history of foreign policy in graduate school came partly out of my longstanding interest in international child welfare. That interest began with my family’s experience of adopting internationally and was further encouraged by the time I spent volunteering at two shelters for street children in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. One of my roles was to teach English to the children and youth in the shelter program; many of them hoped to learn enough English to secure jobs in Vietnam’s tourism industry. It was an experience that left me deeply worried about the limited opportunities for youth and children around the world who lack family and community support. So I feel a personal connection to IOFA’s commitment to developing solutions to issues that affect vulnerable adolescents.

I’ve only been at IOFA for a few weeks, but I’ve already managed to get myself involved in several exciting research projects. I spent much of the last week researching laws and policies regulating NGO activities in locations in which IOFA is thinking about establishing its new Transitions Program for youth who are “aging out” of care. I’m also compiling a list of similar projects (which is very short so far!) and assessing what components of transition programs other organizations have identified as significant. My third project is a bit overwhelming: I’m researching the rather large topic of international and national human rights, welfare, and development policies that affect youth around the world. I hope to have this research done by the end of January so that we can include it in IOFA’s Report on the State of the World’s Vulnerable Youth. Please wish me luck!

Best,

Charlotte

Hello from IOFA's new intern!

I’d like to introduce myself as the new intern at IOFA! I’m so excited to see IOFA’s work and to participate in their innovation. My interest in serving vulnerable adolescents has developed over a number of life experiences and jobs – perhaps most importantly, my family adopted internationally, so I have always been very connected to international child welfare issues and interested in child welfare systems, both locally and abroad. Work has carried me from helping to transition youth to independence from foster care in Miami and the Bronx – which exposed me to trends and terrifying prospects faced by youth in American foster care – to working in international adoption in New York. It was this experience at an adoption agency that inspired me to wonder, then research, and then worry fervently, “What happens to the youth in alternative care internationally who are not adopted? How do they fare?” I traveled to Kenya with these questions, working with adolescents “aging out” of orphanage care in rural Ngong, and was deeply troubled by the barriers and dangers they faced, and frustrated by the dearth of published research and support provided to this population. I enrolled at the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago, and have just returned from Cambodia researching this very issue, about which I have become so impassioned. It is clear to me that adolescents face unique and complex issues that so few social service agencies are equipped to address, and I am thrilled to find IOFA as a tailored expert in protecting this population from trafficking and exploitation. I am excited to be a part of IOFA’s continually expanding project base both domestically and internationally, as the support to vulnerable adolescents is such an important need with such little international attention. I’m sure I’ll be back soon with updates – thanks for reading!

Susan Rosas