Where in the World?

I graduated law school with an emphasis in international law and human rights. I spent nearly two years working in criminal law, both criminal defense at the Drake Legal Clinic and later prosecution as a Special Prosecutor for the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office (MCDA) in Oregon. My specialty while working at MCDA was community court where we engaged in complex negotiations between community service agencies, social workers, substance abuse counselors, and other organizations to offer alternative resolutions to those convicted of misdemeanors. I spend my free time assisting asylum seekers- initiating cases after individuals are detained at the border, advising clients on their application, connecting individuals with resettlement agencies, and applying for work authorization or permanent resident status after their initial asylum period. Working on alternative resolutions within the court system and helping asylum seekers gain a solid home gave me a sense of purpose. I realized that I wanted to work with refugees full-time. Knowing this, I began my Masters in Law (LLM) program at Durham University in the United Kingdom. I am studying and writing my dissertation on the most effective methods for reducing violence against women in refugee camps- whether that is camp infrastructure, educational programs, or community policing initiatives. Both my work and educational experiences have been focused on bringing different organizations and agencies together to solve challenges faced by the most vulnerable in our societies.

As a woman in the district attorney's office, I have learned to be assertive in a leadership position without offending the various organizations I worked with for community court resolutions. Each person involved, from the defendant to the judge to the service providers, had a different background and expectation for how the alternative sentence would be administered. Every case was different and required individual, detailed analysis. In the end, by focusing on the driving motivation for each party and finessing those motivations into a program that would work within the constraints of the institutional rules, I was able to help most defendants resolve their case(s) satisfactorily. It was not easy. Managing expectations and communicating them so that everyone involved is on the same page is skill that requires practice. I got a lot of practice. In the United States, the criminal justice system is an adversarial process. However, one of the wonderful parts of working in community court for alternative resolutions is that I was able to work collaboratively with defense counsel, the presiding judge, and service providers to form a team dedicated to ensuring the defendants success through the program. It takes awhile for the team to trust each other when the traditional roles are adversarial. It takes a practiced hand to encourage defendants to trust a system they feel is out to get them. I put these leadership, trust-building, collaborative, and management skills to good use in working with asylum seekers. Between translators, complex forms, detention protocols, and traumatized clients, my skills were put to good use explaining and guiding asylum applicants through the bureaucratic tangle that is United States immigration.

I once received recognition at the MCDA for an act I thought was an obvious answer. A woman was pleading to the court for a restraining order but had to do so while comforting her crying infant. Instead of watching, I offered to hold and rock her child so she could focus on making her case. The following week I was pulled into the main office to interview for a promotion. They specifically asked me about the incident and why I assisted the woman. The presiding judge had apparently been impressed. It is a bad sign when an institution is surprised by a simple act of kindness that solved a problem for the people the institution serves and cost the institution nothing. My career aspiration is to continue surprising governing institutions with the simple solutions that they sorely need.

I hope to work with refugees in Bangladesh. I want to use my problem-solving, leadership, and resource management skills while working to benefit the most vulnerable people in the world- refugees. My only true career aspiration is to make an actual, beneficial difference in the world. Changing the world has too long been relegated to dreams instead of tangible action. I aim to change that.