Last summer at the end of my internship my coworker told me her favorite quote, “One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested”- E.M. Forster. But as a I packed 28 boxes filled with cell phones, insurance cards, and hundreds of papers, to be sent to universities across the country earlier this week, I could not help from thinking that maybe 40 interested people may actually be useful. In all seriousness though, that quote has really stuck with me over the past year as I traveled abroad to Namibia and now as I have begun my CAPS placement at IREX in Washington DC.  

IREX is an international nonprofit that focuses on development. In the past I have worked with several very small NGOS, often with a local staff of 2-3 people. IREX though has a staff of over 400 world wide and 178 locally, so when I walked into the skyscraper in the heart of the DC business district, I knew this was going to be a very different experience than any others that I have had before. I immediately questioned how these people can be maximizing the work they do, but I quickly found that the larger the organization, the larger the possibilities for great impact.

IREX’s moto is “investing in people, inspiring change.” Over my time at Valpo, I have taken several classes that discuss the dangers of the white savior complex and unhelpful outside intervention. It is for this reason that instead of infringing on other countries, IREX finds local people with passion and invests in them so that their dreams can be achieved. This summer, I am working on the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders which is a program part of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). This program brings 700 African leaders (who were selected from over 40,000 applications) from every sub Saharan African country to the United States for a six-week program at some of the country’s top universities. Following this, they all convene in a summit in DC so that ideas and opportunities can be shared. Following the summit 100 of them are chosen to participate in a professional development experience (PDE) at local NGOs, businesses, and government offices all over the country. Clearly, planning and implementing requires an immense amount of logistics and coordination. It is my job to help specifically with PDEs and helping to plan the summit. So far, my team of 16 has been incredible and it is great to see how much each of them care about all the fellows, even though often it can get overwhelming.

IREX alumni Faten Ghriss and I after IREX’s 50 anniversary alumni panel

This week IREX is celebrating its 50-year anniversary and with that they had a large celebration and brought back several alumni of their programs. While a good part of my job involves sitting in front of a computer screen for most of the day, getting to listen to the panel of four alumni talk about what they had achieved because of the work of IREX was inspiring. The first guest was Mohammad Al Abdallah, Executive Director to the Syria Justice & Accountability Centre. Once a prisoner in Syria, he spoke out against the injustices of their government and IREX stepped in and helped him conceptualize his organization. Secondly there was Alice Sayo, Founder of Nasaruni Academy for Maasai Girls, Kenya, a school that empowers girls to stay in school and avoid being married off at a young age. The third Alumni was Aferdita Saracini Kelmendi the General Manager of RTV21 in Kosovo and Macedonia who spoke out against the government almost 20 years ago in favor of freedom of speech. Lastly there was the youngest panelist, Faten Ghriss, the Co-Founder of Young Tunisian Coders Academy, which empowers youth to work in the tech industry in Tunisia. These people each were all from widely different backgrounds, with very different struggles which just showed to me the scope and reach that one organization can have. Each one of these people was filled with passion for their cause and and just needed a little help to be agents of change.

While working takes up a majority of my time, I still have found time to explore the city, which has an overwhelming number of free events and someone waiting at every metro stop to talk politics. From attending the Pride parade to walking around Arlington cemetery on Memorial Day, to going to the congressional baseball game last night, I must say that the DC cohort (there are only two of us) has been crushing it.

Jesse, our roommate Katie, and I at the Pride Parade

While I am for sure still learning the ropes at both IREX and navigating the metro, I have already had such an incredible time here. I am beyond excited for the many adventures yet to come in the next two months as I continue to meet and work with people with passion, while I work to figure out a passion of my own.