Amplifying the Call for Social Justice

I still remember what I wrote in my admissions essay for Georgia Tech's Public Policy degree program back in 2010. I believed (and still do) that the systemic problems we face require policy solutions. From my years of volunteer experience, I recognized that individual effort is not enough. The problems are just too great. Being part of the solution meant wielding a much stronger weapon that can mobilize the resources needed to make a social change.

I wasn't just talking from something I had read in a book or article somewhere. It was real self-knowledge gained while working with orphan children in Moldova. Each year, starting when I was 13, I spent the spring and half of the summer fundraising and preparing, and then the month of July on the ground, serving, providing emotional support and education.

I can't even begin to describe the dismal existence of these children. From their ragged clothes to the putrid smells from lack of access to clean water (other than what they were able to bring in buckets from a nearby spring) to their sores from being exposed to the elements and not having adequate medical attention, they bore the physical signs of their poverty and destitute position in society. I gave hugs, smiles, held hands, asked questions, and connected with kids in a way I couldn't have imagined. As a group, we brought supplies, including fresh fruits and vegetables, dug a well, installed showers, and served up enough educational activities and games to give them a welcome distraction from their hopeless situation. At least for a month.

After four years of serving and watching the same kids grow without a better future in sight, I couldn't do it anymore. It became too much. I didn't see anything changing. These children would grow out of the orphanage system and be left to the streets. Many years passed and they were still on my heart when I started my program at Tech. I never did move into a policy position after graduation but now I see a different path. Over the last 12 years of working for purpose-driven organizations, I have gained the marketing and communications skills that I need to amplify the voices of those working on social justice issues.

Today's social climate is charged, and we are well-positioned to see change. All because of those who were willing to band together and lend their voices, calling for justice until the chant became a deafening clarion call that will not end until things are different. We must speak up for those without a voice or resources and help give them a future without hate, without suffering.

At a protest I went to a few weeks ago, my heart swelled and I couldn't stop the tears when I saw so many people willing to stand against injustice. I won't stop showing up, marching, signing petitions, calling on our leaders, giving money, educating my children and myself on the change needed in the world.

Things have to change. And it starts with me.