Natalie Rosa (Summer 2024)

During my time at WOLA as a foreign policy intern, I was assigned to the Central America team, where I analyzed the political landscape of Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. As my first internship, the structured environment allowed me to collaborate closely with my supervisor and gain insight into policy research, international affairs, and how nonprofit advocacy works. Specifically, I conducted in-depth research on how liberated Central America is compared to other Latin American countries, helping to inform policy recommendations aimed at strengthening democracy and human rights for the region. Additionally, I managed a tracking document to monitor key political events and policy discussions, ensuring WOLA remained up to date on critical events. I also translated documents between Spanish and English, tracked regional developments through weekly research, and documented key insights from congressional meetings, providing me with firsthand exposure to U.S. foreign policy discussions. As a first-generation Latina student from Guatemalan immigrants, I am thankful for this opportunity because it deepened my understanding of a region I have personal ties with. Through the support of the Lang Center and Swarthmore College, I gained invaluable exposure to nonprofit work, strengthened my ability to conduct research, and furthered my commitment to social justice initiatives.

Jocelyn Vasquez-Tax (Summer 2024)

During my time at WOLA as a Mexico and Migration & Border Security intern, I had the opportunity to deepen my understanding of the current humanitarian crisis at the U.S. southern border and the systemic issues that force people to flee their homes. My work at WOLA primarily involved documenting the violence, corruption, and lack of opportunity experienced along the border. As part of my responsibilities, I collaborated with my supervisor to maintain WOLA’s “Border Oversight” website, a tool used to manage database entries capturing the narratives of migrants, their families, humanitarian aid workers, and others impacted by the border industrial complex. Documenting these stories and witnessing WOLA’s dedication to advancing human rights have solidified my commitment to pursuing a career focused on social justice.
 

This experience has given me a deeper appreciation for how systematic documentation, research, and storytelling can influence policy and amplify the voices of marginalized communities. It has inspired me to look beyond traditional career paths in political science and consider ways to contribute to advocacy and policy work that uplifts vulnerable populations. I am grateful to everyone who made this learning opportunity possible, as it allowed me to immerse myself in the field of human rights and explore the complexities of migration and border security in ways I had previously encountered only in theory.

Mary Ann Arizaga (Summer 2022)

With the support of the Lang Center’s Social Impact Summer Scholarships, Mary Ann Arizaga ’25, was able to work at WOLA, and contribute to their efforts of promoting human rights, social justice, and democracy in Latin America. 

During my time at WOLA as a Development and Colombia program intern, I was able to learn about the political situation in Latin America and get an in-depth perspective from activists, NGOs and politicians about the on-going human rights issues due to the political crisis happening in Brazil and Colombia. I worked in conjunction with my supervisor in different tasks such as scheduling meetings with 10+ human rights delegations from Brazil and Colombia, WOLA representatives and Representatives of Congress to discuss foreign aid policies implementation as well as collaborating in the writing process of +15 human rights advocacy articles for the institutional website. I was able to attend different meetings held in senators’ offices and institutions such as the U.S Institute of Peace and the Organization of American States. Being an intern at WOLA allowed me to make meaningful connections with people passionate about public policy and Latin America.

Marcos Estrada (Summer 2021)

With the support of the Lang Center’s Social Impact Summer Scholarships, Marcos Estrada’22, a double major in Neuroscience and Spanish, was able to work at WOLA (remotely due to COVID-19), and contribute to their efforts of promoting human rights, social justice, and democracy in Latin America. 

During my time as WOLA’s Citizen Security intern, I had the opportunity to learn about the ongoing human rights issues in the Northern Triangle of Central America and the advocacy work conducted by Washington D.C. organizations to help address these issues. As part of this process, I worked with my supervisors and program director on the development of the Central America Monitor (CAM), an initiative to track the U.S. assistance to Central America and evaluate the progress made to reduce violence, safeguard human rights, and increase accountability, amongst other areas of concern. In conducting qualitative and quantitative research for this project, I had the opportunity to engage with government institutions and partners in Central America. Apart from focusing my research on the CAM, I had the opportunity to conduct research on a topic of major interest to me: the conditions of immigrant women. Based on this research I had the opportunity to publish a blog article about the complexities of violence against women and migration in the Northern Triangle. An even more motivating factor is that I can continue to apply and expand on this knowledge through my future endeavors. I am grateful to the Latin American and Latino Studies program and the Lang Center at Swarthmore College, and WOLA for this incredible opportunity.

Louisa Carman (Summer 2020)

With the support of the Lang Center’s Social Impact Summer Scholarships, Louisa Carman ’21, Political Science major, was able to work at WOLA (remotely due to COVID-19), and contribute to their efforts of promoting human rights, social justice, and democracy in Latin America. 

As an intern for WOLA’s Mexico/Migration and Citizen Security programs, I got an in-depth look at how human rights issues in Latin America are translated into policy advocacy and action in D.C. WOLA is a small organization with a wide network of partners, which made it possible for me to hear directly from people such as lawyers at migrant shelters in southern Mexico when I was researching a policy memo on access to asylum in Mexico. I also got to see how the experts at WOLA work to share information from their partners on the ground and center human rights concerns in their interactions with members of Congress. For instance, I was able to help with some of the background research for WOLA’s commentary on corruption in the selection of judges to Guatemala’s Constitutional Court, which was one of the first English-language publications on this topic. Through these invaluable experiences at WOLA, I not only deepened my knowledge of some of the most pressing issues in Mexico and Central America but also connected with the international network of people who are working to change U.S. policies on these fronts.