Grace Chang
Hometown: North Potomac , MD
High School: T.S. Wootton H.S.
Intended Major: Political Science, Psychology
Possible Career: Child Advocacy, Law, Business
In high school Grace was selected for the Superintendent's Leadership Program (SLP), a selective county honors program. As part of the SLP, she interned at Legg Mason, a brokerage firm in Bethesda, MD and at the Children's Law Center, a nonprofit in Washington, DC. She participated in the Humanities and Arts Signature Program at Wootton High School, a rigorous four-year curriculum of honors, advanced placement and college-level courses. Grace also served as captain of the Peer Mediation Team, captain of the Forensics Oratory Team, and was a senior member of the Debate Team.
At Swarthmore, Grace founded Swarthmore Sibshop, a student-run organization which provides peer support workshops to the siblings of special needs children. She developed Sibshop's organizational structure, collaboration network, and activity curriculum while increasing the number of participating families and trained student facilitators. In addition to Sibshop, Grace worked as the Program Assistant for the Lang Center's College Advancement Program (Upward Bound), which prepares Chester high school students prepare for college. She also served for two years as Coordinator of Chinatown Tutorial, an outreach program catering to the needs of Philadelphia's Chinese youth. Grace was Assistant Manager of the Student Budget Committee for two semesters.
Grace used her Evans funding to travel and explore the globe. She studied Mandarin in Taiwan and Beijing, participating in Hamilton College's Associated Colleges in China intensive language study program in summer 2006. In addition, Grace traveled across Argentina, India, and China, studying urban politics, urban planning, environmentalism, and anthropology through the International Honor Program's Cities in the 21st Century comparative study abroad program in fall 2007. She used her Evans grant to add two weeks of cultural exploration of the Yangtze River delta are in southern China as well as Tokyo, Japan to her worldwide caper.
Grace has also explored her interests in child advocacy and public policy with the support of her Evans grant. In summer 2007, Grace interned at the Support Center for Child Advocates, a non-profit legal child advocacy center in Philadelphia, where she was the Policy Intern for the Executive Director. Grace worked on Child Advocates' Outcomes in Behavioral Health Project, which raised awareness of behavioral health needs within both the lay and professional caregiver populations. The following summer, Grace interned at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington, DC think tank focused on low-income strategies. She conducted outreach on the Economic Stimulus Package, focusing on strategic media and grassroots efforts to target seniors and disabled veterans.
Post-graduation, Grace now works as a Research Assistant in Abt Associates' Social and Economic Policy Division in Bethesda, MD. She specializes in education policy.
