Hannah Martin
BA Sociology; minor, International Studies ‘22
Perseus Strategies, LLC
“I was overjoyed to receive the opportunity for the International Human Rights Fellowship at Perseus Strategies. From the first day, I was entrusted with responsibility and began to problem solve and complete numerous tasks to help the firm’s many cases. Within eight weeks, I can say that the depth of human rights knowledge and hands-on experience has been unmatched by any course I’ve taken. I have never been so up to date on the happenings around the world, in the U.S. Congress and international bodies like the United Nations. Going into my final year as an undergraduate student, I can guarantee that this experience has bettered me as a student and as I move forward into a career in human rights law.
The highlight of this internship was without a doubt the guest speaker series where intimate zoom chats connected the interns with impressive human rights figures around the world from democracy activists Dr. Yang Janli (I highly recommend his ted talk) and Peter Biar Ajak to neuro-rights activist and scientist Rafael Yuste. During these chats, I was humbled to be hearing the life stories of these incredible people and truly inspired the resilience of the human spirit after stories of arbitrary detention and government repression.
The support from the Perseus team made each day of work delightful. I’d like to thank Jared Genser, Skylar Gleason, Michael Russo, and Brian Tronic for fostering such a great internship program that even though I was states away from the firm, I still felt connected to the team. I must acknowledge this incredible learning experience would not be possible without the Program in International and Comparative Studies, a remarkable program in which I’m also receiving my minor, as well as the Donia Human Rights Center who along with supporting this opportunity, the director Steve Ratner shared invaluable advice as a guest speaker. Finally, I would like to thank Perseus Strategies for challenging me, for believing in my capacity to succeed and for providing me the chance to work with you all.”
Clarisa Moreno-Middleberg
BA International Studies; BA Women's and Gender Studies ‘22
The Carter Center’s Rule of Law Program
“This year, I was a recipient of Ms. Amy Rose’s generous fellowship for my internship at The Carter Center’s Rule of Law program. Throughout my three years at Michigan, I’ve been eager to learn about different areas of the world aside from those I specialize in, women’s human rights, and the role of law in human rights. My internship this summer allowed me to explore all of those areas while improving my communication skills. As part of the Rule of Law team, I was assigned to the Justice Awareness project in Liberia and the Women & Policing project based in Costa Rica. I was excited to work as part of our Liberia staff because most of my time in the Program in International and Comparative Studies has been spent focusing on Latin America. Although I was not greatly familiar with Liberia or Costa Rica, I was able to gain extensive knowledge on their national politics and current events by writing daily news updates for the entire Rule of Law team.
My role in the Justice Awareness project was to compile and summarize the work of our justice advisors and Liberian staff throughout the quarter and create reports for our donors. Learning about the Justice Awareness program in detail helped me understand how international development works behind the scenes. In addition, it also helped me realize that learning about a multitude of geographic areas is exciting and rewarding. I am now much more open to learning about new areas even if I am not familiar with them.
The Women and Policing program in Costa Rica focuses on helping women gain better access to the police and responsibly increasing the number of female police officers to address women’s issues which are often overlooked. This project launched the week I started so I got to conduct lots of initial research regarding local, regional, and national women’s rights in Costa Rica, their police force, and their government structure. I quickly became an expert on Costa Rica which was incredibly fulfilling. One of the most valuable lessons I learned was that while Costa Rica has a great human rights framework for women’s rights, adjacent laws have a deep impact on women’s lives. This has shaped how I evaluate international norms. As an aspiring lawyer, I enjoyed analyzing a foreing legal system and as an advocate, I now understand that local norms are just as important as international law.
I want to thank Ms. Amy Rose for helping fund this incredible opportunity which has solidified my love for development and interest in the law. Your generosity helped me present myself professionally and complete my tasks with as much ease as possible. My time at The Carter Center helped me realize that I can both practice law and advocate for human rights at the same time. My experience prior to this summer was limited to legal internships and local non-profit work. Working with lawyers and human rights advocates on a larger scale helped me realize there is a wide variety of roles in international development that suit all my interests.”
