Doing Good at Home and Abroad: Languages and Social Justice

Interested in putting your language skills to good use? Come to this career panel to learn how three UW alumni are making the world a better place, and how their language training helped them along the way! Panelists represent government and non-profit, and have experience working in the fields of human rights, women's education and empowerment, technology, global health, and more. Tuesday, March 5 from 6:00-7:30p.m. in room 126 Memorial Union.

This program is a part of the Language for Life series of the Language Institute, which gives current students the opportunity to meet with alumni who studied a foreign language and are using that language in their professional or personal lives in inspiring ways. For more information please see below.

Featured speakers: 

Amy McGann is the Regional Advisor on Trafficking & Human Rights in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. She has also worked in the Bureau of International Organization's Office of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs and at Embassy Bangkok. During law school she studied Hindi. Amy has an M.A. from UCLA and J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Eugenia Podesta is the Director of the Latin American and Caribbean program at Vital Voices Global Partnership. She has extensive international experience and a demonstrated commitment to public service. Prior to joining Vital Voices, Eugenia worked in tourism development in Latin America advising on sustainable tourism projects. Previously, she provided legal assistance to incarcerated persons in Wisconsin and also managed public policy and literacy programs for the Hispanic/Latino community with the United Way. Her background in education stems from her experience as an instructor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Edgewood College. Eugenia attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she earned a BA in Spanish and Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies, an MA in Latin American Studies (focus on sustainable development) and a Juris Doctorate. She has also studied International Law at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú in Lima.

Adam Taylor is the Program Director for the Global to Local initiative, which aims to decrease health disparities in South King County, WA through the application of strategies that have proven successful overseas. Adam previously worked as a Project Manager for the Grameen  Technology Center on the Ugandan-based Community Knowledge Worker project, which leverages the power of mobile phones to help small-holder farmers to access important information like market prices. From 2005-2007, Adam served as Program Manager for Catholic Relief Services in Madagascar where he collaborated with local staff to develop new initiatives in the areas of health and sanitation, agriculture, disaster preparedness and response, social safety net, and human trafficking. He has a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Washington, Evans School of Public Affairs and a BA in Political Science and French from UW-Madison.