A Reflection on My Time in D.C.

This one has been a long time coming. I am so excited to share with you about my internship with International Justice Mission this summer in Washington, D.C. I will be posting an "Organization Spotlight" on IJM at another time, but here's a quick introduction to what the organization does around the world.

www.ijm.org

International Justice Mission

The vision of International Justice Mission is to "rescue thousands, protect millions, and prove that justice for the poor is possible." They do so by partnering with local authorities to rescue victims, hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes, provide aftercare services to survivors, and promote sustainable justice system transformation. IJM works on many different casetypes in nearly 20 communities all over the world. Two of their casetypes include the kind of work my project centers on: commercial sexual exploitation and child sexual assault.

My Internship

I had the incredible privilege of working as an intern in the Aftercare Department at International Justice Mission. First of all, it was great to feel like I was doing work that truly was making a difference in the lives of the people IJM serves. My projects included researching other organizations' method of measuring success in aftercare, preparing conference materials to present IJM's ground breaking assessment tool, and writing case studies for trainings with the teams on the field. It will be so helpful to have an insider understanding of IJM's aftercare when I visit some of their field offices during my time abroad.

All of the interns with IJM's President, Gary Haugen. Photo credit to Eun Sung Yang.

The internship was also a wonderful experience because of the amount that IJM staff poured into the 26 individuals who were taking part in the program. Every week, we had lunch with at least one of the senior leaders in the organization. They gave us both personal and professional advice. We also were provided with the opportunity to attend seminars on goal-setting, interview skills, and other important topics for young adults.

For me, though, one of the most meaningful parts of the internship was spending time with other interns. It can be lonely, trying to get people on your campus to care about an issue about which you are extremely passionate. This summer, for the first time, I was completely surrounded by people with the exact same passion. I know that I was surrounded by future world changers, and I look forward to seeing how everyone participates in the fight for justice.

Courtesy of International Justice Mission

Interested in Applying?

I highly recommend that anyone interested in the fight for justice apply for an internship at IJM! You don't have to be a lawyer, social worker, or criminal investigator to make a difference. There are positions for financial interns, editorial interns, and human resource interns!

Click here to find out more!