Read the press release about the 2008 recipients.

Alexandra Basak

College of Law
Paz Horowitz (legal services)
Quito, Ecuador

Micheil Cannistra

College of Medicine
Indian Health Service
Tuba City, AZ

Taryn Dozark

College of Law
The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights
Cairo, Egypt

Natalie Ehalt

Undergraduate, College of Education ( Secondary Education, Foreign Language – Spanish)
Hispanic Advocacy & Community Empowerment through Research
Minneapolis, MN

During her internship with HACER in Minnaepolis, Natalie Ehalt worked on the Brown Power Base Project.  The program, based on community organization and policy, aims to make public education equitable for students of color. Ehalt drafted a literature review on the over-representation of students of color in suspension rates for this project. She says HACER immersed her in the nonprofit world and the public education system while providing valuable research experience. “I was exposed to a bilingual and multicultural work environment,” Ehalt said.“Working with researchers from Mexico, Colombia, and Puerto Rico, I developed more confidence speaking Spanish in a business setting.” Ehalt now volunteers for the AmeriCorps*VISTA program, serving as the Curriculum and Outreach Coordinator at Joyce Bilingual Preschool in Minneapolis. “The decision to accept my position as a VISTA was definitely influenced by my experience as a Cmiel intern,” she said. “I see Joyce students and their parents experiencing many of the challenges that I learned about in my research at HACER.” Ehalt plans to continue traveling, as well as studying and working in public education, after completing her AmeriCorps service.

Ghassan Harb

Undergraduate, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (History)
Project Takamol/USAID
Cairo, Egypt

Matthew Lozier

College of Public Health
World Health Organization
Geneva, Switzerland

Elizabeth Petersen

Undergraduate, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (English, Anthropology)
UIHC HIV/AIDS Program
Iowa City, IA