Meet the Interns-Week 1

The long-awaited blogs about our interns are finally here! Our first team being profiled is Grants and Research.

Jessica Hayes is junior Political Science Major, Mass Communication & Society and Social & Economic Justice minor from Randleman, North Carolina. She became involved with ABAN because she has a passion for service work and hopes to one day have a career in non-profit work.

Jessica’s favorite day of the year is Christmas and her favorite song is “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus because she can dance to it. Something not many people know about Jessica is that she has abnormally shaped pinky fingers. 

Kathleen Lockwood is a senior Women’s Studies and English major from Welcome, North Carolina in North Davidson County. She is passionate about addressing and preventing violence against women in its various forms and is involved in One Act, a bystander intervention training program about the primary prevention of interpersonal violence. On-campus at UNC, Kathleen is active in Lutheran Campus Ministry, as well as, currently volunteers at the Orange County Rape Crisis Center and the Orange County Sheriff's Office Crisis Intervention Unit. Kathleen plans to pursue a law degree and possibly a Masters’ in Social Work.

Kathleen is excited about working with ABAN “because I can already tell that this is a program with tangible and lasting results. I've spent so much time in classes studying the problems facing women and our environment. It can be very depressing and makes me feel helpless at times. But, finding out about this organization has given me a way to do my part in fighting against these negative forces in women's lives while also helping protect our environment. I can't wait to start contributing more to this great cause!”

A little known fact about Kathleen is that when she gets stressed she likes to color old coloring books to relax. Her favorite song is "Wonderwall" by Oasis because it reminds her of listening to the radio as a kid and summers sitting around campfires with guitar-wielding friends as a young adult. Her favorite day of the year is the first warm day of spring.

Lelia Hoover is a sophomore Public Policy major from Charlotte, North Carolina. Lelia has a passion for travel and service work, one of the reasons she was so excited to be joining the ABAN team! During the summer of 2010, Lelia went to Ghana with an on campus group to work on public health service projects, and she fell in love with the country (the picture below was actually taken there). She plans to return this summer to continue work in the Upper West region and to see the ABAN team in Accra. Another reason Lelia is one of our Grants and Research interns is because she believes ABAN is a wonderful organization that accomplishes so much in Accra with unique goals. After graduation Lelia plans to work for a non-profit, so ABAN is the perfect start! Outside of ABAN Lelia works with ProjectHEAL, Habitat for Humanity, Kappa Delta Sorority, and hangs out with her friends and three younger sisters.

A fact not many people know about Lelia is that she once went 11 days without any form of artificial light when she was camping in Alaska. Her favorite song is either “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire, because swing dancing is one of her all time favorite activities, or “Funny the Way It Is” by Dave Matthews Band. Lelia loves Dave Matthews and says the song has a great message, is fun to listen to and always puts her in a good mood. Lelia says her favorite day of the week is definitely Friday but her favorite day of the year is Christmas.

Look forward to more bi-weekly posts about our fabulous interns!