Rainbow Street is an all-volunteer, grassroots-funded organization that engages directly with LGBTQ activist communities in the Middle East and North Africa to provide a lifeline to exceptionally vulnerable LGBTQ people throughout the region. Rainbow Street works with local activists and partner organizations to provide shelter, food, clothing, healthcare, migration services, community support, and other essential resources to people facing forced displacement and persecution based on their sexual orientation or gender expression.
Jessica Spence (Nambia, 2016)
Beyond the positive impacts on their professional life, most Gilman Scholars (89%) indicated that they have a more successful personal life because of their experience studying abroad. Gilman Scholars returned to the United States with improved skills, increased independence and self-awareness, heightened global competencies, and clear visions of their identity and aspirations. The professional and personal growth of being a Gilman Scholar transmitted beyond the program duration, and for many, the Gilman experience was the turning point that triggered transformations in their lives for years to come.
Jessica’s time in Namibia elevated her original advocacy of studying abroad from a perceived Gilman Scholar responsibility into a lifelong passion. She began promoting her Gilman experience and presenting her Gilman project to other students after her return home, and this led to her leadership role on school-related trips to Namibia, Qatar, and Uganda in 2019, as well as a COVID-transformed virtual study abroad trip to Africa for U.S. students in 2020.
Her 2016 Namibia trip also contributed to increased self-confidence and a global competency that allowed her to work independently in 2019/20 in Uganda, where she photographed for a local non-governmental organization, collected her master’s thesis data, and eventually obtained a Field of Hope Fellowship.
Inspired by her Gilman experience, Jessica shifted her career pursuit to international development over the years, and she is now the program coordinator for the Borlaug Institute’s International Agricultural Education Fellowship Program. She will spend 2021/22 in Ghana with nine future fellows in a manager capacity.
Jeni Dhodary (Spain, 2018) | Equity and Accessibility Lead at EduMate NYC
EduMate NYC is an online tutoring organization that pairs college student volunteers with New York City public school students in need of tutoring. EduMate NYC focuses on serving K–12 public school students from low-income households, homeless students, undocumented students, English language learners, students with special educational needs, and others who face disproportionate barriers to accessing education in this time of need.
Gabreelynn Daniels (France, 2013) | Case Manager and Therapist at Covenant House California
With a minor in French, Gabreelynn studied abroad in Pau, France, in the spring and summer of 2013. During her time abroad, she gained essential skills that benefited her personal growth and professional life, and strengthened her sense of independence. She became more adventurous in the food she ate, the activities she participated in, and the professional opportunities she pursued.
After her Gilman experience, Gabreelynn went to graduate school, studying community mental health. Being a Gilman Scholar “open[ed] the door for many other scholarship opportunities” during her academic career, such as the School of Education Scholarship, South Bay Business Women’s Association Scholarship, and Gilman Scholarship. She was also accepted into two honor societies— Kappa Delta Pi, Honors in Education and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars— and the knowledge, skills, and attitudes she took away from France continued to influence her post-Gilman life.
Her leadership ability was one gained skill that stood out from the rest. In May 2016, Gabreelynn participated in a mission trip to Managua, Nicaragua, as a graduate student through Loyola Marymount’s Alternative Breaks program. “Being associated with Gilman provided the opportunity to help assist co-leading the trip,” and her experience in Pau also better prepared her to interact with the Adelita community, promote mental health awareness, and learn and embrace the culture in Nicaragua.
She also leveraged her leadership skills in her current work at Covenant House California (CHC), a nonprofit youth homeless shelter where she works in a dual role a case manager and therapist. At CHC, Gabreelynn also runs a Women’s Empowerment group, which focuses on sisterhood, positive self-image, maintaining healthy relationships, and helping shape young women into all they are called to be. Outside her professional life, Gabreelynn took upon another active leadership role mentoring girls at her church.
In addition to leadership, Gabreelynn also improved her public speaking skills via weekly class presentations in a foreign language while in Pau. These skills proved to be of great value when she shared her stories and inspired others in her post-Gilman life. After she returned from France, she used her developed speaking skills and ability to influence to help people from underserved communities of color study abroad via her work and her engagement with her home community.
“The world is so vast and beautiful, and travel can be achieved with proper planning and budgeting. Most minorities shy away from travel because they think it’s too expensive, that it’s unattainable, and that’s not true.”