What does advocacy look like? How can we engage in community care, providing necessary services to the public, and through our Mount Holyoke degrees? How might careers in advocacy-related work look differ from what we imagine for the typical “activist?” Our panel discusses how engagement across a variety of arenas—providing direct aid to individuals and communities, contributing to legal investigation and representation, and developing policy—allows us to participate in the kind of advocacy work to which we are drawn. Many people feel personally or morally compelled to take on careers that give back to their local and global communities; this panel discusses some of the many forms that action, advocacy, and community care work may take.

Moderator: Sabra Thorner, Assistant Professor of Anthropology

Investigative Advocacy: VT’s Carceral System and Prisoners’ Rights
Ariah Holliman ’25, Sociology & Politics double major Law, Public Policy, and Human Rights Nexus

My Summer with NHPD: Public Defense Outside The Courtroom
Ainsley Morrison ’25, English major Politics minor / Law, Public Policy & Human Rights Nexus

Domestic Violence Advocacy and Community Care
Eleanor Commons ’25, Psychology & Education major/ Anthropology minor

Together from the Start: Exploring Resettlement and Community Services for Newly Arrived Refugees
Natasha Nagarajan ’26, Politics Critical Race & Political economy double major

Connecting Communities: Service Provider to Legislative Intern
Naoise Grybko ’25, Politics & Sociology double major/Law, Public Policy, and Human Rights Nexus