Harley Emery is in the middle of her second year at the University. She didn’t start out in the CGO, but joined us in the Winter term of her freshman year. Harley promises to be a mover and a shaker in this group and last summer landed a competitive internship with the new Virtual Student Foreign Service (VSVF) program. This internship can be completed from anywhere and requires interns to start an on-campus branch of the No Lost Generation Initiative (NLGI) to raise awareness and funds for refugees of the Syrian Civil War. Her goal is to create a scholarship fund to bring Syrian refugees to study at the UO. She also wants to find ways to allow UO students to get hands-on experience assisting refugee youth and to build relationships with those youths affected by the civil war. Last summer she traveled to Amman, Jordan to volunteer with the Princess Taghrid Institute, an organization that works with refugee youth, as well as vocational training with children and teens in Jordan’s refugee camps. While there, she met with the organizing for the NLGI through UNICEF, to see that project implemented on the ground. This is exactly the type of project that the CGO wants to help foster, and we’re working with Harley to make this project a reality at UO.

Harley heard about the CGO through another member, Nina Green, and was immediately compelled to visit and eventually join us when she heard about our focus on global ethics, international issues, and especially the idea of student-led projects. She was also impressed by our long list of guests, who range from locally to internationally renowned.

When she graduates, Harley wants to obtain a master’s degree in Foreign Service, with a focus on international development. Her dream job is to work for an international organization like UNHCR or UNICEF, specifically working with refugee youth in conflict and post-conflict states.

If her time in the CGO so far is any indication, she will meet her goals and we are investing in her success!