Name: Marlee Erdreich

Social Justice Group: 2022-2023, Girls Access to Education Globally

Date of Fieldwork: January 19, 2023

Name of Organization and person (people) with whom you met and their title(s):Ashely Steimer-King

Type of Fieldwork: Interview

What I did and what I learned about my topic, activism, social justice work or civil and human rights work from this fieldwork?[:: :

On January 19th, my social justice group zoomed with the program director of GLI (Girls Learn International) to learn more about how girls struggle with getting the access to education. Ashely is very devoted to human rights issues and helping out girls who deserve better treatment get the right materials and knowledge they need. GLI focuses in the U.S., but also outside of the country, empower girls to make sure they feel supported.

One thing that I thought was very interesting is that GLI offers sex education to girls who may not have known about it in the first place. This is important because it teaches the students how to make informed decisions and keeps girls safe from abuse that could possibly happen. Another significant factor was how GLI makes sure to prioritize safe living conditions/family problems before doing anything regarding education because it is important to make sure a student has stability before carrying on with other things. They can provide necessities like period products or getting food because that could be something that holds a girl back from attending school in the first place. Interviewing Ashely was very informative and I am so glad that my group had the chance to talk with someone who is very experienced. She taught us that leadership and taking action is very important to gaining justice which I will take with me in later fieldwork.