Thank you, Impact Network!

Hello! My name is Grace Buechler and I am currently interning at Impact Network. For this week’s newsletter, I would like to share my positive experience with the organization and how it has left such a lasting impression on me. I started here in early February but recently graduated from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. At Gallatin, students are able to create their own major, or concentration, and I chose to pursue a focus on Global Policy, more specifically regarding human rights and education. Within my studies, I have learned the importance of quality education and how it corresponds with the development and freedom of an individual. In fact, my senior thesis was on what it means to have quality education and the worldwide obstacles and solutions to its accessibility. In my thesis, I especially focused on the gendered divides in education and the domino effects for girls and women of not receiving a quality one. 

I finished my thesis before getting the opportunity to join Impact Network, so I was ecstatic when I got the offer because Impact Network’s values and passions align perfectly with mine. I’ve worked at educational companies before, but never a non-profit like this. I wish I could write my thesis again because working with Impact Network has given me greater insight into the ins and outs of a meaningful non-profit and initiatives toward quality education. At Impact, quality education means more than a curriculum, but also means community, health, and empowerment.

 Impact Girls is a wonderful encapsulation of this motto and has stood out to me, especially with my gender studies in school. With initiatives like GLOW club, pad workshops, and NetGirls, Impact Girls is a wonderful model for female empowerment and community in the educational sphere. Impact Network cares not just about getting girls to school, but also about empowering them for life outside of the classroom and in their own homes and communities. In 2021, Impact Girls saw amazing results with almost 5,000 women and girls attending the menstrual health hygiene workshops and over 700 participants in the NetGirl Zambia netball leagues. 

Upon graduation, I hope to attend law school and pursue a career in international law. I also hope that one day I will work with an organization that shares the same values that Impact Network holds. I am beyond grateful that I got the opportunity to work at such a meaningful and powerful organization and I look forward to seeing what other great things Impact Network will do!