Selena Hoy
Selena Hoy is an MSW student at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. During her foundation year she completed her field placement at the Japan Association for Refugees (JAR) in Tokyo, Japan. She served in the Protection and Assistance Unit, where she assisted refugees and refugee applicants seeking asylum in Japan, learning about refugee law and the legal and social aspects of refugee cases. JAR is an implementing partner of the United Nations Refugee Agency, so Selena was able to observe the workings of the system and visit refugee detainees in immigration detention centers.
In her advanced year placement Selena will work with Catholic Charities - Portland in the Refugee Resettlement division. She will work directly with cases and assist in shaping refugee resettlement policy at local and state levels. Selena hopes to continue to work on issues of immigration, borders, and racism after graduation.
Maya Williams
Maya is an MSW student at the University of Texas at Austin. She completed her foundation field internship at the Refugee Services of Texas (RST). While at RST, Maya worked in Social Adjustment Services and assisted clients with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid applications. In the spring Maya will intern at Boston University’s School of Public Health in the Activist Lab for her final field placement. Before enrolling at UT Austin, Maya volunteered in the Dominican Republic for half a year. While abroad she worked in an orphanage of abandoned children as a Spanish and mathematics tutor, mentor, and event coordinator.
Maya’s primary interests in social work include community engagement, education, mass incarceration, and serving African American and Latino clients. Her career aspirations are to obtain her PhD in social work and become the director of a nonprofit organization.