CIEE Alum Christina Williams, Empowering Youth in Chicago as a McCain Institute Next Generation Leader

CIEE alum Christina Williams is currently a Next Generation Leader at the McCain Institute for International Leadership. An advocate for human rights, Christina joined us at CIEE headquarters in Portland, Maine for our 2015 Justice for Women Lecture in March.  

In 2004, Christina studied abroad in Brussels, Belgium on our Business, Communications, and Culture Program. She chose Brussels because of her interest in international work, as well as a desire to become fluent in French. After her semester abroad, Christina spent time volunteering in Sri Lanka, where she taught English to youth in war-affected areas and became involved in human rights advocacy work.

"I'm passionate about empowering marginalized youth and providing them with the tools necessary to both understand their rights and to safeguard them," says Christina.

Christina’s background includes a diverse array of international experiences, and she says she’s always been drawn to the field of human rights. Throughout her career, Christina has worked with grassroots organizations and ethnic minorities around the world on the rule of law and its importance in creating just societies. Christina graduated from the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law in 2012, and in September 2014 she began her fellowship with the McCain Institute for International Leadership. The fellows in the Next Generation Leaders Program hail from all over the globe, each one with their own unique area of interest; out of the 12 fellows in the 2014 cohort, Christina is the only American fellow.

The 2014 #NGLNYC New York module concludes today. Learn more about the NGL program at mccaininstitute.org/leaders

Christina’s fellowship placement is in Chicago with NGO Cure Violence. Cure Violence takes a unique approach to violence by treating it like a health issue, and approaching it from a scientific point of view. They were recently ranked among the top 20 NGOs in the world by Global Journal. During her fellowship year, Christina will explore how violence impacts youth and how 'traditional' rule of law programs could be adapted to address community violence. She is also working on developing a partnership between the violence prevention program and attorneys who would provide criminal and civil legal services to disempowered youth. 

To learn more about Christina’s work with Cure Violence, read her most recent blog post, Empowering Unlikely Leaders: Building Rule of Law in Chicago’s South Side.