Sierra Hawthorne: Gervase Programs: Learning to Lead

Sierra Hawthorne is an International Politics major with a concentration in International Law, Organization and Ethics in the School of Foreign Service.

While Sierra focuses her academic work in health policy and human rights, she has also worked extensively in public health and community development outside of the classroom. After transferring from Wellesley College in 2007, Sierra worked in health promotion with the Thai Ministry of Health in Bangkok, Thailand for three months, and interned with the majority office for the Senate committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions during her Sophomore year at Georgetown.

In the summer of 2008, Sierra served as a Project Supervisor for the community development organization Amigos de las Américas in the Dominican Republic. She later returned to the Dominican Republic to conduct individual research on hurricane risk management in rural communities in the Dominican Republic’s southwest region.

This fall, Sierra will apply for a Fulbright grant to continue her research in the Dominican Republic after graduation. She is currently working as a research assistant in the Georgetown Center for Population and Health.