Abigail Herrada

Underwrote 0% interest, fee-free loans by conducting initial loan reviews, assessing eligibility, and flagging issues; supported borrowers in English and Spanish to improve application completion and repayment outcomes.

Conducted qualitative research on TOARs in Colombia's transitional justice process, designing and conducting Spanish semi-structured interviews and synthesizing findings for public-facing outputs.

Coordinated focus groups and streamlined Excel databases and process maps to identify bottlenecks and propose user-centered operational improvements to boost client retention and staff engagement.

Assisted newly arrived refugees in accessing social services, provided Spanish interpretation, maintained accurate client records, and delivered financial coaching to support economic self-sufficiency.

Partnered with leaders in three rural schools to improve literacy, resources, and sanitation, raised $11,000 from US donors, and implemented community empowerment events over multi-week field visits.

Analyzed and coded Latin American truth commission reports for sexual violence content, researched ideological shifts among former guerrilla fighters, and transcribed Spanish interviews for academic research.

Conducted human rights investigations in Spanish, performed prison inspections to gather evidence for litigation, and interviewed victims with a trauma-informed approach to support accountability efforts.

Curated social content and captions, analyzed post performance, and wrote commercial blogs, Q&A posts, and quarterly newsletters to engage diverse audiences and drive engagement.

Compiled and analyzed peace research journals for an accessible database and developed high school curriculum materials tied to a peace documentary to support educators.

Grade: 3.91 GPA

Activities and societies: Monroe Scholar, Coxswain on club crew, All-Region Team (Mid-Atlantic) award at ACRA

Pursuing dual degrees in Psychology (B.S.) and Global Studies with a Latin American concentration (B.A.), achieving a 3.91 GPA and recognized as a Monroe Scholar; involved in club crew and earned All-Region Team distinction.

Activities and societies: Engaged in political and economic discussions with local experts during study abroad

Completed a study abroad term in La Plata taking courses in Spanish on indigenous rights, youth culture, Argentine history, advanced Spanish, and psychology.