Gehrke Selected to Serve on OXFAM Change Initiative

2015 Jul 24

Studying abroad helped Ella Gehrke, a junior in global resource systems at Iowa State University, understand the problems facing people in developing countries. That's why being selected to serve on the OXFAM Change Initiative with other students with that same understanding is an exciting opportunity.

Gehrke, selected as one of only 40 student leaders to participate in the program, will have the opportunity of a lifetime learning more about some of the world's biggest problems and networking with those leaders on the path to solving them. She will spend a week in Boston for a rigorous leadership and advocacy training program involving group activities, expert panels, and workshops. This year's training will include a focus on global food security, inequality, and social justice.Through the next academic year, Gehrke will continue to be engaged with the organization.

Together, the students work to transform the passion they have for social justice into actions with an impact on campus and in communities. The group forms their own network across the country to help support each other and problem solve.

In addition to the network of like-minded individuals, the CHANGE Initiative works to build leadership, advocacy, and communication skills which serve the student participants long after they have graduated.

Gehrke is passionate about food security and together with four other students made the finals in the Thought For Food Challenge. Since then the group called KinoSol has taken their project, a mobile solar food dehydrator built to help subsistence farmers in developing countries, to several competitions around the world and continues research and development.

OXFAM is a global organization working to address poverty, hunger and inequality. Founded in 2000, CHANGE has trained more than 770 student leaders from over 340 colleges and universities.