SF Bay Area Action Corps: May 2014

Hello Bay Area Oxfam Action Corps,

We are honored to be part of the Bay Area Action Corps this year! We are both new to volunteering for Oxfam America, but are very excited to help right the wrongs to poverty. At the leadership training in DC we were surrounded by intelligent people, listened to inspiring stories, bonded with fellow Action Corps leaders, lobbied on Capitol Hill, and tried to absorb all the information we could about Oxfam America.

Here are a few highlights:

Getting to know our fellow Action Corps Organizers

We had a great time meeting other Action Corps organizers. This was the first time we met each other, but after spending 12 hour days together we bonded pretty quickly!

Janet was born in South Korea and grew up in Southern California. She studied Business at USC and moved to San Francisco in 2012 to work for Apple. When she is not working or volunteering for Oxfam, she loves to perform with her traditional Korean dance group.

Nadine is also from Southern California. She moved to the Bay Area in 2010 to attend UC Berkeley and graduated with a degree in Psychology. Since then she has worked in the microfinance industry and volunteered for various non-profits. In her free time she enjoys photography and baking delicious treats. Nadine is thrilled to get the opportunity to work with Oxfam America and can't wait to see what the year has in store!

The GROW Dinner

On the first night of training we hosted a GROW Method dinner and invited our friends and family, if they were in the area. Little did we know, that we, the freshly trained "leaders", were put in charge of every detail and only had a few hours to throw it all together. Luckily for us, and the people we invited, the event was a complete success and a great learning experience.

Lobbying on Capitol Hill

The most exciting day though, was definitely Lobby Day. By this point we heard the stories, read the information, prepared for the events, and knew why we were there. The last thing to do was to meet with members of Congress and lobby for what we believed in. We scheduled appointments with Senator Dianne Feinstein, Senator Barbara Boxer, and Represenative Nancy Pelosi. We didn't actually get to meet these incredible ladies, but we did meet with their staff members and that was nerve racking enough! The meetings all went well; we were preaching to the choir, after all. Our talking points were to ask them to invest in effective, poverty-reducing aid programs that support local leaders around the world as they work to lift themselves and their communities out of poverty. These programs included: Feed the Future, climate programs, and The Transition to Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act. Such an awesome experience!