AnnieCannons internship ignites passion for women’s advocacy – by Ines Simbi
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Before heading back to Bennington to start my second semester of sophomore year, I spent seven weeks in the Bay Area completing my Field Work Term (FWT). In the winter, every Bennington student is required to complete 210 hours of work gaining real world experience through jobs, internships and entrepreneurial endeavors that relate to their studies and professional ambitions. For my FWT, I interned with a nonprofit organization called AnnieCannons. AnnieCannons is based in Oakland and helps women who are survivors of human trafficking by training them in coding and other in-demand technology skills.
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I chose to work with AnnieCannons because I believe in their work of giving low-income women a chance to access education, and I wanted to contribute in any way I could. My role was conducting research for a new app. The students want to create an app called mom2mom that’s going to help mostly low-income pregnant women gain access to information and resources that will be helpful during pregnancy and after birth. I researched how they can use the Twilio platform to create their app.
I’m grateful for the valuable research, communication and public speaking skills I gained, and my favorite part about the internship was meeting the students in the program. At the beginning of class, there’s a check in where each student talks about how they are feeling. It was humbling hearing their stories and how resilient they are despite what they are going through in their lives. When I started my internship, I was hoping that it would help me figure out what I want to do in the future or help me choose my major. My experience at AnnieCannons helped me realize that I’d like to be an advocate for women who aren’t represented or whose voices aren’t heard, and I’d like to use my computer science skills to help them.
One of the best parts about completing my FWT in the Bay Area was that it allowed me to live with my mentors and get to know them better. I enjoyed exploring the city with them, volunteering at a hackathon with Katrina Dickson and during my last weekend we saw “Black Panther.” It was the perfect way to end my time in the Bay Area.