“I hope my year here at World YWCA will be a year of great challenge, new and exciting experiences and friendships, creativity, innovation, inspiration, and perhaps some profound self-discovery!” says Leanne. Leanne graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a major in English and a minor in French. Committed to advocating for the elimination of violence against women, she worked as the Prevention Educator for Sexual Assault Treatment Program at her local YWCA.

Leanne will spend her internship at the Deputy General Secretary’s office developing and contributing to the World YWCA advocacy efforts. “I hope to finish the year confident in my abilities as a strong, effective, and qualified leader, prepared to help guide my peers, community and world further toward a vision of peace, justice and healing.”

Joy Yakubu is from Plateau State in northern Nigeria, an area that has experienced conflict and unrest for several years. As a Regional Youth Coordinator for the YWCA of Nigeria, Joy represented the voice of young women from northerner Nigeria at meetings and programmes of the national association particularly highlighting the impact conflict has on young women and the peace and reconciliation work of her local association.

“I feel privileged to be part of the World YWCA office, it is an opportunity to experience first hand the work done by this great movement at the international level” says Joy, a former TV anchor with a diploma in Mass Communications from the Kaduna Polytechnic, Nigeria and is currently pursing a degree in English at the University of Jos. “The internship gives me a chance to develop skills in advocacy especially in the area of peace, reconciliation and conflict resolution, which is an area of great need in my local YWCA,” she shares. Joy will spend her internship at the Communication Department.