Author: gnichols

The End of my Summer at Verité

First and foremost, I would like to emphasize my gratitude towards Verité and the people who I worked alongside this summer, as well as towards the World of Work scholarship from Brandeis, which allowed me to take this opportunity.

I completely met my career and personal learning goals during my internship. My career goal was to discover whether or not researching at an NGO would be something I would like to do as my future career, and my personal goal was to develop good professional workplace etiquette, since this was my first office job. Although I would not trade my experience for the world, I have discovered that I do not necessarily want to pursue a career in which I focus solely on computer research. I realize now that I want to be able to do field research and speak with more people. In terms of my personal goal, my internship allowed me to work on my organizational skills, something I have struggled with throughout my academic career. Especially because I worked on multiple projects at a time, I improved my time management skills.
The goal I defined as my academic goal certainly changed over the course of my internship. My goal previously focused specifically on providing context for my human rights independent disciplinary major. While I will use the information I obtained this summer to help guide the formation of my IIM, I began to focus on learning as much as possible while I had access to such an abundance of valuable resources, rather than on what I would do with that information later on. Besides completing my defined goals, I learned about my own style of research and research methods and was able to expand my approach to research.
If a student were to ask me about my experience at Verité, I would only give praise of my time there. However, if they were to apply for the same internship, I would warn them of the intensity of the research. Although the environment at Verité is cheerful, warm and welcoming, the subject matter is emotionally draining. Verité’s work revolves around researching human labor trafficking, forced child labor, and unsafe working conditions. We research unfair conditions around the world, and the information one finds can often be incredibly sad. However, the staff at Verité all research similar topics—they are always available as a sounding board, and to offer help, whether it is help with work questions or just someone to talk with.
To anyone leaning towards working in the field of human rights, I would strongly encourage that career choice. It is a career path that works for something that is bigger than oneself. Other than it being morally rewarding, one can truly implement changes if they put in the work, whether those changes are small scale or larger, such as policy shifts.

Check out Verité’s new “Knowledge Portal”
This summer I am most proud of the pace at which I learned, which was in large part due to the amazing people who surrounded me at work. My main supervisor consistently checked in with me and guided my research, while other project supervisors each paid special attention to the interns assigned to their projects. Because people were always available when I needed help, I felt supported throughout my entire internship. Before I sign off, I encourage you guys to take a look at a report released by Verité in January 2016, “An Exploratory Study on the Role of Corruption in International Labor Migration”

Georgia Nichols ’18

Midpoint at Verité

As I reach the halfway point in my internship, things are beginning to pick up at Verité.  Deadlines are rapidly approaching for some projects, while other projects are just being started.  My fellow interns and I have finally become fully comfortable with our roles and responsibilities at Verité, and have learned how to manage our time surrounding those responsibilities.

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Entrance of Verité

I have lived in Amherst, MA, for the majority of my life, so I did not expect to experience it differently throughout the course of my internship.  However, the research I have done this summer has altered how I view the world, including how I see my small hometown. After being at Verité, I have become more inclined to take into account the nature and extent of each individual’s rights, specifically labor rights, whether I am buying produce from a local family farm or am buying food at a mega supermarket chain.

My emotions at the office are more dichotomous.  On the one hand, I spend my time at work researching abhorrent topics such as child labor and human trafficking in an attempt to eventually contribute to the eradication of those human rights abuses. Read the 2016 Trafficking Report here

On the other hand, the people who surround me at Verité are not simply co-workers; rather, they are a community of people who provide one another with support—whether it is career-based or emotional.  I am incredibly thankful to be surrounded by such genuinely good and caring people, who not only push me to learn new skills and information, but who also take the time to sit down with me and hash out any questions I may have.

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The Main Conference Room

I have found both similarities and differences in the world of work in comparison to university and academic life. The main similarity is that research plays a major part in both settings. However, in a university setting, the research goes into some kind of project or paper, which is demonstrative of my academic capabilities and displays what I have learned. In the world of work, my research is for other people. Rather than hoping to get a good grade, I am instead striving to help others. The effects of this research are more immediately impactful. When at school, if I lose focus or procrastinate, it is generally only myself who is affected by it. If I poorly managed my time at my internship, I would be guilty of negatively affecting many. At Verité, each individual comes together to form a community. We work together on projects and ideas, so losing focus is not an option if one wants to keep up. (Check out Verité’s monthly newsletter!)

My time at Verité has allowed me to expand my skillset. This internship has been my first office job, so spending all my time at a computer has been an adjustment. Prior to Verité, I often had trouble managing multiple projects and tasks, and would become overwhelmed. However working in an office has taught me effective ways to organize myself and manage my time. While working in an office is not necessarily what I want to do in the future, it has been an important and valuable experience.

Georgia Nichols, ’18

My First Week at Verité

This summer I will be a research intern at an organization called Verité, which is located in Amherst, Massachusetts. Verité is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that promotes fair, safe and legal labor practices around the world. In particular, they address forced labor/slavery, child labor, systemic gender inequalities and discrimination within the workplace, and dangerous working conditions. They provide four major services including assessment, research, training and consultation in order to help companies identify any problems or violations within their labor supply chains. Verité facilitates working relationships with local NGOs, governments, and international institutions in order to increase accountability among corporations and to expand the capacity of local NGOs.

The entrance to the lower floor of Verité, where the interns work
The entrance to the lower floor of Verité, where the interns work

The community at Verité is warm and welcoming, and the interns are made to feel like a part of that community. On my first day, my fellow interns and I congregated around an oval table in a small conference room where we were introduced to our supervisors, and were given a presentation outlining our responsibilities. The presentation contained staple resources which we will use in our research, such as the US Department of State Trafficking in Persons reports, and the International Labour Organization’s website.

Throughout the summer, I will be assigned to help out with various projects. My first project is to update a few annual reports assessing production labor practices in specific countries; at the moment, I am working on the Taiwan report. A large American pension fund uses these updated reports to guide their investments.  Highlighting changes in each country’s labor practices report, whether the new information is positive or negative, will allow the pension fund to make more socially responsible investments, thus supporting countries with fair labor practices.

Because there is a no naming-and-shaming policy at Verité, much of the information I am given to research, as well as the standing of certain organizations, must remain confidential. However, the research I do will be used to establish statistics that will eventually be presented to the public.

Much of the Verité’s work revolves around combating forced labor. In this TEDx talk, Dan Viederman, the former CEO of Verité, gives an in-depth explanation on modern-day slavery in labor supply chains.

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My desk space and research materials

At Brandeis, I hope to create an independent interdisciplinary major (IIM) in human rights. I believe that this internship will be a highly valuable experience that will contribute to how I shape and focus my major. I hope to expand my researching skills, in order to positively contribute to Verité, as well as to learn new information for myself. Being immersed in an organization that focuses solely on human rights is an incredible opportunity, as I will be able to communicate with and learn from people who have varying roles in the world of human rights, which will allow me to explore the abundance of careers available in that field.

Verité's beautiful backyard/lunch break destination
Verité’s beautiful backyard/lunch break destination

Georgia Nichols, ’18