Sociology major Lissette Cabral ’21 is doing all she can to help the poor and uplift girls around the world, and she’s doing it all remotely through an internship with The Borgen Project, a national campaign working to end world hunger and to make poverty a focus for U.S. foreign policy. “Interning with The Borgen Project interested me because I want to help end poverty around the world,” says Cabral, who learned about the opportunity through John Jay’s Center for Career and Professional Development. “I was also interested in working with The Borgen Project because they’re helping to advance policy that will help educate girls around the world. My mother was never able to finish school, so this work means a lot to me. Taking part in the work that The Borgen Project is doing is going to help change the lives of so many people around the world. It’s been inspiring for me.”

Finding Her Way to John Jay
Growing up, Cabral’s parents always stressed the importance of her getting an education. “To my parents, it’s so important for me and my sisters to go to College and earn our degrees,” she says, reflecting on her parents’ journey. “In the Dominican Republic, my mother couldn’t go to college—she was one of 14 siblings—but my father did, and he went on to become a middle school teacher.” Wanting more for their children, Cabral’s parents moved to the U.S. “I was eight years old when we came to the U.S. We didn’t have a place to live and lived with family for a year,” says Cabral, recalling the transition. “It was tough because we didn’t speak the language. I learned basic English words because my father would bring home toys to help teach my sisters and me how to translate words. As I grew older, my father would say, ‘I had to travel far to get to college. You just have to take the train. There’s no excuse.’” When the opportunity to apply to college presented itself, Cabral set her sights on John Jay. “At first I didn’t get accepted because I was unable to meet the requirements, but I wasn’t going to give up and applied a year later,” recalls Cabral, who was drawn to the College’s mission of public service and its Sociology program. “What’s great about sociology is how inclusive the field of work is. You can explore so many different routes and help so many groups of people with a sociology degree.”

Interning with The Borgen Project
As an intern at The Borgen Project, Cabral is helping to contribute to the non-profit’s mission of advancing policies and programs that improve living conditions for people living in poverty. “I work with the marketing and public relations team where I help with funding through online donations, creating digital flyers, and outreach to celebrities and influencers who use their platforms to promote important bills. One of my main tasks is to call and email members of Congress about bills that The Borgen Project is supporting. Sometimes we email and contact the White House, too,” she says. For Cabral, this internship has taught her how important it is to work with the those who have a public platform. She’s seen how they can help spread the word, educate the public, and combat poverty.

The internship has also given Cabral a greater understanding of poverty’s connection to a lack of education for girls. “In a letter I sent out to a local newspaper earlier this month, I focused on the issue of giving girls the opportunity to go to school. There are 130 million girls all around the world who are not in school,” says Cabral, adding that when you educate girls, you help empower entire communities. “My mom didn’t go to college. The conditions that she lived in didn’t make it possible,” says Cabral. “My mother tells me, ‘You are one person, but you are one person who can make a difference.’ If through The Borgen Project I can help one girl buy school supplies or have the opportunity to go to school through raising awareness and donation money, I will be glad.”

Supporting the Girls LEAD Act
The Borgen Project’s Girls LEAD Act seeks to “strengthen the participation of young girls in democracy, human rights, and governance” by making education more accessible to girls around the world. “Ninety percent of the work that I do in this internship position involves the Girls LEAD Act and fighting to get girls in school. All issues relating to poverty are important to address, but I am constantly questioning why girls have this disadvantage compared to boys,” says Cabral. “The Girls LEAD Act means a lot to me because it will help increase the educational opportunities for girls around the world, empowering them, their communities, and paving the way for a better future.”