Welcome to barbhowe.com!
I'm actually a classically trained visual artist originally. I got to college on an art scholarship and I still do some figure drawing and painting in my spare time. I switched to English and was immersed in reading and writing about the great books when I decided it wasn't enough to use art to create a better world; one had to get one's hands dirty as well. That's when I decided to try to make a career of working for human rights.
I have worked and traveled all over the Americas, providing international accompaniment of civilians in rural Colombia and doing research as a graduate student for Habitat for Humanity studying the impact of housing in low-income communities in Chile. In the U.S. I have been involved in campaigns to raise awareness of homelessness, end the death penalty and stop the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I have spent the past three years doing communications and advocacy work for a small nonprofit organization that works for migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the U.S..
I speak English and Spanish and have worked in bilingual environments both here in the U.S. and abroad. My B.A is in English Literature and my M.A. is in International Relations.
I'm currently discerning the next stage of my career and look forward to new challenges and opportunities. I hope this website represents a more complete picture of my life's work and who I am because I'm very proud of both. Here, in addition to my resume, you can find a sampling of my writing and photography. Thanks for visiting!
Resume
Barb Howe
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www.barbhowe.com
Bilingual communications and advocacy specialist with experience designing and implementing hard-hitting human rights campaigns for both domestic and internationally-focused non-governmental organizations involving immigration, labor rights, civil rights, global justice, US foreign policy, and economic and social justice issues.
Education:
BA English Literature, University of South Florida, 1998
MA International Relations, University of Florida, 2006
Experience:
- Communications Consultant, Born Lucky Productions, Inc. Acted as a consultant for an event/promotions company organizing an annual 3 day festival; developed social media outreach strategy, coordinated the publication of the event program and other promotional materials. June 2011 to September 2011.
- Communications Coordinator, Farmworker Justice. Planned and implemented a comprehensive communications campaign for the organization’s work on behalf of farmworkers. Wrote op-eds, blog posts human interest stories and reports to educate Congress, media, and the public; coordinated organizational publications (newsletters, brochures, annual report); engaged in media outreach and public education events; built and maintained the organization’s websites. Coordinated coalitions between nonprofit organizations and utilized social media tools as part of strategic online advocacy campaigns. November 2007 to October 2010.
- Translator, Watching America (http://www.watchingamerica.com) and World Meets Us (http://www.worldmeets.us). Translator of editorials regarding U.S. foreign or domestic policy. Fall 2006 to present.
- Research Internship, Coca-Cola World Citizenship Program, Habitat for Humanit Latin America and Caribbean office. Carried out an impact study of housing communities in four Latin American countries. May 22 to August 4, 2006.
- Full time volunteer corps member, Christian Peacemaker Teams. Provided international accompaniment for threatened individuals and communities in conflict zones. Worked as part of an international team to deploy non-violent conflict resolution and de-escalation strategies. Analyzed policies and practices of the U.S. government in relation to refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other human rights issues in Colombia and Canada. January 2003 to June 2004.
- Co-founder and volunteer, H.O.M.E. (Homeless Outreach Mobile Effort) Van, a mobile, free “store” providing socks, personal hygiene products and food to homeless residents. September 2002 to 2006.
Relevant coursework:
• Gender and International Development
• Politics of US Foreign Policy
• Trade and Human Rights in the Americas (at the University of Florida Levin College of Law)
Advocacy Skills: Familiar with U.S. government procedures and agencies; experience organizing and prepping materials for Congressional and press briefings; experience with fostering coalition campaigns among civil society groups, government agencies and private citizens; experience collaborating on fundraising and development campaigns.
Computer skills: Familiar with PC, Mac and Linux operating systems; MS Office Suite, Adobe Photoshop; Google Applications; installation, set up and administration of online Content Management Systems (such as Joomla!); phpBB (open-source software for online forums) and MediaWiki; fluent in CSS and HTML markups plus rudimentary knowledge of PHP and MySQL databases.
Languages:
English (native) Spanish (semi-fluent)
References available upon request.
