Originally from small town Nebraska, Ashley van Waes is now pursuing her Master’s in Global Human Development at Georgetown University. Prior to this, Ashley earned her Bachelor’s degree summa cum laude at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln with a focus on International Business, Spanish, and Economics. Following her undergraduate matriculation, she moved to New Orleans to work in disaster relief as a caseworker with the American Red Cross. This formative experience led her to pursue a dream of helping to build resilient communities abroad. She accepted a position working with a women’s microfinance group in rural eastern Uganda, where she worked with the community to provide consistent and reliable financial services to thousands of local businesswomen. Most recently, Ashley worked for Namati, an international organization working with grassroots practitioners to increase communities’ ability to know, use, and shape the law. Through this position, she has worked on justice issues affecting communities ranging from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Shan State, Myanmar. These experiences have left a mark on her view of the world, and it is her intention to be a driving force behind cost-effective, meaningful, local approaches to international development. Ashley is excited to further her knowledge at Georgetown, and is particularly interested in monitoring, evaluation, and data-driven program design.