Ann's blog

I came to nonprofit work as a second career. At first, I was a lawyer working for the federal government in the Labor Department, hoping my litigation work protecting worker health and safety initially, and then people's pensions, meant I was doing something worthwhile. When I left, I eventually wound up as inside counsel for a rapidly growing financial services company, and wham bang, I was in corporate America, making lots of money, and still hoping I was a good person because we were protecting people's retirement funds. It was there that I had my mid-life transition, found my feminist streak, and left it all behind to finish a master's in Whole Systems Design/Organization Systems Renewal at Antioch University Seattle. Which led to several years of not making enough money to support myself and my son. But that's what savings were for! Eventually, years of volunteering led to a nonprofit career that introduced me to great people who wanted to make the world a better place. 

One of my best volunteer experiences was on an advisory board for the Seattle office of the International Rescue Committee. My horizons really expanded into the world of refugees and what they endure. I learned of the lost boys of the Sudan, and have followed their stories ever since. It's not surprising that the IRC and one of the Sudanese success stories found their way into the Trilogy. What is surprising is how over ten years later, the work of the IRC has become even more compelling, and the misery of South Sudan continues to grow.