NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Abby is currently a junior at Vanderbilt University majoring in Medicine, Health & Society (MHS) and Latin American Studies. She is member of the Ingram Scholarship Program, a full-tuition scholarship awarded to undergraduates committed to a life of civic engagement. Through the support of this program, she participated in Northwestern University’s Global Engagement Summer Institute (GESI) in 2009. Lauren learned about the principles of Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD), an approach to community development that privileges examining assets and skills over deficiencies and needs, hence mobilizing local community members to take ownership of sustainable change. Lauren was stationed in Jinja, Uganda, where she learned alongside villagers how to cultivate mushrooms as a micro-enterprise solution to poverty.