Please give a brief background on yourself and your career.
With a double major in Political Science (honors) and Middle Eastern Studies, I graduated in the grim economic recession of 2009. After receiving Wellesley’s Barbara Bush Volunteerism award to work in Ithaca on disability services for preschoolers that summer, I opted out of the disparaging job search many of my classmates took on and moved to Morocco, living abroad for four years. In Morocco, I taught English and consulted for the Moroccan government’s Court of Accounts, and got the itch to move after just a year.
My partner and I, then, bought one-way tickets to Istanbul, Turkey, where I found myself at the center of feminist activism. I created and directed the Istanbul branch of Hollaback, called Canimiz Sokakta (in Turkish: “We’re alive on the streets”) to use mobile technology, crowdsourcing, and the power of storytelling to combat street harassment; see my Wellesley Underground posts for more details. This role was exactly what I had been seeking since leaving Wellesley: consequential challenge and a group of supportive, intellectual, active women. Even though I was creating wide support and a social movement, I remained acutely aware of myself as a foreigner — I was in the often uncomfortable position of working on community change as an outsider of that very community.
My partner and I left Turkey in 2012, and moved to London to complete our Master’s degrees at the London School of Economics (LSE). Any inkling towards getting a PhD was quickly erased, as I realized that being in the field and advocating in-person was what fueled me. While there, I worked with a cohort of LSE students to launch MacroDigest.com, a website that clusters the expansive conversation around the global economy to promote wider financial literacy.
After London, I sought an international environment but in a place where I could be a part of local change and join a welcoming community, so we moved to NYC in January 2014. Currently, I’m the Operations Manager at PublicStuff, a start-up that helps citizens and their local governments better communicate and cooperate through mobile apps and web-based platforms. I’m also an NLC fellow participating in an institute that builds the next generation of progressive entrepreneurs and political leaders.
How has your career changed since you originally envisioned it at Wellesley? What other careers did you consider as a student?
After graduating, I intended to be in a research-based, behind-the-scenes type of role weighing in on debates about democracy, development, and Islam. Having always thought of myself as a mild-mannered introvert, my undergraduate self definitely didn’t realize how many leadership roles I would naturally take on. In a room of alpha, outspoken leaders, I am never the shining personality. Yet my experience becoming an authority on a specialized subject, speaking in front of hundreds, and forging relationships with local leaders, governments, and associations has taught me that effective leaders aren’t always the best at schmoozing or the most outspoken. Rather than become a scholar of Islam and politics, I’ve used my knowledge of Islamic history to build cross-cultural relationships with my coworkers and peers, and openly discuss gender-based violence in the Muslim countries I’ve lived in.
How has Wellesley contributed to your career?
Wellesley’s network is expansive. Our Wellesley Women in Turkey group of ten alumnae provided a supportive, interested community abroad. The Wellesley Facebook groups are another extension and by combing through this powerful network, I continuously find amazing resources, valuable connections, and such insight. I don’t know anyone else with a network like this, no matter where they studied. Moreover, I really found that the interdisciplinary perspective I gained at Wellesley has taught me to look at issues as interconnected and complex, rather than black and white or simplistic. Similarly, I don’t expect a linear career, and I feel that not specializing gives me a more expansive understanding of the world around me, one that I’m prepared to explore.
What is a typical work day or work week like for you?
Every Monday morning I create a list of goals I should accomplish by the end of the week, including both important tasks for work and my own private goals. As the Operations Manager, I’m at the intersection of Sales, Account Management, Finance, HR, Legal, and Marketing, and ensure our general operations. This requires maintaining open communication with our team to make sure they can be successful in their work, resolving one-off issues that come up, maintaining relations with our partners and vendors, and being involved in long-term strategic decisions regarding how we can better operate with regards to onboarding clients and our financial budgeting and projections. At the end of the week, I manage our Beer Fridays where the team comes together Friday afternoon to unwind and build personal relationships.
What piece of advice would you offer students looking to get into start-ups and the tech industry?
When starting up any type of initiative, the one thing I always tell people is to meet anyone who will listen to what your passion and vision are. At the center of my projects have been the need to create a community, and to do so, I’ve needed to talk and listen to as many people as possible, which made it much easier to expand my resources later on. In any project, get a team of people behind you who believe in you, believe in the project and are invested–not only in financial terms–in your success.
Specifically in the tech and startup industry, there are meetups, groups, and resource centers in most major cities around the world such as General Assembly and Make Sense, as well as online resources.
What do you wish you had known as a student?
Looking back, I felt overarching fears of failure and inadequacy at Wellesley. On one hand, I didn’t appreciate that class performance was only one metric among many, extra-curricular activities, attending lectures, participating in internships and fellowships, enjoying social events, being with strong, opinionated women—and by no means the most important metric. On another, I often felt as though I didn’t have much to add to discussions or conversations because I wasn’t the most traveled, well read, nor well endowed in resources or network. Only towards the end of my time did I realize that coming from a low-income, single parent family gave me a unique and important perspective not just at Wellesley but in the world.
If you could come back and take one class at Wellesley what would it be?
Professor Sealing Cheng’s course on Love and Intimacy in the Women’s & Gender Studies was one of the few that really challenged me academically and personally, and to this day I really wish I had been advocated more to take her seminar on Sex Trafficking, especially considering my unexpected path in global gender-based violence.