Sara Shoener

This month’s AAUW Fellow is Sara Shoener at the Columbia School of Public Health. She’ll be sharing her plans with us at the December Empire teleconference.

Sara is currently the Project Manager for a program funded through the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence against Women called the Consumer Rights for Domestic Violence Survivors Initiative. They provide training and consultation to attorneys and advocates who work on behalf of survivors of domestic violence, particularly to enhance their consumer rights advocacy efforts.

For example, they just held training on credit repair and advocacy for survivors, and next month they will be hosting training on federal tax advocacy for survivors. This work stems from our goal to enhance women’s economic security in order to successfully seek safety for themselves and their families. They are also about to start working with the White House’s Equal Futures Partnership to expand women’s economic and political participation.Sara’s university (Columbia) had AAUW listed as a potential source of support for doctoral students working on their dissertation research.

Her first contact with AAUW was the submission of her dissertation fellowship application, and then Shana Sabbath emailing to notify her that she was selected.

You can read Sara’s profile and interview here.