Alexis Person: My PILA Scholarship
First Person: Summer with Voices for Georgia's Children
This summer I had the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of children when I interned with Voices for Georgia's Children, a nonprofit child policy and advocacy organization.
I was eager to work for an organization that focuses on improving children's overall well-being. Working for Voices exposed me to a nontraditional legal experience, and I will be forever grateful for the opportunity it gave me. The experience was invaluable.
While working under the associate director of child health policy, I attended meetings with several leading health agencies and organizations in Georgia and worked on two policy briefs regarding children's health insurance and the collaborative efforts necessary to combat childhood obesity. My projects required extensive research, writing and planning, and I organized a children's Medicaid and PeachCare enrollment event to increase the number of insured children in Georgia.
Knowing that I was helping to make a difference in the lives of children made the work beyond rewarding. Overall, I gained a deeper understanding of providing decision makers with necessary research to make informed decisions and the importance of policies that improve the physical, mental and emotional well-being of children.
I had concerns that I would not be able to devote enough time to the internship because I would need to get a job to pay my bills. However, the PILA fellowship made it possible for me to focus my time and attention on my internship. The entire experience confirmed my desire to make public interest work a part of my legal career, and PILA made it possible.
- Alexis Person (J.D. '15)