Ashley Steiner

I grew up in a suburb of Chicago and spent most of my childhood volunteering with my family either locally or internationally. My family first had the idea to get involved with international service after a vacation to Southern Spain when I was 8 years old. We took a day trip to Morocco and began to see different needs around the world. Starting at age 10, every year my family would take a service trip to either build a playground or a home in a rural area in different Latin American countries. Each community and culture taught me something different and truly impacted my global perspective. All my life, service has been a big part of my story. We ended up volunteering a couple of times in Guatemala, specifically in Zone 3 of the city. This Zone is composed of several communities surrounding the city's landfill and is either completely or partially dependent on it for survival. My twin sister and I knew we wanted to come alongside these communities, so at the age of 15 we started our 501(c) nonprofit organization, HOPE'S IN NFP. Our nonprofit's mission is to empower families living in Guatemala and help develop the next generation of humanitarian leaders. Our organization continued to operate while I went to further my education at IE University in Madrid, in 2015, where I was part of the Bachelor in International Relations Program. During my time in the program, I was also able to complete an exchange to Sciences Po, in Paris, and hold internships at The Borgen Project, Human Rights Watch, and the Embassy of Pakistan. I graduated from IE in 2019 and then returned to the US to work in Washington, DC, at the Public International and Policy Group which is a non-profit organization, operating as a global pro bono law firm providing free legal assistance to developing states and sub-state entities involved in conflicts. After almost a year of working there, I transitioned jobs to the AlphaMundi Foundation in DC, which is an impact investing nonprofit supporting SMEs across Africa and Latin America. My time in these positions helped me to understand different aspects and impact areas of nonprofit work. After two years of work in DC, I returned to Chicago to work as Co-Founder and Director of HOPE'S IN. My goals in life include continuing to grow HOPE'S IN and always seeking to help improve the lives of others. I specifically want to make our organization's changes in Guatemala sustainable and ones that can empower future generations. I am proud of what my twin sister and I have been able to develop for HOPE'S IN between the two of us (operating with only one staff member's hours) including our five programs in Guatemala: home building (we've built 55 homes and will complete 60 by the end of this summer); medical initiatives (including over a USD 120k endowment fund which grants funds to local Guatemalan leaders’ medical work); Fortaleza (our program for at-risk women and young girls which is currently empowering 24 women to continue their education, receive medical support including psychology, and much more); our INclusion Alliance (which works with a team of speech pathologists, special educators and advocates in the US to provide training and educational seminars for leaders and advocates in Guatemala); and our INternship program (which works with local students and young adults with disabilities to fundraise for our mission year round). Through these different programs and the help of our students, HOPE'S IN has raised over USD 1M for our mission and we know we are just getting started.

How did IE help you get to where you are today?

IE helped me immensely with my professional and personal development which ultimately led me to where I am today. IE has a strong foundation for educating and equipping students to apply what they learn in the classroom to the real world. Through the personalised curriculum I was able to develop in the BIR program, I took courses that were directly applicable to what I wanted to do in the future and were taught by top educators. I was also given the opportunity to study at Sciences Po, which was a dream of mine to do while studying International Relations. Additionally, my classmates in BIR came from all different backgrounds, something I found to be key when learning about international relations. IE's diversity not only helped me learn from first-hand experiences of others and their cultures, but also helped me to be more adaptable, understanding, and collaborative in my life and work. Furthermore, when looking to apply for jobs after graduating, I found that during my interviews, most employers were most interested in learning about my degree from IE. My studies made me a unique applicant and gave my employers confidence in hiring me for the positions I held within the international relations field. Ultimately, studying at IE shaped the trajectory for my life today. My studies and connections with students opened doors for different job opportunities and helped to guide me into the leader I am for HOPE'S IN today.

In what way is your work impacting the world?

Over the past 12 years HOPE’S IN has grown in all five of our programs (home building, medical initiatives, Fortaleza, INclusion Alliance, and our INternship program), with our work in Guatemala impacting many different communities in Zone 3 of Guatemala City. Our mission we view as being two fold: empowering families in Guatemala and developing the next generation of humanitarian leaders. In regards to Guatemala, we have brought over 550+ volunteers from around the world to participate in one of our week long service learning exchanges. HOPE’S IN has employed two full-time, female, staff from within the areas we serve to run our Fortaleza Program which helps 24 young mothers and girls. Within this program, we’ve had success in helping women return to school. In fact, one of our participants was the first female in her family’s entire known history to graduate from high school. Scholarships within our Fortaleza program have also allowed for another participant to pursue her law degree which she is on track to complete this year. We have additional statistics on our impact in Guatemala on our website: www.hopesin.org In the aspect of developing humanitarian leaders we have focused locally, in the Chicagoland area, to craft a service learning curriculum that has been shared with a local university and have worked hard to diversify our volunteer force. This includes our Young Adult INternship Program, which is led by a special educator and teaches adults with disabilities who have aged out of the state education program, different life skills, foster independence, and the importance of giving back to their community. Our Young Adult INterns have been featured on Chicago’s live news channels ABC 7 and WGN TV. We’ve promoted a message of the importance of giving back in diverse settings such as high school cafeterias, Rotary meetings, to even corporate conferences. Our awareness building has ultimately given us the privilege to work with over 500+ local volunteers for different fundraising events in the US, of which, many go on to serve in other local and global organizations.

What drove you to work for a cause that believes in the greater good?

I can still remember walking into an all girls orphanage in the countryside of Guatemala when I was ten years old. My parents brought me and my siblings there with an organization to help build a playground for the children in their care. The girls and I connected as children do, through play and laughter. They left an impression on me with their joyful spirits and hopeful perspectives. We didn’t exchange many words but they changed my life forever. Now nearly two decades later, people I meet through my work still are shaping me. This human connection, which has strengthened my empathy and humbled me as a person, is what drives me to work for something bigger than myself. I’ve also found that working for the greater good results in a common good; my life has been filled with purpose and meaning through it all."