1. [MCSPADDEN PUBLIC AFFAIRS FUND INTERN PROFILE]
Sheya Jabouin graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover,
MA in 2011. At Phillips Academy, Sheya was a member of
SLAM Step Team, Director of Hypnotiq (hip hop dance
troupe), a Blue Key Head, and a participant in the
Alternative Spring Break trip in Johns Island, South Carolina.
At Dartmouth, Sheya was a participant on the ASB trip to
Immokelee, FL. She is a SEAD IV Mentor, she is a member of
SHEBA Dance Troupe, WOCC, and a co-director of SHEBAlite
during the summer term. As co-director of SHEBAlite, she
organizes the agenda for practice three times a week,
manages the troupe’s finances and budget, books and
schedules a minimum of six shows per term, creates the set
for each show, creates the mixes for each show, and
manages the troupes overall morale. After graduating, Sheya hopes to attend law school or
enter the field of women's rights, urban and education policy.
Sheya was funded by the Rockefeller Center for a Fall 2013 internship, with generous support
from the McSpadden Public Affairs Internship Fund.
Executive Summary from Sheya’s final report:
During my internship at the National Organization for Women (NOW) as a Government
Relations and Public Policy Intern, I was given a crash course in the world of activism, feminism,
grassroots work, civil liberties and of course policy. I
“I hope to continue down this path
was one of two interns on the Government
Relations/Public Policy Team. As an intern, I spent
and seize other opportunities that
most of my time conducting research on various
allow me to meet and work with
issues, such as sex discrimination as it applies to gay
people who are committed to
rights, domestic violence, women of color, and
reproductive rights. I used the research collected on
fighting from the grassroots up.”
these topics to develop talking points and discussion
questions. The purpose of my research was to clearly outline how the passage of the Equal
Rights Amendment could address issues of violence against women, reproductive rights, gay
rights, and women of color.

2. Over the course of the term, I edited and re-edited and rewrote the talking points and
discussion questions up until the day of the ERA Conference at Roger Williams University School
of Law in Rhode Island. Jan Erickson, my supervisor, took myself and another intern with her to
the two-day conference on the ERA. At the conference, I was able to learn more about the ERA,
and meet many influential and well-known women in the feminist movement. I was able to
have lunch with Ellie Smeal, the president of Feminist Majority, and many other inspiring
women’s activists. To supplement my research on the ERA, I attended several conferences,
senate hearings, and panels around DC. I also worked on several smaller projects related to
sexual assault on college campuses, and the CRPD Treaty.
This internship made me realize how much I enjoy research, activism, and working for an
organization that fights for human rights. I hope to continue down this path and seize other
opportunities that allow me to meet and work with people who are committed to fighting from
the grassroots up.
Sheya Jabouin '15 spent Fall 2013 at the National Organization for Women.