Sarah F. Wicks is seeking a Master's of Social Work degree and has over 10 years of experience working in social services, community organizing, and archives management. She holds a B.A. in Spanish and has lived and worked in Mexico, Los Angeles, and throughout Iowa. Her professional experience includes coordinating archives acquisitions, managing a digital humanities project documenting the Postville immigration raid, providing legal assistance to immigrants, and operating an organic farm with her husband.

1. Sarah F. Wicks
304 Center Ave. Decorah, Iowa, 52101 / sarahwicks01@gmail.com / 563.382.3216
Education
University of North Dakota / Master’s of Social Work degree candidate
Luther College / Decorah, Iowa
B.A. Spanish
Autonomous University of Yucatan / Merida, Mexico, Fall Semester, 2005
University Study Abroad- advanced Spanish language, Mayan history and Mexican
Literature courses
ProfessionalExperience
Collections Coordinator / Luther College, Feb. 2014-July 2015
Coordinated the acquisition, appraisal, accessioning, and processing of new
materials as they were donated to the archives, supervised and created projects for
five undergraduate student workers and one paraprofessional staff member, served
as the primary point of contact for reference requests and outreach activities within
the campus community as well as with external patrons, worked alongside staff and
patrons to complete reference and researchrequests and special projects, and
served as a member of the College Collections board.
Postville Project Manager / Luther College, Jan. 2012-July 2015
Manager of a digital humanities initiative funded by the State Historical Society of
Iowa (SHSI) to document the community of Postville, Iowa before, during and after
the 2008 immigration raid in that community. Project management included driving
and sustaining a collaborative partnership with two team members at the University
of Northern Iowa (UNI) and two additional team members at Luther College.
Implemented a successful outreach campaign to bring in 15 new collections to the
project and process them into the digital catalog. Created a new project website
(www.postvilleproject.org) and worked in partnership with team members at UNI to
create a presence for the project on their digital collection software. Assisted with
the successful submission of two grant proposals to SHSI as well as comprehensive
final grant reports. Served as an advocate for the value of special collections that
document social issues and community tragedies through institutional involvement
and regional presentations.
Outreach Coordinator / Winneshiek Energy District, Green Iowa Americorps,
Oct. 2010- April 2011
Created outreach events in the community to educate and promote energy
conservation. Such activities included the creation of a curriculum to teach an

2. Energy Saving Cooking Class series at the Oneota Food Cooperative. Worked
together with a team of other Americorps volunteers to schedule communicate and,
conduct energy audits throughout Winneshiek County. Implemented weatherization
efforts to low-income households throughout the county area.
Owner/Operator / Given Gardens, LLC, 2009-2012
Managed a five-acre certified organic vegetable farm with my husband. Provided
produce to wholesale, farmers markets and CSA (Community Supported
Agriculture) members in the northeast Iowa region. Managed two college
volunteers, maintained paperwork and recordkeeping for certification process,
created marketing materials, created and maintained a website and participated in
the Land Stewardship Project’s beginning farmer program.
Bilingual Immigration Paralegal / Central American Resource Center, Jesuit
Volunteer Corps, 2007-2008
Offered low-cost immigration consultations and legal case management to primarily
Central American immigrants and refugees. Offered walk-in consultations for
minors, adults, and family clients. Worked most closely with cases involving victims
of violent crimes and domestic abuse, applying for U-Visas and the VAWA relief
program. Maintained an average caseload of about 12 at any given time. Worked
together with clients to create a written testimony that detailed the violence they
suffered that qualified them for one of the relief programs. Testimonies were then
transcribed and translated and submitted together with full case to USCIS.
Presentations
“The Presence of Digital Archives at Luther College: The Postville Project”
Luther College Faculty Research Symposium, Decorah, IA, Nov. 2013
“As It Happens: Documenting Community Tragedies and Transformations”
Midwest Archives Conference, Indianapolis, IN, April 2013
“The New Wave of Rural Latino Immigration in the United States: A Look Inside
of Postville, Iowa”
Luther College Senior Research Symposium, Decorah, IA, May 2007
Volunteer Experience
Justice For Our Neighbors Interpretation Coordinator and committee member
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church / Jan. 2014-July 2015
Worked with the Iowa branch of Justice for Our Neighbors, a faith-based ministry
that provides high-quality, low-cost legal services to new immigrants as well as
advocacy and education in the communities where new groups are settling
throughout the state of Iowa. Assisted in preparing all of the logistical arrangements
to host the legal clinics on a quarterly basis. Recruited, coordinated, and scheduled

3. teams of interpreters to volunteer during the legal clinics. Worked as intake
volunteer, completing general consultation paperwork with clients and interpreting
all forms and conversation in Spanish.
Resettlement Support Committee / Northeast Iowa Peace and Justice Center,
2012-July 2015
Assisted families who were resettling from Guatemala to northeast Iowa with U-
Visas as a result of their involvement in the 2008 immigration raid in Postville. The
committee developed a microloan program to assist individuals with basic
resettlement needs such as furniture, housing, and transportation. Provided
translation services, assisted with Medicaid applications, social security applications
and medical appointments.
Event Planning Committee Member / Women, Food and Agriculture Network,
2012-2013
Worked with an eight-member committee to create programming for the annual,
Women in Sustainable Agriculture Fall Harvest Gathering. Arranged for conference
speakers, worked with local businesses to gather silent auction items, participated
in weekly conference calls, facilitated the program schedule, and assessed evaluation
forms.
Secretary and Board Member / Winneshiek County Farmers Market,
2010-2012
Attended monthly board meetings, recorded and sent out meeting minutes and
presented an annual report twice a year during general member meetings. Worked
with a team to successfully develop a new location for the farmers market and a new
stall assignment system for market vendors.
Jesuit Volunteer Corps member / Los Angeles, CA, 2007-2008
Worked as a bilingual immigration paralegal at the Central American Resource
Center. Lived in intentional community with four other JVC members. Participated in
weekly spirituality exercises, program retreats, and was exposed to many other non-
profit organizations throughout the city.
ELL teacher: Postville Adult Education / Postville, Iowa, 2005-2007
Co-taught a small class of beginning ELL adult students two nights per week.
Created lesson plans focused on basic vocabulary and grammar techniques, spelling
and pronunciation and basic conversation.
Basic Needs Intake Specialist / Neighborhood House, St. Paul, MN.,
Summer 2004
As part of the Luther College social work department summer field placement
course, I interned as a basic needs intake specialist. Met with clients in English and
Spanish and discussed what basic needs they were struggling with and connected
them with resources and offered them referrals. Maintained case notes for each
client. Served clients in through the food pantry program.

4. References
Daniel Sharp
Legal Director
Central American Resource Center
2845 West 7th St., Los Angeles, CA 90005
(213) 385-7800 x153
Thomas Kessler
Associate Professor and Social Sciences Bibliographer
University of Northern Iowa
1227 West 27th Street
Cedar Falls, IA 50614
(319) 273-2810
Sasha Griffin
University Archivist
Denison University
100 West College St.
Granville, OH 43023
(740) 587-6399