WENDY: My name is Wendy and I work
in the Office of War Crimes Issues
here is a Franklin Fellow.
So I came to the Franklin Fellows Program
when I was at a fork in the road in my career in industry.
I was going to move up in the company.
And it was a time when I understood that it will be
kind of an irreversible track.
And I really wanted to explore this passion of mine
that I'd been nurturing for some years in international law
and human rights.
And so my passion really hadn't matched up
with where I was in my career.
And the Franklin Fellowship Program
allowed me to utilize that educational experience, as well
as the management and substantive experience that I
gained in my old company.
And engage in a pursuit that really
was what I think is my life's calling, which
is to do work in the conflict area,
specifically in international humanitarian law.
And the Office of War Crimes Issues
really allowed me the opportunity to do that.
It's fascinating because the Office of War Crimes Issues
focuses on justice and accountability
in the international sphere, which
means that it looks at things like how
leaders behave towards their citizens
in difficult situations.
And so I found myself in this office
that was really engaged in some of the key questions
of the day, which was great.
So when the Arab Spring started, I'd just been in the office
two months and I was really engaged
in dealing with issues related to Libya and Bahrain and Syria.
And again, thinking through what US policy ought
to be with respect to accountability
for the atrocities in the crimes of international concern
that were being committed in these countries.
Well, this is the thing about this fellowship which I really
appreciate.
In this role that I took with the Office of War Crimes
Issues, I've had to interface with all kinds of US government
entities.
I've worked with the US Agency for International Development.
Their Democracy Conflict and, I think,
Humanitarian Affairs Bureau, their Conflict Management
Mitigation Bureau.
I've had to work with the Bureau of Democracy Human Rights
and Labor.
The White House as we think about what
US policy ought to be and in certain circumstances.
The Department of Defense.
All the government agencies that have an equity and an interest
in issues around justice and accountability
in the international sphere.
So I've had really great exposure
the whole of government approach to justice and accountability
in that way.
The Franklin Fellows program has provided
me unparalleled insight into the workings of government.
It has afforded me the opportunity
to exercise my skills and to grow
my skills in communication, coordination with stakeholders
with a wide variety of interests that
need to be balanced to come to a consensus position.
It's provided me an amazing amount
of new contacts in the field that I'm interested in,
met wonderful people, learned lots substantively.
Taking the time to do a Franklin Fellows Program
does not necessarily mean you have to break with your company
to the extent that your company will sponsor you.
Definitely take the opportunity to get into the public sector
and experience that and engage in it
to determine if that's where you want to be.
Or to find out that that really isn't where you want to be.
What's most important to me I've done,
I've been able to go to the countries and visit the people
who have been victimized and who are
working on behalf of victims.
And I've been able to touch the scene as opposed
to just stand aside from it and wax eloquent
in this very removed way.
Having that on the ground experience
is something that is invaluable.