August 31, 2018

IWRI Student Assistants 2017-2018

Elyse Ke’ala Rickard (Native Hawaiian/Xicana/white)

My name is Elyse, I was born and raised in Southwest Los Angeles County and received my B.A. in Sociology from Cal State Fullerton in May 2016. I graduated with my Master’s in Public Administration from the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance in June 2018 with Social Policy and Policy Analysis & Evaluation concentrations. I joined IWRI because I wanted the opportunity to learn how communities decolonize research, service delivery, and evaluation methods. As someone who is one out of the very few Indigenous people in my program, I admire IWRI’s mission to interrupt Western narratives about Indigenous health issues. Since my time with IWRI, I learned several new skills:

• Editing research proposal drafts & other research protocol
• Conducting literature reviews about Indigenous health
• Interpreting research for general audiences

After graduation, I hope to pursue a career in evaluation or policy analysis and return to earn a PhD that focuses on bridging the gap on feminist/Indigenous research methods and traditional policy evaluation and analysis processes. While working at IWRI and going to school, I also serve in leadership in Evans People of Color, a student interest group that focuses on building community for non-white students at the Evans School. If I’m not working or studying, I like to enjoy my free time by listening to music and exploring Seattle’s food scene.

Morgan Wilson

My name is Morgan Wilson and I’m from the little town of Riparius, NY. I grew up in the Adirondack Mountains, swimming in the Hudson River each summer. I continue to enjoy nature and have explored much of the PNW. I go hiking most weekends, and have done a few long backpacking trips. I recently started rock climbing and am looking forward to finding some crags this summer.

I received my Bachelor’s in Social Work from the University of Vermont in 2014. I then served in Americorps in Wenatchee, WA for a year before moving to Seattle. I came to UW to complete my Master’s in Social Work through the Advanced Standing Program and graduated in June 2018. I look forward to starting a career in Social Work serving folks with developmental disabilities. My next plan in life is to travel to Australia for a year and explore its beauty.

I had a wonderful experience volunteering with IWRI the last two quarters. I hope to do my PhD later in life, and wanted some experience with the nitty gritty of research. I learned much about the importance of organizing data as well as attention to detail when putting things together. I’m glad I was able to work with IWRI.