News & Events
August 31, 2018
IWRI Student Assistants 2017-2018
Elyse Ke’ala Rickard (Native Hawaiian/Xicana/white)
![Photo of Elyse Ke’ala Rickard at graduation](https://iwri.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Student_photo_Elyse-219x300.jpg)
Elyse Ke’ala Rickard
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
![photo of Morgan Wilson](https://iwri.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Student_photo_Morgan-240x300.jpeg)
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.