As I've mentioned briefly in earlier posts, one challenge that I've encountered is really visualizing the ways in which my academic engagement with marginalized communities and stakeholders will play out when applied practically. My work has involved a lot of critical analysis both of governmental reports and action plans and of civil society organization testimonies, which can often just feel like plain research. As we prepare for this next session of CERD though, my professor has been instrumental in illuminating the ways these UN conventions really do hold member states accountable and target specific areas in order to, of course ultimately mainstream equality and recognize the agency of historically marginalized groups, but also to foster a system of accountability with standardized methods of data collection, direct engagement with local people, and tangible strategies that can be tracked as their implemented. This has helped to ground my work in the community engagement aspect that makes the second summer of Laidlaw what it is.