What went well? 

This week, I felt like I was finally able to connect some dots on the work I was doing with clients and the scholarship I had been reading about rural poverty. The work done at Legal Aid serves low-income people living in West Virginia. This week I worked on a housing case outside of the Substance Use Disorder project.

What could have been done differently? 

I think I could have organized my LiA to have more interaction with organizations working in systemic change as well as direct services, which Legal Aid works in. This week I attended a task force meeting targeted at stopping domestic violence in one county in West Virginia. Federally-funded task forces work to promote collaboration amongst stakeholders in the community to better concert their efforts. Not only was Legal Aid represented at the monthly meeting, but so too was the local sheriff department, DV Advocates from the prosecutor's office, the local domestic violence shelter, and Victims Advocates from various military bases with locations in the county. I wish I saw more collaboration like this on some of the other issues Legal Aid works on. I think the organization tries to craft community partnerships, but there’s less funding for say poverty alleviation led by community partners at the national level. 

What did I learn about myself while working with others? 

At the STOP task force meeting, mostly women were in the room making the decisions and sharing information. I found this incredibly encouraging and also saw how varying leadership styles played out. One of the women in the meeting that was most impressive seemed to know everyone in the county. The other women that were new to the group marveled at this ability and we readily saw how personal connection aided in just about every element of the work of the task force. 

What did I learn about leadership? 

I learned that leadership is about relying on your strengths to facilitate connection between others. If you’re good at talking to people, then that can be a great asset! We bring our full selves to the work we do.

What do I want to focus on or develop next? 

I think I want to learn more about the women in the office. There’s a lot of female-identifying clients and female-identifying colleagues. A fellow intern mentioned the specific pressure women face in the legal profession and I want to better understand how that identity might intersect with others.