Hi! I’m Ava,

I knew from a young age that I love stories - listening to them, telling them, and understanding them so that I can stand in the shoes of people whose lives are different than mine. 

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I have a passion for making my community a more livable place for everyone, particularly focusing on recidivism, disadvantaged youth and housing access. I am approaching community advocacy as a journalist by telling the stories of people and highlighting the barriers to their success.

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I am currently writing a thesis on juvenile recidivism in Texas, focusing specifically on the crime-employment relationship. I shadow weekly at Jail to Jobs as a case study for reentry efforts in Austin and am seeking to expand my knowledge of solutions by talking to anyone with experience in the criminal justice reform or nonprofit reentry efforts.

In addition to my courses and thesis, I recently earned my certificate in Grant Writing at nonprofitready.org and I am open to any opportunities to exercise my writing skills for any interested nonprofits.

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Please explore my published and unpublished work to learn more about the work I do and some of the topics I care about!