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Jennifer
Williams makes her own way
You hear about activist kids raised by activist
parents, who at six years old get brought to protests and rallies. Taking
action around an issue today seems a lot easier if you grew up in a
home like that.
That wasn't the case for 26 year-old Jennifer Williams, raised in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin (not exactly a hotbed of activism) by a high school superintendent
and a salesman. She's found her way into activism by trying out pretty
much everything.
While in college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Jennifer
watched her brother move to San Francisco to work as a dot-commer; she
looked around for other career options. "I always just knew I couldn't
work for a corporation," she says. Instead, Jennifer found work at Planned
Parenthood after a Women's Studies class which was a revelation
for her. The other students "were talking about their bodies, women's
rightsÉ and I wondered, where had I been this whole time?" she laughs.
She connected with the family planning organization after noticing the
anti-abortion crowds that gathered outside clinics in Milwaukee to try
to prevent frightened women from going inside. Jennifer would escort
the women through the crowds, which she describes as a scene of "total
chaos." She also joined the donations arm of the organization to hone
her fundraising skills.
From the age of 21, Jennifer spent four summers as a counselor at a
muscular dystrophy camp, bonding with a special girl named Emily.
"These are the brightest, most wonderful kids," she says, sadly, "who
are watching their bodies die. The camp gives kids a chance to be normal
for a week, 'cause everyone's in a wheelchair."
As
if that wasn't enough, Jennifer also raised $7,000 from friends and
family to go run a marathon in Ireland in support of the Leukemia and
Lymphoma
Society in 2000.
Jennifer gives credit to her mother, who has made a career out of her
work with students, as an important early influence. "My mom was always
talking to us about giving as much of yourself as possible," she recalls.
But even her mother may not have been prepared for Jennifer's decision
to sign up for seven months' labor on an organic farm at the Michael
Fields Agricultural Institute, sight unseen. Covered in dirt on
a daily basis, Jennifer helped raise and gather fresh food for the weekly
local farmer's market. She calls organic farming "soulful" and dreams
about having her own self-sustaining organic farm one day.
"My mom always talked to us about giving as much
of yourself as possible."
After a decision to move across the country to San Francisco ("it was
either that or the Peace Corps," says Jennifer), she started work as
a fundraiser for the International
Pemphigus Foundation, which increases awareness about the rare skin
disorder.
Now she's going back to school for a Nursing degree. Why not? For a
woman who's fearless and full of curiosity, it's just another adventure.
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