The Human Rights Careers Intensive: Guiding Students Toward Meaningful Impact

The Center for Human Rights and International Justice was pleased to offer its 14th iteration of  the Human Rights Careers Intensive (HRCI) this Fall, a program originally piloted in 2018 in partnership with Stanford Career Education. Every Friday for six weeks the HRCI brings a small cohort of students together to learn about human rights careers, meet alumni and other professionals working in the field, and develop job-search skills. The program is co-facilitated twice a year by Associate Director, Penelope Van Tuyl, and the Center’s Student Services Specialist, Denise Fernández. “Each time we offer this program, the direction of our conversations is shaped in varied and wonderful ways by the particular constellation of students who enroll,” said Van Tuyl. “When the applications came in this Fall, we were really excited to see an especially diverse array of majors represented, and interest areas among the students. It made for such an amazing cohort, and we had such great discussions week after week.”  The Fall 2025 class consisted of upper classmen and MA students from a variety of majors across the university, including History, CS,  Psychology, Human Biology, Engineering, Public Policy, and International Relations. 

Students generally enter the Intensive looking for substantive guidance and a supportive community to help them explore potential pathways to find meaningful work across a range of professional sectors. Whether aspiring to technical careers, political organizing, medicine, law, or non-profit advocacy work, students come to the program seeking clarity on how to align their skills, personal values, and commitment to serving others with concrete human rights career opportunities. This Fall’s cohort has demonstrated a strong desire to do hands-on, ground-level work that creates tangible impact for vulnerable communities, and were keen to understand practical options for translating their values into meaningful careers. Through the program’s curriculum, students work to gain clarity internally about their own career goals, while also learning how to communicate with others about their values, priorities and skills. Another important part of the program is helping students identify the types of roles and organizations that align with their interests and qualifications. Through structured thought exercises and mind mapping, they articulate their priorities, skills and the value they offer to potential employers, and develop materials for their job search, including resumes and interview preparation.

The final ingredient in the program is connecting the students to a range of professionals at various stages of their own careers, who can speak candidly about their own professional journeys, answer questions, and offer advice. Guest speakers this term included a number of Human Rights alumni, as well as other Center affiliates and local practitioners. Early sessions included Anjali Katta '19, a Harvard Law student focused on climate justice and workers' rights; Ibrahim Bharmal '18, an Immigrants' Rights Legal Fellow at CAIR-LA specializing in "crimmigration" cases; Ananya Karthik '23, who researches technology and civil rights at Stanford Law School’s RegLab; and Shikha Srinavas ‘21, who is working as a sustainability consultant at Arup, an engineering and design firm for buildings and infrastructure. Speakers offered rich and varied perspectives from career paths that have traversed a variety of sectors and types of work, from Andrew Quirk '19, who has worked in tech as well as hospital chaplaincy, to Katie Joseff ‘17, a misinformation researcher and policymaker with experience in academic research labs, non-profits, and the private sector. Students also benefitted from the perspectives of a number of professionals beyond the Center’s alumni pool. Ivy Lee, Director of the San Francisco Mayor's Office for Victims' Rights, and her colleague Lila Carrillo, Director of Sexual Harassment & Assault Response and Prevention office within MOVR shared their approach to rights advocacy work and systemic change within a local government context. Jessie Brunner shared insights from her multidisciplinary, community-engaged research collaborations  with the Stanford Human Trafficking Data Lab, and former Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice, Beth Van Schaack, offered tremendous insight and advice from her career, with particular focus on her human rights and international justice advocacy work within various parts of the U.S. Government.

“We are so fortunate to have such a deep bench of alumni, colleagues, and community partners who are so generous with their time, and so willing to talk with our students about the work they do and the wisdom they have acquired along the way,” observed Van Tuyl. “It’s such a joy to see them interact with our students, and really gratifying to be able to support the students in this way, and connect them to useful networks where they can find professionals who share some of their values and aspirations, and help them to imagine their own possible lives.” 

The next iteration of the Human Rights Careers Intensive will be offered Spring quarter, 2026. Interested students can fill out an application during winter quarter.