Nearly 6,000 miles from Hope College, Alison Garza ’10 Wicker is demonstrating what it can mean to be a global citizen in today’s society, living and working in Amman, Jordan as an Information Analyst for the ACAPS Yemen Analysis hub. She is serving refugees in war-torn countries, making sure they have the best care while they are living in the camp. Since her graduation, Wicker has worked all over the world serving others in various humanitarian work.
Wicker started her career working in the inner city of Chicago with AmeriCorps and Chicago Health Corp as a Health Coordinator. She developed after school programs for youth in the city as well as programs for single moms. In 2016, Wicker moved to Iraq to work with Samaritan’s Purse. This organization aims “to help meet the long-term physical and spiritual needs of those displaced by ISIS.” While there, she held various titles and worked on many projects to help those in the area. During her time there, she “develop a multi sector needs assessment for retaken villages in Al Hamdaniya district in collaboration with project managers and technical advisers”
More recently, she has worked with World Vision International in Jordan. There are over 5 million refugees who have been displaced because of the Syrian Crisis and many of them are children. Wicker works closing with those who have been displaced to assist them in their times of trouble. Currently, she is doing research and data collection as an international consultant.
“I learned the basics of research while at Hope College, working as a research assistant. The papers I wrote then, involved heavy research and deep analytical thinking – all which are necessary for successful completion of project evaluations in the humanitarian world.”
Wicker reflected on her time at Hope College. She said that she was initially attracted to Hope because of the mission statement. “to educate students for lives of leadership and service in a global society through academic and co-curricular programs of recognized excellence in the liberal arts and in the context of the historic Christian faith.” She liked that emphasis on global leadership through the lens of the Christian faith. She has the skills to work with others from all different backgrounds because of her liberal arts education.
“Hope College developed my character further through rigorous liberal arts education that encouraged me to think outside of the box. I enjoyed classes in philosophy, religion, history, statistics, among many communication courses.”
Hope College is proud to give Alison Wicker the 10 Under 10 Award. The “10 Under 10 Awards” honors emerging leaders who are making significant contributions by living out their callings; engaged in the local and global community through professional and/or volunteer involvement; and use their education to think about important issues with wisdom and clarity, communicate effectively to bridge boundaries that divide human communities and act as agents of hope living faithfully into their vocations. Designed for alumni who are within ten years of graduation, they are presented by the Hope College Alumni Association. Make a nomination today!