Olivia Route
Year: 2018-2019
Nominating Institution: University of Pennsylvania
Field of Interest: International Development
Placement Organization: Life Skills Development Foundation (Rak Dek)
Placement Location: Chiang Mai, Thailand
About Olivia
(updated 2/2019) Born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Olivia Route, a 2018-2019 Luce Scholar, currently offers program support and grant-writing skills to The Life Skills Development Foundation (TLSDF or “Rak Dek” in Thai) in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, with particular focus on their migrant adolescent program. Before Chiang Mai, Olivia spent three years in Armenia with the Peace Corps, first living for two years in a rural village, teaching 3rd-12th grade English and organizing educational activities. She also supported a local NGO and developed a youth initiative fund. As project manager for Border to Border, a nationwide program teaching leadership and healthy life skills to over 1,000 youth annually, she engaged with the project on all levels, from writing grants to walking half the length of Armenia as a volunteer teacher. She then directed Armenia’s Girls Leading Our World initiative, securing funding through the U.S. Embassy’s Democracy Commission and two Let Girls Learn grants to empower hundreds of students across the country. Drawn to an opportunity to work with Syrian refugee youth, Olivia extended her Peace Corps service for a year as a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader, while working at Aleppo NGO, a Syrian-Armenian humanitarian relief organization in Yerevan, where she wrote grants, developed projects, translated articles, and implemented a program for endangered language preservation and young refugee support. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Olivia holds a highest honors bachelor’s degree with majors in International Relations, Russian Language and Culture, and a minor in African Studies. Through Penn Engineering, she investigated the intersection of development philosophy and water sanitation in Kumasi, Ghana, and then as a Penn International Intern, taught English and math in a village school in Thali, Nepal. When her plans to study abroad in Ukraine were disrupted, she landed in Georgia and volunteered with children in internally displaced people (IDP) settlements. Olivia plans to spend her life working in IDP and refugee relief, especially in youth programming and educational assistance for displaced children. Olivia likes hiking, running, theatre, and chocolate in all forms.Olivia's Scholar Story
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