Kelsey Lechner of Columbus will pursue a master’s degree in education, international development and social justice from St. Mary’s University in London.
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Graduate student Kelsey Lechner of Columbus has been selected as the Rotary Southern Indiana District’s 2022-23 Global Grant Scholar.
Lechner, who received her bachelor’s degree in East Asian languages and cultures and international studies from Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies in 2015, will use the $40,000 award to pursue a master’s degree in education, international development and social justice from St. Mary’s University in London.
Lechner was endorsed by the Columbus Sunrise Rotary Club, and she will be hosted in the UK by the Rotary Club of Kew Gardens in London. Through her studies in London, she wants to gain knowledge and skills to help her create and strengthen opportunities for students who have been hindered from receiving quality education.
“My career goals match Rotary’s in education,” Lechner said. “I want to support Rotary’s mission to promote basic education and literacy in children and adults, especially girls and other marginalized students, including refugees, victims of trafficking, and low-income communities.”
Lechner, who grew up in Fort Wayne, has lived and worked in Japan, Tanzania and Bangladesh. In Japan she was a coordinator for international relations in the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program (JET) and later worked at Human Rights Now in Tokyo.
In 2018, she conducted field research in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh and worked for the Asian University for Women (AUW) in Pathways to Promise, an intensive student-centered program where she helped students develop English and critical thinking skills need to succeed in the Western-style, English undergraduate curriculum.
Despite the pandemic, in 2020 Lechner moved to rural Tanzania, where she worked as a teacher trainer at a village secondary school and started a reading program for students.
In addition, in Louisville, she served as a refugee summer program coordinator through AmeriCorps for Catholic Charities, helping 35 local refugee children from Africa, Latin America and Asia combat summer learning loss and adjust to their new environment.
“These students have taught me the skills needed to represent a community and have an impact upon our world – and also a need to further my own education.”
