Alumni Spotlight: FHMT Hosts Danielle De La Fuente
The Initiative on Forced Migration and Human Trafficking (FMHT), a research initiative at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, hosted Danielle De La Fuente (Pardee ’06) for a November 27, 2018 talk on her work as Founder and Director of the non-profit NGO the Amal Alliance.
The talk, entitled “Plight of Refugees: Social Inclusion in a Migration Context,” covered the Amal Alliance’s mission of empowering displaced children through social development programs at refugee camps and informal settlements around the globe. According to De La Fuente, the organization is based on the premise that we are all global citizens sharing the social and moral responsibility to ensure all children have access to the learning fundamentals acquired during early childhood development, as well as the basic life skills and tools necessary to reach their full potential.
According to De La Fuente, of the 70 million people that have been forcibly displaced worldwide 77 percent are children and more than 28 million are unaccompanied minors.
“The Amal Alliance was born in an effort to compliment the work of the larger NGOs, but insure these invisible children did not fall through the cracks of humanitarian aid bureaucracy,” De La Fuente said in a November 2018 Alumni Spotlight. “I’ve worked tirelessly to gather experts in various fields to address psycho-social remnants of trauma by introducing social emotional learning that meets displaced children at their confidence and capability level.”
De La Fuente said that her Pardee School education has served as a jumping off point for her work with the Amal Alliance as well as all of her other professional endeavors.
“Like any building, its foundation must be solid for it to withstand the test of time. The education I received at the Pardee School was itself the very foundation for all my professional endeavors,” De La Fuente said. “The historical and cultural context of international relations, regional dynamics, religious implications, and the ability to discern expansive topics learnt during my time at Pardee have played a key role in understanding fully the countries Amal Alliance has been working in.”
In the Alumni Spotlight, De La Fuente said some of her most important advice to current Pardee School students who are currently thinking about life after school, or who may be unsure of what kind of career path they want to pursue would be to remain curious, persistent and unafraid of rejection.
“Life is full of opportunities, but you need to put yourself in places where they can present themselves. Go to conferences, sign up for networking events, meet and talk to the experts in your field, and learn, learn, learn,” De La Fuente said. “The more you learn, the easier it will be for you to identify what lights your soul on fire. Perhaps its research, advocacy, the fundraising and marketing aspect, or executing a program from start to finish.”
The Pardee School Initiative on Forced Migration and Human Trafficking (FMHT) brings together students, scholars, practitioners and policy-makers to support research, education,and advocacy on the pressing issues of forced migration and human trafficking. Follow their activities on Facebook and Twitter.