“Working in Post-Roe LA With LIFT Louisiana”
by Grace Harsche
This summer, I worked as the development intern for Lift Louisiana, an organization that focuses on protecting reproductive rights and justice both within Louisiana, as well as nationally. My role as the development intern focused primarily on grant searching, but I also assisted with several other projects that developed as a result of the overturn of Roe v. Wade.
Before my time with Lift, I had no prior knowledge of anything related to grants. From my understanding of it based on meetings with my supervisor, it reassembled the college scholarship search process; a process which I not only proved to be quite good at, but also enjoyed! In some ways, it was very similar to searching for college scholarships. It takes a lot of time to find grants that are applicable to your organization and these grants can be very competitive and hard to secure. I began by learning the basics including what I needed to know about my organization when applying for grants and what the typical grant application looked like. From there, I began searching through grant databases and compiling grants that would be appropriate for Lift.
However, the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade brought some new projects my way. In addition to trying to reconcile my own feelings about the decision, I was helping Lift respond as well. My first project was to compile a list of companies and what promises they had made to their employees in terms of helping them access abortion care. I then had to find the corresponding contact so that Lift could reach out to the company about maintaining its promise. My other project relating to the overturn of Roe v. Wade was seeking accommodations for the activists participating in their Black Freedom Rides.
I am incredibly grateful for my time thus far with Lift and look forward to continuing to work with the organization in the fall. I developed tangible skills such as searching for grants, compiling research for grants, and conducting company outreach. However, I also developed some intangible but invaluable skills such as having good follow-up skills, knowing when to ask for help, and how to take initiative. I am excited to have contributed to the mission of Lift Louisiana and look forward to continuing to do so in the future.