Liv Dowling

Age: 24

Home Town: Corpus Christi, TX

Education: BA in Political Science and International Studies, Yale University

Specific Field Interests: Gender Equality, Sustainable Development, Conflict Transformation, Political Participation, Community Capacity-Building and Mobilization

Placement: Utthan (Ahmedabad, Gujarat)

Area of Focus: Livelihood

Highlights: Liv's passion for gender equitable development and political participation began while she was living in New Delhi in 2011-2012 conducting independent research at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Her research focused on the influence of national-level women's NGOs on public policy formation and implementation through the lens of the campaign against sex selective abortion in India. Through this experience, she also cultivated an interest in public health issues affecting marginalized populations, spending the last year in Bangkok, Thailand contributing to the research division of an international NGO working on issues related to HIV/AIDS and reproductive health across Asia. Liv is looking forward to returning to India and learning more about community-based approaches to resource management and gender development.