Alumni
Sloane Speakman
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Since coming to Vanderbilt, Sloane has been involved in a variety of organizations that have allowed her to become in engaged in service on and off campus. Through her time in Vanderbilt Student Government, she was able implement several programs designed to improve the student experience at Vanderbilt. In 2009, she collaborated with fellow Ingram Scholars in creating the Vanderbilt Food Rescue, a program that pulls student volunteers from across campus to collect unused food from campus dining facilities and deliver it to locations such as the Campus for Human Development, the Lighthouse Mission Ministries shelter, and the Dismas House. Sloane also served as the Director of Philanthropy for Vanderbilt Model United Nations, which consisted of organizing various service activities for the organization and culminated in a year-end event featuring Dr. Dambisa Moyo and raising over $1,000 for a refugee resettlement agency in Nashville. Additionally, Sloane spent nearly three months in the summer of 2010 in the Republic of Ghana volunteering in a regional hospital and working with the public health care system as a Nichols Humanitarian Fund recipient. Sloane currently assists with university development initiatives as the Chair of the Senior Class Fund, a student-driven senior giveback campaign.
Sloane’s primary passion and service interests lies in working with recently resettled refugees in Nashville. After attending an event in her junior year of high school, she began volunteering as an English and citizenship teacher and tutor at the Nashville International Center for Empowerment (NICE). Sloane has served in various capacities at NICE having worked as the interim Volunteer Coordinator in 2009, organizing flu shots for over 500 refugee clients, and initiating and leading the development of a new website, paving the way for a technological transformation. Her current work at NICE, which culminated in her summer project, centers around the development of a comprehensive, prevention-focused health, nutrition and fitness education program, the only program of its kind in the country. The program, the NICE Refugee Health Initiative, has experience widespread community support and is currently being prepared for implementation in early 2012.
Sloane began the Spring 2011 semester studying in Cairo, Egypt, with the intention of working with Sudanese refugees in Cairo and with social enterprise initiatives involving the youth of “Garbage City.” Due to political unrest, she completed the semester at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, she worked on development initiatives for the Ethiopian National Project, a nationwide organization that works with Ethiopian immigrants in Israel, and assisted in organizing a fundraising event commemorating Operation Solomon. The unique experiences Sloane encountered during her study abroad in the Middle East has peaked her interest in future careers in Foreign Service. As she enters her senior year, she is making plans to return to the Middle East, exploring opportunities for social enterprise models in the region.