Shawn Sebastian has worked internationally and domestically for community economic development since 2005. He is currently in his first year at NYU Law.

EDUCATION

New York University School of Law, New York, New York

Candidate for J.D., May 2012

Activities:

Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, researcher on the right to food in Haiti.

Honors:

Root-Tilden-Kern Scholar (full-tuition scholarship for public service, academic merit, and leadership)

University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa

B.A. in English and Religion, December 2007

Honors:

Presidential Scholar (full scholarship for academic merit)

National Merit Scholar

University of Iowa Student Leader of the Year, 2004

Activities:

University Lecture Committee, chair

The Daily Iowan, editorial board member and columnist

Center for Human Rights, Research Assistant

EXPERIENCE

Esperanza Community Housing Corporation, Los Angeles, California

Development Director, January 2008 – May 2009

Conceived, researched and designed proposals to further rights to housing and health for low-income people in South Central Los Angeles.  Managed and organized Esperanza’s collaborative work with other non-profits to impact land use and public planning processes.

Widernet Project, Iowa City, Iowa

Partnerships Manager and Volunteer Coordinator, May 2007 – January 2008

Created and developed proposals to bridge the digital divide by providing hardware, software, and training enabling universities in developing countries to access vital internet resources on fast, cheap, and reliable local intranet networks.

The Best Practices Foundation, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Research Associate, February 2005 – May 2007

Conducted field research, innovated and documented grassroots development strategies, and wrote evaluations of national poverty alleviation programs, with a focus on poverty alleviation, gender, governance, and livelihoods.  Wrote manual on training poor, illiterate women to analyze markets and start income generating activities that is currently being scaled up by the Government of West Bengal with 10,000 impoverished women.