Laura Wigand

A.B., triple major — Environmental Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, Religious Studies, 2005

Program Associate

Academy for Educational Development

Washington, D.C.

Talk about going out on a limb.

Laura Wigand did just that, literally and for almost 4 hours, at Guilford College. It was her first semester in college, it was the first protest movement she had ever participated in, it was exciting … and it worked.

Guilford College had prohibited tree climbing on campus, with the goal of ensuring safety, and students staged a tree-in as a protest. Once the students’ beliefs were demonstrated, the rule was changed — the same night of the protest. That did it. Laura was captivated by the idea that speaking out can effect change.

Now working in Washington, D.C., at the Academy for Educational Development, Laura is helping bring about change on an international scale. She was active on campus at Guilford College; now she’s active in the world.

Laura works on a project that attempts to change the behavior of people most susceptible to getting — and to spreading — avian influenza, known as bird flu. Here’s her description.

“I spend most my time working on our Southeast Asia project, where we focus on outbreak response, media coverage, advertising safe practices — hand washing, caging birds, separating new birds, etc. We also educate and train the local poultry industry and small farmers on best practices.”

Right now Laura is assisting from D.C., but she has a current passport and is ready to go where needed.

How she got the job is simple, really. She knew she wanted to work in a field that had an international scope, and she wanted to live in a city big enough for her not to have to use a car. The obvious choice: D.C.

She went to the city armed with her Guilford College training and degree, a great resume and the confidence those things provide. She landed the job in less than a week.

“I originally was placed here through an employment agency, and that experience led to this full-time position,” she says, adding, “The academic work at Guilford gave me the writing skills to edit and improve the language of the reports that come in from our field offices, as well as the strong desire to work toward positive change in the world.”

She says that the open nature of the organization at Guilford College gave her many opportunities to grow: “That’s the thing about Guilford College — if you want to attend the school’s business meetings, you can. If you have a great idea that will make the campus a better place, people will listen. At Guilford, I learned organization skills and management techniques, both inside and outside the classroom. It’s amazing how involved you can be at Guilford if you are interested and committed.”

She adds: “I was already in synch with most of the tenets of Quakerism when I went there, but the idea of consensus-seeking in meetings was new to me. I loved it, and I benefited from it and from the facilitation approach. The skills and techniques I learned are still valuable to me professionally and in my personal life.”

Laura says that the interpersonal relationships that Guilford College students and faculty develop played a very important role. In fact, it was a Religious Study professor (who also was Laura’s First-Year-Experience instructor) who saved her, in a sense. “I was ready to leave during my first year. That’s not uncommon, of course, but I seriously was planning on leaving the college. He met with me; we talked it all over, and he convinced me to stay. I am so glad that he did, and that I did. The lesson was a good one — you need to see your commitments through, not just bail out if you’re unhappy at first.”

As grateful as she is to that professor, Laura’s deepest gratitude and affection are extended to … do you want to guess? Maybe a roommate, a professor, an advisor? Here it is — the college’s Facilities Department! That’s right, the people who maintain the grounds, the physical plant, environmental services (housekeeping), etc.  Why?

“The whole department is wonderful,” she says. “In my junior year, I received a National Wildlife Federation fellowship, but the funding was in the form of matching grants. So I had to raise as much money as I was receiving from the NWF. The Facilities Department matched it and made the whole fellowship possible. In addition, they helped with the actual project — the grounds crew helped with the labor and provided their expertise.”

Her work from that fellowship involved researching, designing, constructing and implementing a bioretention cell — essentially a storm water treatment facility that improves water quality for downstream environments. It also meant that she was able to attend the NWF annual meeting … that just happened to be in Washington, D.C.

“I’m excited to see that the Facilities Department is now working closely with the Environmental Studies Department on small-grant projects of an environmental nature, and they’re doing them with first-year students. Can you imagine, getting involved like that your first year in college?”

Not surprisingly, Laura hasn’t wasted any time getting involved in D.C., either.  She has signed up as a volunteer to teach English as a second language once a week. Given her background, she might even climb a tree or two to keep her students interested.