Paula

Paula Richter (Intern) is a dual degree student at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University and the Columbia School of Social Work (CSSW). She is working towards a Master’s in Social Work and Public Administration and has completed 2 years of a 3-year program. Paula is a Management Fellow in the Social Enterprise Administration concentration at CSSW and is focusing on economic and political development at SIPA. For her first year field placement she was with Global Potential, an organization that aims to empower youth and communities around the world to energize each other through education, international service learning, social entrepreneurship and cultural exchange.Last summer, Paula worked in rural Kenya, where she engaged local community members in small business development.

Prior to CSSW/SIPA, Paula spent 3 years as a case manager, at Clara House, a two-year transitional house program for homeless families in San Francisco. Concurrent with her position at Clara House, Paula had a part-time position as a crisis counselor with Huckleberry House, an emergency shelter for abused and runaway youth. Paula, spent the latter part of her career with the San Francisco Department of Public Health, where she was involved in a policy implementation project, which aimed to build a bridge between primary care and mental health services. Paula has many years of research experience, as she has been involved with numerous research projects, including an NIH-funded study at the University of California San Francisco, that studied how family dynamics impact weight gain in Latino children between the ages of 2-5.

Paula chose to pursue a Master’s degree in social work and public administration as her career interests lie in infrastructure development, consulting, project management, and monitor and evaluation. She is committed to creating and/or improving access to running water, sanitation, food security, education, and healthcare.

Paula’s passion for social change and development work stems from her own humble beginnings. Paula is an immigrant from Peru, and has experienced both inequality in the United States and her native country. This provides Paula with the foundation for her interest in infrastructure development. Paula is fluent in Spanish and Italian.

POSTS BY PAULA

Until Next Time, India
1…2…3…Data!
Got Milk?
Calm Before the (Research) Storm
Bovine Bliss
Exploring and Learning at Macro and Micro Levels
Welcome to Mumbai