When Cassandra Richards, BCL/LLB'19, sat down with Canada’s Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour to discuss measures to address violence against women in the workplace, she knew that her internship was something special.
“Having the opportunity to talk to Minister Patty Hajdu was exceptional and something I could never have done in a classroom,” says Richards, who interned as a junior policy officer at the Canadian Permanent Mission to the United Nations within the Human Rights division in Geneva in the summer of 2017.
Her experience was made possible thanks to funding from the McGill International Experience Awards (MIEA), established by McGill graduates Joseph Schull and Anna Yang in 2013. The opportunity meshed perfectly with Richards’s education, her abiding passion for human rights and access to justice, as well as her extensive volunteer work.
The MIEA internship allowed Richards to take her studies to the next level, learning about the global policies that enshrine human rights and giving her a firsthand understanding of the inner workings of the UN organization.
My internship was during the time when Canada was working on the Human Rights Council resolution on the Elimination of Violence against Women,” says Richards, a native of Gatineau, Que. “So I was able to participate in the drafting of that resolution and sit in on negotiations with other countries around the world that have similar – or very different – views of human rights, while also learning about the art of diplomacy.”
Richards also undertook a second internship, through the Faculty’s donor-supported International Human Rights Internships program, expressly designed to increase access to out-of-the-classroom opportunities. She worked in Iqaluit, providing legal services to Nunavummiut residents in the areas of criminal, family, poverty, youth protection and civil law. Through these enriching experiences, she has acquired a profound appreciation for the impact of internships and the value of real-world experience in shaping her education, her career, and her life.
“I have learned so much, both personally and professionally,” adds Richards. “I’m extremely fortunate and grateful to have been able to do that.”