Gwen Hopkins is a Program Associate at Aspen Global Health and Development and coordinates MLI's communications and website. She has a BA in English Literature from Trinity College in Hartford, CT, with minors in French and Women, Gender & Sexuality. She spent a semester abroad in Dakar, Senegal, where she had the opportunity to intern with women's rights NGO Siggil Jiggeen (which translates from Wolof as "to raise the heads of women") and observe rural women’s advocacy organization APROFES (Association pour la Promotion de la Femme Sénégalaise) on the ground. Gwen also concentrated on creative nonfiction and the personal essay as an undergrad and wrote her senior thesis on travel writing.