I'm excited to share that I have been selected as one of 12 shortlisted ambassadors from over 150 submissions from around the world in 2017 to participate in the Thomson Reuters Foundation Ambassador Challenge. I have time until October 5, 2017 to plan and implement awareness and fundraising activities and hope I can count on your support! If I win the challenge, I’ll have the opportunity to attend the conference in London on an all-expense paid trip.

The Foundation and the Challenge were of interest to me, because I feel strongly about helping others that can't help themselves. I like to think that my empathy comes from growing up with my brother, Mitch, who has Cerebral Palsy, and from spending time with my sister-in-law, Tracey, who has Down syndrome. My experiences with Mitch and Tracey led me to become involved in volunteering with Special Olympics Michigan (http://www.somi.org/), where I continue to meet amazing individuals. Food insecurity is also a cause I feel strongly about, and I’ve lead Thomson Reuter's Global Volunteer Network (Ann Arbor) fundraising and volunteerism efforts to support Food Gatherers (http://foodgatherers.org/). I am a big supporter of human rights activism in general, and I'm interested in promoting awareness around Human Trafficking, which is an issue even in Michigan.

About the Foundation
The Thomson Reuters Foundation leverages the know-how, reach and reputation of Thomson Reuters to run free programmes that promote the highest standards in journalism and strengthen the rule of law worldwide: free legal assistance through TrustLaw, under-reported news, media development, and the Trust Conference (http://www.trustconference.com). It also provides training solutions to companies, media outlets, and governmental organisations, and funds the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, a world-leading research centre and publisher of the Digital News Report. The Foundation acts as a source of unbiased thought leadership in areas including modern slavery and human trafficking, women’s rights, and climate change and resilience and is an independently registered charity in the US and the UK.

About the Challenge
Every year, the Thomson Reuters Foundation launches a global competition open to all full-time employees of Thomson Reuters with the goal of finding one exceptional individual to act as its Ambassador both within and outside the company. The challenge offers a unique opportunity for members of the Thomson Reuters community to raise awareness of the Foundation, as well as fundraise for the scholarship program to its flagship annual event, the Trust Conference, formerly Trust Women, which is the world’s leading forum in the fight against slavery and trafficking. This scholarship program enables individuals who fight slavery and defend human rights across the world to attend the conference at no cost.