ELAB Profile Interview: Marvelous Maeze

This interview was published on Human Rights First. Nicole Munson, Executive Co-Chair and Chair of Human Rights First DEI committeeinterviews Marvelous Maeze, a research associate at the gender parity organization RepresentWomen. Read an excerpt below.

Nicole: It is definitely very motivating to recognize our strengths and weaknesses and how they are all tied together. You mentioned earlier about being engaged in women’s rights work. I’d love to hear when you got engaged with that in particular, and why you feel this is an important pursuit?

Marvelous: Honestly, I feel like I never opted in. I think that being a Black woman, I was made acutely aware of the importance of advancing human rights because of the various forms of gender and race-based forms of discrimination that I’ve faced throughout my life. I will say I became very interested in politics and scholarship where women, particularly women of color, were historically underrepresented. So, I felt it was important to be in those spaces and add my perspectives. I began with student organizations when I was an undergraduate student at NYU, I represented women of color campus-wide as an elected senator. This gave me a lot of wonderful public speaking opportunities both in and outside of academia. This led me to work where I began to advocate for women candidates in New York and nationally, leading me to work for an organization called RepresentWomen.

Nicole: I’d also love to know what lessons has your work life taught you?

Marvelous: Aside from teaching me a lot about human beings, it’s taught me that your job doesn’t define you. Your work doesn’t define you. If you are lucky, you’ll get to work in a field that you are passionate about, and that helps the advancement of humanity. That’s what we are all trying to do in ELAB. I think that my decision to work in human rights has taught me that I’m a complete person even before my career is factored in and that I have hobbies and passions that bring me joy and make life fulfilling. As the world begins to normalize, or at least as we embrace our “new normal” I’ve started doing all of my favorite things. Going to museums, dance classes, and going to cooking lessons. Getting out of town when I can—spending time in nature, exploring little wonders. So, when I return to the world of human rights, it puts it all in perspective because it humanizes the people we are fighting for. I remember that they also have the right to enjoy their hobbies and pursue their passions. They shouldn’t have to live with their rights being violated. It reminds me of why I am doing this work in the first place.

Read the full article here.