My experience as an Advocacy Assistant in Rome Italy - Advocacy Assistant Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain, Employee Review

Husain was always easy to contact during work hours (and even after), which my team and I greatly appreciated. His guidance was clear and gave us assignments that felt productive and conducive to tangible change. One of the most important details of Husain's leadership, however, was the fact that he trusted his interns with the ability to make smart decisions, and entrusted us with important assignments, all the while making sure that he was available to help us as needed. It fostered the perfect environment to learn and grow, and for which I am greatly thankful. At the time of my internship (June 2020 - September 2020) I was in the summer between my junior and senior year of undergrad, and the experiences I gained at ADHRB (including but not limited to congressional lobbying) absolutely shines on my resume. It's easily one of the most impressive internships I have on there.

Since internships are always rolling, there were times that I worked completely by myself and other times when I was part of a five-person team. The fluctuation slightly exhausted me, particularly during the times where I was alone, but it was less than three weeks before another person joined the team and our numbers grew again. There is little to be done about this, as it relies on how many interns are actively taken on, but it did strain me a little bit.

Working in ADHRB gave me an opportunity to gain tremendous amount of experience leading important policy work including meeting with members of Congress, holding Congressional briefings, producing policy briefs, traveling to Geneva to attend the Human Rights Council session, communicating with so many diplomats on issues related to human rights in Bahrain and the Gulf, and so many other policy work. I was able to work in a coalition of NGO where created an advocacy force in Washington, United Nation, and around several European capitals. The leadership of the organization believe the sky is the limit when it comes what we can do. ADHRB made me into the professional who I am today went into leading other organization. I do not know of any staff, fellow, or intern, that came through ADHRB and did not benefit from what the opportunity the orgnization and the executive director offered. This is a great place to work and an essential place to learn both national and international advocacy.

The orgnization lack a dedicated fundraising staff.