Isabella Leak

Research PI: Carolina Villegas-Galaviz

After graduating high school in 2019, Isabella Leak decided to take two gap years to explore her passion for social development through a media lens. From interning at a tech start-up to becoming involved in the communications end of NGO work, she found herself at the root of several socio-economic issues in the Philippines and was able to make an impact that fostered positive change for underrepresented communities. Some highlights from her gap years include collaborating with UN Women to host roundtable discussions on amending company sexual harassment policies, organizing a program where HSBC employees mentored 50 graduating college students on career readiness during COVID-19, and creating content for a media campaign alleviating gender norms in Philippine trade schooling. Leak intends to build upon these experiences by majoring in political science and FTT to further understand the intersectionality between the two fields.