Jessica Quinonez

Jessica Quinonez is a psychologist with 11 years’ experience in the public hospital system in Mexico. Her work has focused on women and children who have survived domestic violence, survivors of kidnapping, and bystanders who have survived street violence between drug cartels. This background dealing with survivors of traumatic violence led her to the International Program in Crisis and Trauma. Jessica spoke to us about the Field Experience segment of the program:

“I'm working with the NGO Topaz, part of The Israeli Academic Forum for Social Entrepreneurship. My work includes coordinating activities of the Academic Forum: developing the web page, organizing content, and preparing a roundtable for this year. The topic is not 100% related to my professional experience, but as a chance to learn the inner process of an NGO, it was too good to pass up.

“My background in Mexico’s public health system has given me the experience needed to understand people's needs in real life, while the Crisis and Trauma courses have provided a strong grounding in theory. Taken together, this is a good starting point to learn the functions of social NGOs.

“My previous experience with non-governmental organizations was as a volunteer. My work with Topaz has motivated me to start planning my next project: starting an NGO when I return to Mexico, to assist people who have experienced trauma and crisis.”