Xonzy Gaddis Receives Stouffer Fellowship for Graduate Studies
Xonzy Gaddis, a December 2022 graduate currently living in Washington D.C., has received the Elsie M. Stouffer Fellowship from Grinnell College. The $27,000 fellowship award is the result of a generous gift made by Elsie M. Stouffer, a member of the class of 1924.
The fellowship is open to senior women who are fluent in French, Spanish, or Portuguese with the plans for a career and graduate study in a public service field in Latin America and Latin American communities.
Gaddis, a political science major and Latin American studies concentrator, plans to pursue a dual degree JD/MA program in Latin American Studies with the focus on children’s rights and advocacy. In the future, she hopes to achieve a PhD in Sustainable Development and Human Rights. Through her education she wants to broaden her experience with child advocacy nonprofits emphasizing sustainable livelihoods for children in the Andean region.
“The Stouffer Fellowship enables me to continue an education that challenges me to continue serving communities that are not only of academic interest, but a place I call home,” said Gaddis. “I look forward to connecting thought leadership from higher education to the on-the-ground human rights action across the Andes.”
Gaddis, a former resident of Paint Lick, Kentucky and Houston, Texas, has been named to the Grinnell College Dean’s List and is a Hispanic Scholarship Fund Finalist for outstanding academic achievement. At Grinnell College, she was a media specialist with the Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership, member of the swimming and diving team, representative for the Student-Athlete Council, president and historian for the Student Organization of Latinxs, and campus events coordinator and senator with Student Government.
She has held distinct roles that have ignited and advanced her career ambitions. Currently, Gaddis is the administrator for International Programs at Save the Children in Washington D.C. where she had served as a remote intern while in college for the portfolio growth and performance department and the collective impact department. She worked remotely as the juvenile justice research associate for the United States Embassy in Peru and as a corporate insights and engagement intern with the Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose; in addition she worked on-site as a paralegal intern with Micah Legal.
As a Grinnell College Davis Projects for Peace Grantee she engaged 40 children from Venezuela and Colombia in a peacebuilding course to combat xenophobia, increase mental health awareness, and learn English. She was also a bilingual teacher for Ignite, peer educator for the Anne Frank Center Traveling Exhibit, and an assistant swim coach for the Grinnell TigerSharks.
Gaddis was selected this April for a Fulbright English teaching assistantship in Colombia. So prior to graduate study she will serve as a language-teaching assistant for Colombian students at the university level—preparing English language lessons and activities and giving presentations on topics related to the United States in the 2023-2024 academic year.
More than 40 Grinnell College alumni have received funding for graduate studies through the Elsie M. Stouffer ’24 Fellowship. The award is advised and administered through Global Fellowships and Awards in the Center for Careers, Life, and Service.