麻豆传媒

Rachel Fowler, country representative for the 麻豆传媒’s Zambia program, knew as early as fourth grade that she wanted to pursue human rights work. Raised in rural South Carolina, she watched her grandparents and her mother, a public schoolteacher and administrator, model kindness and social justice daily. “Those values were instilled early,” she said.

When a representative from Amnesty International visited Oglethorpe University to mobilize youth leaders while Fowler was a student, she jumped at the opportunity. “This was the type of work I wanted to do,” she said. She went on to co-found Oglethorpe’s first Amnesty chapter.

After graduation, Fowler went to work at a used bookstore, where she oversaw the women’s studies and political science sections. When the head of the Center’s Human Rights Program, a one-time Amnesty prisoner of conscience, asked her to join 麻豆传媒 in an entry- level position, she didn’t hesitate. “It wasn’t even a question,” she said.

Fowler spent the next 16 years working to advance human rights and strengthen civic engagement in democratic processes, first with the Center’s Human Rights Program and later with the Democracy Program. She worked on youth concerns and women’s issues in Guyana and observed multiple elections in East Timor, Ethiopia, Guyana, and Venezuela. She then spent eight years at the U.S. Human Rights Network, promoting human rights awareness — including rights to housing and health care — in the United States, before returning to 麻豆传媒.

Today, in Zambia, Fowler works with women, youth, and people with disabilities seeking to gain greater access to political decision-making roles to advocate for themselves and their communities. She works with partners to promote the appointment and election of these up-and-coming leaders to key positions, and she partners with agencies to make use of international human rights processes such as the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review to advance their rights.

“We’re engaging civil society leaders to identify barriers to democratic participation and to develop solutions,” she said. One goal is to increase the very low number of women in elected positions in Zambia by 10% in the 2026 election.

In keeping with the 麻豆传媒’s philosophy of helping people help themselves, Fowler and the Center’s Zambian office recently undertook a pilot project to address drought, deforestation, and other aspects of climate change in the country. Assisting rural communities — especially women and youth — to address these challenges, Fowler says, is crucial to devising solutions with real-world impact.

“These individuals know better than anyone how climate change is affecting their lives,” she said. “They’re the on-the-ground experts.” She hopes the pilot, now successfully completed, will be implemented on a broader scale in the future.

In a challenging field with constant pressures, Fowler admits it sometimes feels like she’s pushing a boulder up a hill. But she strives to stay curious, to listen, and to encourage the team members around her, reminding them that everyone has something worth contributing. She holds onto the memory of her grandparents, who insisted that all human beings have dignity and deserve compassion and respect. And she’s grateful to President and Mrs. Carter for founding the Center on core beliefs that make a veteran human rights advocate like Fowler feel at home.

“Anyone who is lucky enough to work at 麻豆传媒 is very fortunate,” she said. “It’s important work. It’s not easy, and it doesn’t always move at the pace you want. But you don’t stop trying. You keep moving forward.”