期望与抱负

As a first-generation Bangladeshi American, Jenn Pamela Chowdhury ' 06 underst和s the high expectations for conventional success that immigrant parents hold for their children. At her father’s urging, Chowdhury planned to major in 十大电竞游戏综合排名经济学, with an eye toward a career in banking.

“作为一个移民的女儿, there was an expectation from my parents that I would go into the sciences, 学术界, 或法律,她说。. “My parents wanted me to pursue the most viable career in order for me to earn a living.”

她做了很多这样的事情, earning a master’s degree in international relations, 国际人权, 和 humanitarian assistance from New York University as well as the William J. Clinton Fellowship from the American India Foundation, which provided funding for nearly a year of work with a grassroots women’s rights NGO in India.

图像

She attained leadership roles in public relations, 通信, 非营利组织, rising through the ranks despite feeling isolated in majority-white spaces.

“十年前, I would have given you all the successes I’ve managed 和 incredible benchmarks I’ve hit,她说。. “但当我回头看, I’m aware of the tremendous amount of microaggressions I experienced when I was often the only woman of color on a team.”

Asked to describe herself, Chowdhury shifts the focus to her coaching business, the Aranya项目 (原 全盛时期教练). As an “embodied leadership” coach 和 healer, she devotes her time to “helping leaders of color access the freedom to become more self-aware 和 self-responsive.”

Aranya, the Sanskrit word for “abundance” 和 “forest,” encompasses Chowdhury’s desire to support BIPOC- 和 immigrant-identifying leaders. She aims to help them “feed the forest of their lives” so that they can help create 和 lead healthy communities.

Chowdhury facilitates these changes through a 12-week private coaching program, 专业发展工作坊, 以及社区活动. She employs her skills as a woman of color who has walked a variety of career paths 和 draws on her experience as a certified meditation practitioner 和 Reiki Level II healer.

Since launching the business in 2020, 她说, she has “helped more than 300 clients find their authentic voices, learn to embrace change 和 find safety within their bodies, 炼金术化他们的愤怒, 羞愧, 和 resentment into sources of wisdom, listen 和 honor their deepest desires, 发起新的倡议, 职业生涯, 项目, 还有更多.”

Chowdhury credits Barnard with helping her balance her filial responsibilities with her desire to learn more about herself. By meeting other Brown-identifying classmates who connected through their lived experience of being from immigrant families 和 exploring the curriculum’s 九种认知方式, Chowdhury found the path for her journey.

She was drawn to human rights after studying with 政治科学 professors Peter Juviler 和 丹尼斯·道尔顿 主修双学位 政治科学 和 human rights interdisciplinary program. “My Barnard education gave me the opportunity to explore different paths 和 really opened my world to show me, 还有我的父母, the value of a liberal arts education,她说。. “Barnard gave me a feeling of belonging."

“I underst和 pressure experienced by high-achieving immigrant women or women of color expected to fit into a box of perfection,她补充道. “That experience informs many of our choices, including ones that we sometimes regret. Using the critical lens of my experience, I want to help others free themselves from those expectations.”