“The experience was great, with thought-provoking panels on a variety of progressive topics,” says Conway. “I was so happy to be selected, and I’m very motivated to take action with the knowledge that CGI U thought my proposal was worth supporting.”

Held at the University of Texas at Austin, the second annual meeting focused on real solutions to global challenges and consisted of panel discussions, workshops, and other sessions designed to help students bring their proposals to life.

Conway’s proposal advocated for educational models for local youth to raise awareness about the sexual exploitation and trafficking of women and children. Conway has since launched the Shamatha Campaign against Sex Trafficking, a fundraising and outreach project based on her proposal. (Shamatha is a form of Buddhist meditation.) She is currently working to set up a website and to plan her first fundraising event. Conway also plans to work closely with the Boston Initiative to Advance Human Rights, a nongovernmental organization started by Alicia Foley-Winn JD ’06.

Conway’s interest in the subject first crystallized last fall when she took Professor Kate Nace Day’s course International Human Rights: A Women’s Model. Conway later organized a screening and discussion of The Day My God Died, a documentary on Nepalese women and children being sold into sexual slavery. The Suffolk Law community response sparked the inspiration for her CGI U proposal.

“I started getting emails from people asking to donate and help out,” she says. “It made me think, if we can get that response just at Suffolk, what happens if we reach out?”