During her time as an undergraduate, Meckel interned with several grassroots non-governmental organizations in Central America. As part of her first internship, she lived and worked on a women’s collective organic coffee farm in a rural community in northern Nicaragua. In addition to helping on the farm, Meckel assisted in a primary school and taught English as part of a local ecotourism project. Following this experience, Meckel interned at the Planting Hope Library, a community center and library, in Matagalpa, Nicaragua, where she oversaw day to day operations and led a variety of classes available to community members.

Just prior to joining Water.org, Meckel worked as a Migrant Advocate with the Kansas City based Migrant Farmworkers Project. As coordinator of medical outreach services, Meckel worked to ensure migrant farmworkers and their families access to healthcare services.

Commitment to Water.org

“Living in a rural community in Nicaragua, I saw first hand the hardships facing families living in conditions of extreme material poverty, including lack of access to reliable, safe water. When faced with these realities, I felt the urgent need for real, sustainable solutions to the problems facing the world’s poorest.

I am excited to be working with and learning from an organization so strongly committed to finding and implementing solutions that really work. I, too, envision the day when everyone in the world can take a safe drink of water, and I committed to making that day a reality.”

Education

B.A. in Biology with a concentration in Global Development Studies, Grinnell College.