Scarlet Service Stories: Grace Asare

Grace Asare, National Partnership for Women and Families

Growing up in South Jersey as the daughter of a single mother from Ghana, Grace Asare was acutely aware of racial divides in her community that created barriers to success for people of color. 

She resolved at a young age to make eliminating these obstacles her life’s work. 

“Early on I came to terms with seeing the disparities in income and housing for Black and Latinx people I knew in the community,” said Asare. “I always wanted to find ways to remedy that.”

The Rutgers-Camden senior is well on her way to achieving her goal. The political science major with double minors in statistics and legal studies has future aspirations of working in civil rights law. That’s why Asare, 21, jumped at the chance to become a Scarlet Service intern during her junior year. 

“It’s always been a dream of mine to intern in Washington, D.C. That’s the pinnacle of internships. But I felt like that was never an option for me,” said Asare, who is the recipient of need-based Pell and Scarlet Promise grants and a Rutgers-Camden Distinguished Achievement merit scholarship. “When I saw that Rutgers was stepping in to help students live in D.C. and also help with financial costs, I thought, ‘I am going to take a shot at this for sure.’”

She spent this summer in our nation’s capital, learning how advocacy work translates to action as a congressional relations and social impact intern with the National Partnership for Women and Families. While lobbying for reproductive healthcare and paid leave rights for women, she attended hearings on the right to travel for an abortion, data privacy, and DEI practices in the workplace. She compiled data to create score cards for members of Congress rating their support of paid leave policies. And she authored a blog advocating the benefits of businesses being more transparent about their paid leave policies.

“I’m at that great crux of how the Partnership establishes connections with Congressional offices and businesses and help them navigate the issues we’re fighting for, which is equality for all women,” she said of her role. 

The experience, from internship pairing to work culture and shared living arrangements with peers from Rutgers and around the country, has boosted her ability to network and envision her future as a champion for social justice. 

“Rutgers overall did a great job helping students navigate coming to D.C. and finding an internship that fits them,” she said. “I feel like they have given me the platform to take the initiative on the work I really want to do.”

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