Isabel Ball

About Isabel

(updated 6/2017) Isabel Ball graduated from Lewis and Clark College in 2015 with a major in Psychology and minors in Ethnic and Latin American Studies.  A dual Mexican and US citizen raised in the Arizona borderlands, Isabel is dedicated to working with immigrant and migrant communities and plans to pursue a career in clinical social work, supporting migrant and immigrant families in search of a better life.  For her Luce Scholar year in  Thailand , she worked with the  Migrant Assistance Program (MAP) Foundation , a grassroots NGO that seeks to empower Myanmar migrants living and working abroad. At MAP, she supported its Rights for All program, which connects migrants with resources in the community and promotes awareness around the challenges they face in Thailand. Since graduating college, Isabel has done extensive research on migration trends and policies, border enforcement, and networks of migrant support in North and Central America, at the Migration Policy Institute and as a research assistant to investigative journalist and writer Todd Miller, author of  Border Patrol Nation .  As an undergraduate, Isabel carried out independent field research on child-rearing practices among an indigenous Maya community in Guatemala and co-led an alternative spring break collaborating with local youth in rural El Salvador. In her work as an assistant case worker at Arizona’s Child Protective Services and at the Immigrant Women’s Support Services in Australia, Isabel cultivated an ability to work across cultures and communities. In her free time, Isabel loves to dance, bake, hike and take road trips.