Meet the 2018 ILR Vietnam Engaged Learning Team

The Students:

Olivia Harris ('20)

Hi! My name is Olivia Harris, I’m from Fairview, Oklahoma, and am a sophomore at Cornell University. My major is Industrial Labor Relations and I’m currently minoring in Human Development and Inequality Studies.

I’m on the executive board for Cornell’s Phi Alpha Delta Fraternity and the ILR SGA. I also enjoy doing research with Dr. Ceci and community service volunteering through Cornell Traditions. I’m participating in this opportunity because I’m interested in conflict resolution with a focus on labor relations and child labor. I’m also interested in malpractices within global supply chains and how to mitigate exploitation of workers.

Nathanael Cheng ('20)

Hello! My name is Nathanael Cheng and I am a sophomore at the ILR school from Philadelphia, PA. I am majoring in Industrial & Labor Relations and getting minors in Environmental & Sustainable Sciences and Law & Society.

In Vietnam, I am looking at the dissonance between rhetoric of a triple bottom line—people, planet, profits—and the reality at the first and second tier suppliers, the first steps of garment production. I am interested in corporations' pledges to be socially responsible and whether this is truly part of company culture or just an appeasement for Western consumers. Specifically, I am researching the many Taiwanese owned enterprises in Vietnam and their role as a major supplier to many Western brands. I look forward to sharing my experiences!

Lexi McCool ('19)

Hi! My name is Lexi McCool, and I am a junior in the ILR School from Raleigh, North Carolina.

I am excited to be in Vietnam learning about labor relations, minimum wage policy, and the garment industry’s global supply chain. My interests in the program relate to corporate responsibility, the distribution of profit along the supply chain, and the creation of better health, safety, and compensation standards for workers. On campus, I am involved as a student researcher in the Institute for Compensation Studies, the Roosevelt Institute, and my social sorority.

Veronika Koziel ('19)

My name is Veronika Koziel and I am a 3rd-year student in the ILR School at Cornell University. My interests currently lie in conflict resolution, alternative dispute resolution, as well as international relations and foreign languages. At Cornell University, I am a research assistant at the Institute for Compensation Studies and the Scheinman Institute for Conflict Resolution.

I decided to participate in this Engaged Learning Trip because of my love for cross-cultural communication and my desire to have the chance to meet with international students who also study labor relations. I am also very interested in the rapid growth and development of Vietnam, in particular, the newly changing minimum wage and social security policies being implemented. The main reason I aspire to continue my global career and studies is to demonstrate the power of solidarity, consciousness, and unity.

Mitch Butler ('19)

Hello – my name is Mitchell Butler, and I’m a junior in the ILR School from Columbia, MD. Within ILR, I’m interested in dispute resolution, labor law, and global supply chains. I also have a minor in Business and a strong interest in corporate social responsibility.

These interests, plus my passion for cross-cultural learning, led me to the Engaged Learning program. I’m excited to engage with TDTU students and faculty, and I look forward to expanding my knowledge of labor relations and cultivating new relationships. Outside ILR, I’m a member of Delta Sigma Pi Business Fraternity and serve on the executive boards of Scholars Working Ambitiously to Graduate (SWAG) and Delta Chi Fraternity.

Devon Gillams ('18)

My name is Devon Gilliams and I am a senior from Rockland County, New York. Within the ILR school, I am concentrating my curriculum on issues of global inequality in labor forces. I am interested in domestic and international movements for economic and social justice.

I chose to participate in this trip in order to research how to create more sustainable supply chains, with the emphasis on the question, “how do we best empower the worker?” I want to understand what methods are best to create a more equitable relationship between workers and management. I am eager to understand how the Vietnamese labor system relates to and differs from the US labor system. I also want to interact and collaborate with Vietnamese students who are also studying labor relations with the hopes of understanding their point of view and forging relationships that will last far into the future.

At Cornell, I am a research assistant for the Workers’ Institute and am also a staff news writer for the Sun where I have successfully merged my passions for writing and social justice issues on Cornell's campus.