Silvia Moron grew up in Haiti, and when she arrived in the United States in 2009, she wanted to be a diplomat.
“My dream was to work for the United Nations and be an ambassador,” Moron says.
To start her career, however, she decided to become a nurse. She loves helping people, and this career would, she decided, give her the stability she needed to pursue her dreams.
Today, Moron is an intern at Strategies for Children. She’s studying political science at Bunker Hill Community College, and she plans to transfer to a four-year college to study foreign relations.
Moron also runs the Sephora Moron Foundation, which she launched in 2020 to raise money for poor children who don’t have access to education. Put all this work together, and it adds up to Moron’s vision of helping the world by becoming an ambassador who represents poor people, advocates for excellent health care, and promotes education.
What drew Moron to Strategies was the chance to learn about advocacy and policy.
Back in January, on the first day of her internship, Moron joined Strategies’ staff at the Massachusetts State House for the release of the Early Childhood Agenda.
“It was super-exciting. It was my first time at the State House, and I got to pose with Senator Lewis, and he posted the picture on Facebook,” Moron says of State Senator Jason Lewis (D-5th Middlesex). “And I talked to him about Strategies.”
In addition, Moron updated information about which cities and towns in Massachusetts charge tuition for full-day kindergarten.
“In Massachusetts, some cities are still charging a lot of money for education, which is ridiculous,” she says. “I think more children should have free access to education.”
Silvia’s work researching school district websites and calling schools resulted in the data Strategies needed to update its full-day kindergarten tuition fact sheet.
Moron is also updating Strategies’ contact list of legislators and their staff — a valuable resource for advocates. And she’s working on a proposal about how to attract more people to Strategies’ 9:30 Call, a Monday-to-Thursday gathering of early educators, advocates, and policymakers from across the state. Moron would like to see a 9:30 Call walkathon to raise awareness about early education and care.
“I’ve learned so, so much, and I’m grateful, because this is going to give me the experience and expertise to perform better for my own organization,” Moron says of her foundation. “Strategies prioritizes people and forms that human connection.”
“When someone at Strategies contacts to a legislator, for example, they start by making that connection. They form that human connection, and then they make their policy proposal. I didn’t know about that process.”
Moron will finish up her internship this month, though she says she’s available any time Strategies needs her. She’s also planning a gala for her foundation that will take place over the summer. It’s an early step toward expanding the foundation’s presence in the United States.
Moron’s biggest lesson from her internship?
“The world is about people. If you don’t connect with people, how are you going to grow? How are you going to get things done? You have to have that human connection so that people can see that you care, that you’re not just doing your job to profit from it. That’s what Strategies does: it values people.”
Moron also praises the 9:30 Call because it’s a two-way conversation.
“The 9:30 Call is an excellent tool. It’s a way to learn from people. You have to learn about people, about their jobs, about what they do. They might have a more interesting idea than you do.
“If you’re learning from people, then you’re working in partnership with them, and that’s what you have to do to be successful.”
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