Alumna Dawn Rowe ’04, a Bronx, New York native, fully understands the impact of growing up in a chaotic environment. “My mom was emotionally absent and there was a lot of abuse happening. I was a high school dropout. I was slated for an incarceration program, and at times I was suicidal. What I realize now is that it wasn’t so much that I wanted to die, but I wanted my problems to die,” Rowe explains. “Luckily, the one thing that I always knew about myself was that I was smart. When we’re young, we don’t really understand that we get a chance to mold who we are and who we’re going to become through our own experiences. Throughout my life I was able to make a lot of changes, but it took a lot of hard work to get where I am today.” Where she is today is the Executive Director and Founder of Girl Vow Inc., a nonprofit organization focused on helping girls impacted by the juvenile justice or foster care system. Rowe also works as an Adjunct Professor in the Sociology Department teaching courses on juvenile justice and women and crime. We sat down with Rowe to learn more about her inspiring journey and the internship that launched her career.
Finding John Jay College
It was one of Rowe’s siblings who explained to her that an education was the surest way out of their difficult situation. “I knew that was the formula and my mind became fixated on going back to school,” says Rowe, who had dropped out of high school when she was 15 years old. Rowe went on to enroll in an alternative high school and then spent one semester at Hostos Community College. “There, I was able to make straight A’s and I immediately transferred to John Jay,” she says with pride. Rowe describes her first experiences at the College as “thrilling.” It was one of the first times where she was fully immersed in an environment that was totally accepting of who she was. It was a time when professors pushed her toward academic excellence and encouraged her to share and write about her life’s journey. “I was making new friends and it just felt like I could breathe a little bit easier when I was at John Jay,” Rowe recalls. “The professors I had really helped me get through some challenging times.”
“I was making new friends and it just felt like I could breathe a little bit easier when I was at John Jay.” —Dawn Rowe
Securing the Perfect Internships
One of Rowe’s biggest assets was her ability to connect with anyone she met. “I landed an internship just by talking to a guidance counselor. I was chatting with her about some issues I was having and she noticed that I spoke well, was outgoing, and was non-judgmental. In the middle of the conversation she said, ‘Why don’t you try this internship?’” That internship was with the Department of Juvenile Justice where Rowe was tasked with mentoring young people who were entering the system. The first mentee that she interacted with was a 12-year-old boy who had been charged with rape. “I remember his face to this day. I used to sit with him, help him with his homework, and we would just talk for hours. I could read his body language and he became much calmer the more we spoke,” Rowe remembers. Understanding the dire circumstances that the boy was facing made Rowe make connections to her own turbulent childhood tangled in abusive situations. “During my internship with the Department of Juvenile Justice, I had this light-bulb moment. I could see how this connectivity piece was missing from young people’s lives.” Every day at the internship, she’d sit with a young person talking about what was going on in their home life as she helped guide them through their circumstances. “Really, it was just a lot of listening. That’s what they needed.”
“During my internship with the Department of Juvenile Justice, I had this light-bulb moment. I could see how this connectivity piece was missing from young people’s lives.” —Dawn Rowe
After her internship with the Department of Juvenile Justice, Rowe was more certain of her public-service path and she took on a new internship at the Bronx’s District Attorney’s Office as a Crime Victim’s Advocate. There she would get assigned cases with victims of rape, domestic violence, robbery, and even murder. She’d walk with the families to court, provide instructions for them, and tell them what to expect being in the courtroom. “If they needed something or they didn’t understand something—maybe they were having a difficult time with the attorney—I was a gateway to the services that they needed,” she says. In both of her internships, Rowe was able to tap into her outgoing personality, along with her personal life experiences, to handle intense situations without fear, judgment, or callousness.
Fighting for Young Women at Girl Vow Inc.
When Rowe thinks back to her career history, she knows that it was the combination of her two internships that set her on the path to creating Girl Vow Inc. “There’s this cross over from the foster care system to the juvenile justice system that’s traumatic to a young person’s life. When I started Girl Vow Inc., I kept looking to see if there was anything centered around this duality for girls in these two specific systems, and there wasn’t anything like it,” says Rowe. Recently, as she traveled around from different juvenile detention centers, she noticed a young woman consistently appearing at different facilities. “Later on, when I started working at Rikers Island, I bumped into her again. That meant that she was ‘elevating’ within the system. Young women like her drop out of high school with no parents to support them, and they end up at Rikers Island facing serious time in state prison.” Through Girl Vow Inc., Rowe helped the young woman turn her life around. “She’s currently a student at BMCC [Borough of Manhattan Community College], and when she calls me for help, I stop whatever I’m doing and try to make sure that she has everything she needs. She’s now chosen a space of wanting more for her life, and she chose to invest in herself. It’s young women like her that keep me motivated to do this work.” At Girl Vow Inc. Rowe helps her clients navigate any institutional red tape that they might encounter. She makes sure that they have proper legal representation. And, she advocates for solutions to food and housing insecurity problems. “Sometimes it’s being a parent for young people when they have a parent that’s missing. Sometimes I’m the shoulder to cry on, and sometimes I’m the tough-love wakeup call that helps them make better decisions.”
“I would have never been able to do what I’m doing right now without the experiences I had at my internships.” —Dawn Rowe
Urging Others to Intern
When asked how important interning was for her career journey, Rowe doesn’t hesitate to say, “I would have never been able to do what I’m doing right now without the experiences I had at my internships.” But she cautions students not to expect people to take it easy on them, or expect less of them because they’re a student. “You have to work hard and you have to pay your dues. It’s worth it because internships build your skills and solve gaps on your resume. Working in a clothing store is fine and it pays the bills, but if that’s not what you want to do with your life, you need to expand your horizons.” Rowe has provided internships for over 50 John Jay students, placing them in correctional and juvenile facilities where they’ve been able to establish career paths to better-paying positions. “The bottom line is, you have to advocate for yourself. If you don’t position yourself for a better life, no one else will. Take every opportunity that’s available to you, because you never know who’s going to offer you that position that’s going to change your life.”