What Are You Most Passionate About?

I am most passionate about empowerment of others, especially women and girls in urban or rural areas. I am also passionate about helping empower and stabilize ex-offenders who are either newly released or in transition from the correctional environment to the mainstream.

Who Is Your Hero? Why?

The mother who gave birth to me and who made what must have been a very difficult decision, is my (s)hero because she did what she thought was in my best interest. And though I don’t know her reasons, I choose to believe this was her decision because she wanted a better life for me than what she imagined I’d have as a female child born in what was at that time, a Third World country.

What Is Your Favorite Sound?

I love the excitement in the voices of men and women I’ve helped along their path when they simply say “Thank you Ms. Funderburk.”.

What Project Would A Laptop Help You With?

I am developing day-long a resume writing and job skills workshop exclusively for ex-offenders. My employment history within the corrections environment has contributed to my expertise in this area. I call the project, OASIS – Offender Assistance Structured Integration and Stabilization. The program’s goal is to empower everyone who is trained to have an understanding of what’s required of them in the job market. Many of the individuals in transition back to mainstream are not certain of where or how to begin a job search.

How Would A Laptop Help You?

Having a laptop would allow me to work consistently, instead of incrementally at the library. There’s a certain freedom, a creative license, that comes with computer ownership. It allows you to work, unrestricted and without the interruptions that are intrinsic to shared computers. A laptop would also allow me to communicate with students, host seminars and collect data & analyse it to better the quality of my course.

What Languages do you speak?

English.

Given a choice, would you prefer a Mac or PC?

Mac

Laptopped By

• Caroline Rothstein