Name: <\/strong>Danielle\nHansen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Year(s) in Hands for\na Bridge: <\/strong>2004-2005<\/p>\n\n\n\n

School Affiliation:<\/strong>\nRoosevelt High School (RHS)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflection:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

International relations and travel had always held great intrigue for me from a young age. I looked for every opportunity to experience new countries, cultures, and languages. However, as someone who is naturally reserved and struggled with confidence, it was difficult to find the courage to take on new challenges, even when they presented as amazing opportunities. I first gained exposure to Hands for a Bridge (HFB) during my language arts class when students from Isilimela visited and was so taken with their openness, optimism and strength despite obvious challenges in their home country, past and present. I knew immediately that I wanted to be a part of this program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was ecstatic to learn that HFB was considering expanding\nto include a Northern Ireland branch and felt that this was where I fit in to\nthe program. Participating with HFB was truly integral in building my\nconfidence as a student leader and global citizen. HFB helped \u2018bring me out of\nmy shell\u2019, but more importantly, learning of the history and events surrounding\napartheid in South Africa and the Troubles in Northern Ireland left a lasting\nimpression which I feel influences my thoughts, feelings, and actions still\ntoday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2005, I participated in the first RHS trip to Belfast,\nNorthern Ireland which was positively influential for several reasons. It was\nnot only a strong lesson in leadership, responsibility, and hard work, but also\nallowed me to make connections with students who came from different religious\nbackgrounds and who were touched by The Troubles in (at times) very personal\nways. The lessons presented within the HFB curriculum and first-hand\nexperiences it affords students put a face to social injustice and made the\nstruggles relatable. The experience was invaluable. I believe that\nparticipating in this program helped shape the way I choose to relate to\nstrangers in my everyday life. I am thankful for the education, understanding,\nand activism that HFB continues to foster and am eager to see what future of\nthe program brings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Post-secondary school\neducation and\/or work, and future plans: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduating from Roosevelt High School in Seattle,\nWashington, I attended the University of Washington where I received a BS in\nEnvironmental Health. In 2010 I moved to Houston, Texas to attend the\nUniversity of Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health where I\nstudied environmental and occupational health sciences, graduating with a Master\nof Public Health in Industrial Hygiene in 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I took a position as an industrial hygiene consultant with\nBureau Veritas North America (BVNA) in 2012 in their Houston office before\ntransferring and holding positions in both the San Francisco Bay Area and back\nhome in Seattle. November 2018 found me moving back to Houston for a promotion\nto the Industrial Hygiene consulting operations manager position. BVNA\u2019s\nHealth, Safety, and Environmental (HSE) division was acquired by Apex\nCompanies, LLC in July 2019 where I\u2019ve transitioned and continue to hold the\nsame role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Industrial hygiene is essentially the \u201chealth\u201d portion of\nhealth and safety in the work place. My responsibilities include helping\nclients ensure that workers do not experience adverse health effects from\neither acute or chronic exposure to workplace stressors like chemicals and\nnoise. I also focus on education, training, and empowering workers so that they\nhave the skills to take ownership of their own health and safety.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HFB will periodically spotlight one of our alumni. If you are interested in being highlighted please contact Miriam Doyle at info@handsforabridge.org Name: Danielle Hansen Year(s) in Hands for a Bridge: 2004-2005 School Affiliation: Roosevelt High School (RHS) Reflection: International relations and travel had always held great intrigue for me from a young age. I looked…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":962,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,9,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-profiles","category-hfb-class","category-hfb-is"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsforabridge.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsforabridge.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsforabridge.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsforabridge.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsforabridge.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=960"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsforabridge.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":970,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsforabridge.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/960\/revisions\/970"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsforabridge.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsforabridge.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsforabridge.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsforabridge.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}