Global Outreach! (GO!) is one of Fordham’s flagship programs that invites students to social justice through domestic and international trips that emphasize service learning and immersion. One of the co-chairs leading GO! this year is none other than Fordham University’s very own Rhianna Dains, FCRH ’26.
Reese, as she’s known around campus, has been a part of Global Outreach since her freshman year. Being a GO! Leader is one of many moving parts in the junior’s busy schedule. She’s also an honors English student, resident assistant, marketing intern, co-president of Fordham Experimental Theatre, secretary of Fordham Backstage and a member of the Future Business Leaders Association.
In Reese’s third year at Global Outreach, she works as a co-chair with Lincoln Center co-chair Abigail Wilson and the other Rose Hill co-chair Alexa Davidson to fundraise for the initiative. Specifically, Dains oversees the marketing, formation and fundraising committees.
“ We basically organize all of GO’s marketing efforts. We put on a bunch of big fundraisers every year, and we are the ones who write things like the participant and leader handbooks to ensure that all of the leaders are adequately trained. We also put on leader trainings and retreats,” Dains said.
Looking to make connections her freshman year, Dains applied to GO!. She had heard about the projects from her experience doing Urban Plunge — another community engagement program run by the Center for Community Engaged Learning. Projects, which typically run during fall, spring and summer breaks, accept a cohort of ten students.
On her trip to Puerto Rico, Dains visited Aguadillaand the Friends of Puerto Rico — an organization dedicated to advancing economic development for women and girls.
“We were working with the organization Friends of Puerto Rico. They own a little farm in Aguadilla. Basically, it’s like a coffee farm. They grow coffee and then they package and sell it,” Dains explained. “They basically give the coffee to kids and the kids sell it and raise money to start their own small business ideas. It’s very business focused… The work that we were actually doing was a lot of physical labor, which I think is true of most GO trips.”
Only a year later, Dains became a leader on her second GO! trip to Puerto Rico. This trip was sponsored by the Fordham College of Rose Hill’s Honors Program.
“I was really proud of the Honors GO! Puerto Rico team…Everyone was very kind,” Dains reflected.
In her second trip, Dains worked with community center Asociación de Comunidades Unidas Tomando Acción Solidaria (ACUTAS), a much different experience than her first.
“For the original one, it was a lot of physical labor and working with this organization that is very business oriented. For the second one, we were working with ACUTAS, which is a community education center. They do free preschool and free extracurriculars in an underserved area,” she said.
As co-chair, Dains works on marketing Global Outreach to new students through information sessions. She noted that last year marked a 300% increase in participant applications.
“It was a direct result of our actions on marketing and I felt super grateful and also super impressed by the work we were able to do when we were all working together and delegating and getting all these info sessions done,” Dains said.
