Hey! I’m Alexa, the Founder and Editor of Novel Hand. I graduated from Vanderbilt University with degrees in Political Science, Economics and Spanish. During college, I interned at nonprofits like International Justice Mission. Nothing is more important to me than my family, although I do love coffee– you can find me at a local and socially impactful coffee shop more often than not. I ran my first marathon this past summer. At Novel Hand, I’m specifically interested in learning more about justice and poverty, and how to create sustainable and equitable impact. You can reach me at alexa[at]novelhand.com and connect with me on LinkedIn.
Read my latest articles
- College Football, Ariana Grande, and Water
It was the first college football game I’ve been to where I was allowed to bring water inside with me (one factory-sealed water bottle). Temperatures were above 100 degrees, and before I started to develop a headache, it all got me thinking. - Livestock and Land Use: How Are We Feeding The Planet? Impactfull April 2022This Earth Month, we’re exploring how we use and value our Earth and its resources. First up: livestock and land use.
- What Does Voluntourism Look Like? A Case Study in a Cambodian OrphanageWhat does voluntourism actually look like? We explore the reality and impact of Cambodian orphanage tours.
- Apply to be a Novel Hand Fellow!Looking for a summer 2022 internship? Join Novel Hand as a fellow, writing articles and completing a project of your choice.
- Alexa in ATX: I Ran the Austin Half Marathon, Library Equity, and All-Natural Fast FoodI ran the Austin Half Marathon. It helped me know my city better and forced me to think about how my neighbors and I use our public resources.
- Gold Medals for Impact: Activist Athletes to Watch in 2022Sports has never just been about sports. Here are three athletes who use their platforms for activism and impact.
- Human Rights & Hockey: Why Are This Year’s Olympics Being Called the ‘Genocide Olympics’?For years, the Chinese government has faced allegations of human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims and other minorities in western China.
- February Impactfull: Sports and Activism at the 2022 Beijing OlympicsThis month, we’re covering the Olympics. We’re celebrating the athletes, but more than that, we’re digging into the social and human issues at the Games.
- Are ‘Climate Pledge Friendly’ Products on Amazon Really Sustainable?So the Amazon products in your cart are “Climate Pledge Friendly”– what does that really mean? We explore the certifications behind the program.
- Alexa in ATX: Forget the Alamo + Eating SustainablyOver the past few weeks, I’ve been reading, volunteering and getting ready for the new semester. Here’s what I’ve learned.
- How Will We Beat Covid-19 if We Never Learned to Recycle?Covid-19 and carbon emissions have more in common than you might think– and their solutions are linked, too.
- Year in Review: Looking Back at 2021It’s been a big year here at Novel Hand! Thank you to our readers, listeners and subscribers who make it all possible.
- Podcast: Are You Drinking Coffee From Trash? Alex Morgan of EcoRateYour morning coffee might be hurting the environment. When we talk about coffee and sustainability, we often focus on the… Read More »Podcast: Are You Drinking Coffee From Trash? Alex Morgan of EcoRate
- Alexa in ATX: I’m a Texas Voter, Pro Bono and Public TransitVoting, Pro Bono and Public Transit // Week of Nov. 1 // I’ve been busy lately! If you know a… Read More »Alexa in ATX: I’m a Texas Voter, Pro Bono and Public Transit
- Alexa in ATX: Pro Bono Volunteering, Switching My Voter Registration to Texas, and a New Kind of LibraryOver the past few weeks, I’ve dived into pro bono work at the law school, switched my voter registration to Texas, and got vegetable seeds!
- Activism, Meet: True Crime + Gabby Petito, ‘The Bachelor’ and AOC’s Met Gala DressWhat is the role of true crime in our society? Will the Bachelor franchise ever get it right? Is AOC… Read More »Activism, Meet: True Crime + Gabby Petito, ‘The Bachelor’ and AOC’s Met Gala Dress
- Alexa in ATX: An Exciting Update on Sexist Hotel SignageThis week, I have an exciting (and victorious!) update on Moxy Hotel Austin University and the sexist signage which I asked them to remove.
- ACTION ITEM: Ask Moxy Hotel Austin to Remove Signage that Objectifies WomenLast week, I shared on my personal Instagram story that I walk past Moxy Hotel Austin on my commute each… Read More »ACTION ITEM: Ask Moxy Hotel Austin to Remove Signage that Objectifies Women
- Veracruz All-Natural Tacos, How Heat Waves Affect Austinites, + Sexist HotelsAlexa visits Veracruz All Natural Tacos and speaks out against a hotel’s sexist and disturbing advertising.
- Podcast: Activism, Meet Reality TV: Why ‘The Activist’ is ProblematicLast week, CBS announced ‘The Activist’ reality tv show that pits advocates against one another for the opportunity to go to the G20 Summit.
- ‘Vita Activa’ and Composting in AustinThis week, I learned to compost in Austin, Texas and explored what it means to be an active citizen in my local community.
- Podcast: What is Income Inequality? Plus, Inequality in Austin, TXWhat is income inequality? Alexa introduces a new Impactfull series, explains the concept, and explores inequality in Austin, Texas.
- New Texas State Laws + Afghan Refugees in AustinThis week, new state laws took effect in Texas. I learned about these new laws and how they will affect locals in Austin, Texas.
- I Shop at a Warehouse + A Sweet Local BusinessI started law school this week, but I made time to buy a compost bin, read local news, and enjoy local businesses in Austin, Texas.
- Podcast: Introducing Alexa in ATXFor the next few months, I’ll share how I’m getting to know Austin and becoming a more engaged citizen.
- The 8th Manmade Wonder of the World, I’m Wearing a Mask Again, and “On Juneteenth”I just moved to Austin, Texas. Here’s what I learned. // Week of August 16 // Hey there, everyone! Thanks… Read More »The 8th Manmade Wonder of the World, I’m Wearing a Mask Again, and “On Juneteenth”
- Introducing Alexa in ATXSharing my move to Austin, Texas… // Week of August 9 // Hello Novel Hand readers! Alexa here, Founder and… Read More »Introducing Alexa in ATX
- What is Movement Lawyering? How to Support Directly Impacted Communities with the LawMany students enter law school with hopes of changing the world. As an incoming law student myself, I hope to… Read More »What is Movement Lawyering? How to Support Directly Impacted Communities with the Law
- Is Chocolate Bad for the Environment? It Certainly Doesn’t Have to Be.What’s the environmental impact of chocolate? Is chocolate bad for the environment? It all comes down to cocoa trees and how they are grown.
- Doc of Choc: Trade Justice and Chocolate with Dr. Kristy LeissleToday on the podcast I’m sharing my conversation with professor and cocoa scholar Dr. Kristy Leissle.
- How Much is a Cocoa Farmer Paid? Why a Living Income is Crucial in the Chocolate IndustryTo earn a living income, many cocoa farmers would have to earn more than twice as much as they currently do each year.
- Child Labor in Chocolate: Ayn Riggs of Slave Free ChocolateThis week on Impactfull, we’re focusing on child labor in the cocoa industry. I spoke with Ayn Riggs, the founder… Read More »Child Labor in Chocolate: Ayn Riggs of Slave Free Chocolate
- Roses, Champagne & Wages: The Humanitarian Side of the Bachelor(ette)As you watch Katie Thurston’s season of “The Bachelorette,” make sure you’re aware of the racial equity and fair wage issues behind the show.
- 1.56 Million Children & A Supreme Court Case: Child Labor in the Cocoa IndustryAccording to a recent study conducted by NORC and the US Department of Labor, about 1.56 million children in Ivory Coast and Ghana are engaged in child labor.
- What’s Humanitarian? From ‘Crisis and Aid’ to…. Everything.What if humanitarianism broke out of the ‘crisis and aid’ framework to challenge the prevailing systems and mechanisms that produce human suffering?
- Chocolate & Deforestation: Sam Mawutor of Mighty EarthMighty Earth runs campaigns to influence chocolate companies and government to act to end deforestation in cocoa-growing regions.
- Bitter Chocolate: What’s Going on in the Cocoa Industry?In our first article of June’s Impactfull series, we take a look at the humanitarian and environmental issues endemic to the cocoa industry.
- Activism, Meet IMPACTFULL! Our New Platform is LiveFor the past six months, we’ve been building a new platform to turn activism into impact. Today, Impactfull is LIVE!
- Meet Our Summer 2021 Interns!Meet Novel Hand’s summer 2021 interns, representing a variety of universities and backgrounds!
- What is the Truth about Modern Slavery? Reflections from Emily Kenway’s 2021 BookIn The Truth About Modern Slavery, Emily Kenway challenges the concept of modern slavery and how it’s used by politicians and corporations.
- To Divest or Not to Divest from Fossil Fuels: An Interview with Emily of DivestVUShould universities divest from fossil fuels? To learn more about DivestVU’s work and its connection to environmental justice, I spoke to Emily Irigoyen, an Environmental Sociology and Spanish major at Vanderbilt and a Co-Founder of DivestVU.
- Fast Fashion: Exploitation at Fabletics and the Human Rights of Garment WorkersMost of our clothes are produced in countries like Bangladesh, China and India. At many textile factories, workers don’t earn a living wage.
- Fast Fashion: 2700 Liters of WaterIt takes 2700 liters of water to create the typical cotton t-shirt. That’s enough drinking water to last one person… Read More »Fast Fashion: 2700 Liters of Water
- Fashion Revolution Week: What It Is and How You Can ParticipateEach year around April 24, Fashion Revolution Week commemorates the death of garment workers in the Rana Plaza building collapse.
- What I’m Reading (and Watching) This Month: Alexa’s Quarantine Book RecommendationsQuarantine book list getting short? Here are the books, articles and movies I’m reading and watching in the humanitarian realm this April.
- The 2021 Chocolate Scorecard is Here. How Did Your Favorite Cocoa Company Do?This year’s ‘chocolate scorecard’ might surprise you.
- What Does Water Mean to You? World Water Day 2021This World Water Day, we’re considering the value of water and how our perspectives on water affect humanitarian issues around the globe.
- New Federal Case Alleges that Nestle, Hershey’s, Mars and other Chocolate Companies Use Forced Child LaborHuman rights firm International Rights Advocates filed a case on behalf of eight former child slaves against chocolate companies Nestlé, Cargill, Barry Callebaut, Mars, Olam, Hershey and Mondelēz in Washington DC.
- Amazon, Your Disaster Response Philanthropy Isn’t Fooling MeAmazon’s response to philanthropic disasters is misleading at best. How can one of the world’s largest companies be more impactful?
- We’re Hiring Summer Interns!Novel Hand is hiring Writing & Research, Multimedia, and Business Development Interns for summer 2021. Apply today!
- The Trump Administration’s “Ban” on Cotton from China Won’t Solve the Human Rights Crisis. Here’s Why.Simply put, the Trump Administration’s “ban” on cotton from China isn’t actually a ban– and it doesn’t get at the root of the problem.
- This Valentine’s Day, Say ‘I Love You’ with Slavery-Free ChocolateYou can still enjoy chocolate this Valentine’s Day– here are three brands that ensure their cocoa is ethically and responsibly sourced.
- Meet the Interns!Our team is excited to welcome eight interns– representing seven schools– this spring! Get to know them.
- Celebrating Our Interns and Their ImpactThey recently finished their last articles, and today we want to celebrate their hard work over the past four months. Here are the top articles written by our fall 2020 interns.
- For People and Planet: How Slavery and Ecocide are LinkedIn Blood and Earth: Modern Slavery, Ecocide, and the Secret to Saving the World, renowned slavery expert Kevin Bales unwraps the connection between exploitation of people and of the planet.
- What I Learned About Modern Slavery From “A Crime So Monstrous”In A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-face with Modern-day Slavery, E. Benjamin Skinner tells the stories of slaves in Eastern Europe, Haiti, and several other countries.
- Seven Things You Didn’t Know About Historical and Modern SlaveryFrom the historical beginnings of slavery to modern-day forced labor and exploitation, Slavery Today touches on how slavery functions as an economic system.
- Impact and Global Poverty with Gret Glyer, CEO and Founder of DonorSeeHow can we know that our donations actually help those who need it most? Today on the podcast, I share my conversation with Gret, CEO & Founder of Donorsee.
- Letter from the Editor: NOVEL HAND’S FIRST BIRTHDAY!This month, Novel Hand is one year old. In looking back at the past year, it’s impossible for me to separate the evolution of NH from the unprecedented global and national events of 2020, and from my own personal growth.
- Best of the Best: Our Top Articles of 2020In 2020, Novel Hand published 283 articles (including this one!). Here are our most read articles from this year!
- LISTEN NOW: “The Humanitarian Side of Everything” on ListenableNovel Hand has an audio course on Listenable! “The Humanitarian Side of Everything: Creating Impact in Your Daily Life” is now available.
- International Human Rights Day 2020December 10 is international human rights day– here’s how you can learn about human rights in the US and around the world.
- Impact Now: How IMP’s Five Dimensions Create a Shared Understanding of ImpactThe Impact Management Project (IMP) is a global forum on measuring, reporting and managing impact. Over 2,000 organizations, from to Bank of America and Barclays, share best practices for impact measurement.
- Can a 230-year-old Law be Used to Convict Nestle? The Supreme Court Considers Child Slavery on Cocoa PlantationsChild slavery and forced labor are a real problem in the chocolate supply chain. Will US corporations like Nestle be held accountable?
- The Irony of Giving Tuesday, and How You Can Participate without Spending a DimeIt’s hard not to feel like Giving Tuesday is an afterthought after four continuous days of sales and online shopping.
- Guatemala City, Impact Measurement & Curiosity: Why I Started Novel HandLast week, I went back and re-read our first ever Novel Hand Article. It reminded me why I started this, and I realized that I haven’t told the full story yet on our site. Here’s why I started Novel Hand.
- Sustainability & Fashion as an Art with Liberty of Manic MetallicI spoke with Liberty Gaither, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Manic Metallic, about fashion as art and as a vehicle for sustainability.
- “Uncharitable”: Transforming the Nonprofit Sector to do More GoodIn Uncharitable: How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential, Dan Pallotta highlights the assumptions that cripple nonprofits and proposes a set of reforms to unleash the potential of charities.
- We’re Hiring Interns for Spring 2021! Writing & Research, Business Development and Multimedia Positions Now OpenNovel Hand is hiring its spring 2021 intern class. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and are due on Friday, Dec. 11.
- “The Chocolate Case”: How One Social Enterprise is Eradicating Child SlaveryThe Chocolate Case, a documentary that follows three Dutch journalists in their journey to produce slave-free chocolate, holds bittersweet lessons for modern consumers.
- Empowerment for Inner City Women: Porscha Scott of InHer City ChicThis week on the Novel Hand Podcast, I spoke with Porscha Scott, founder of InHer City Chic. This nonprofit gives women in inner city communities access to high quality fashion for free.
- It’s Election Day. Here’s Why We Vote.Today is Election Day. Humanitarian issues are on the ballot, from our nation’s response to COVID-19 to climate change.
- Microfinance: How Muhammad Yunus Revolutionized Poverty AlleviationHow does microfinance work? This week’s Handful dives into how Muhammad Yunus has changed poverty alleviation.
- Ecopreneurship & Sustainable Brands with Erika Rodriguez of Nadi MarketingThis week on the Novel Hand Podcast, I’m talking with Erika Rodriguez, Founder of Nadi Marketing.
- Community Buy-in, Peace Corps, and Legal Advocacy with Stephanie TurrentineOn this week’s episode of the Novel Hand Podcast, I interviewed Stephanie Turrentine. We discussed community buy-in and impact litigation.
- How Can We Hold Big Business Accountable to Stated Social Impact Goals?This week on Handful, I answered a listener question: How can we hold big businesses accountable to stated social impact goals?
- A New (and More Impactful) Normal: Five Ways That COVID-19 Transformed Social ImpactThe pandemic changed how we help others. In light of the challenges and opportunities that COVID-19 presents, social impact isn’t the same.
- Agriculture and climate change: five takeaways from new Kiss the Ground documentaryKiss the Ground, a newly-released Netflix documentary, explores the fascinating relationship between climate change and dirt.
- Not Business as Usual: How B Corps Create Positive Social & Environmental ImpactB Corporations are changing the landscape of corporate social responsibility. Here’s how three B Corps are creating positive social impact.
- Why are Human Rights Important for Business? Beyond CSRWhy are human rights important for business? Read why human rights protections must go beyond corporate social responsibility.
- The Novel Hand Podcast is Back!The Novel Hand Podcast is back and better than ever. Listen in to hear about BIG changes at Novel Hand and what’s to come from the podcast this fall.
- USAID, World Vision, and Patagonia: Social Impact at the Institutional LevelHow do we create impact? I’m exploring some of the institutions and organizations that aim to create impact, including government, nonprofits and social enterprises.
- Financial Inclusion: The Key to Ending Poverty in the US?How are the unbanked excluded from the economy? Financial inclusion may be critical to alleviating poverty in the US. Here’s why.
- Meet the Interns!We are so excited to introduce our fall interns!! They’re an awesome group of students, and they’ll be writing about… Read More »Meet the Interns!
- Putting Eco-effectiveness Into Practice// All My Thoughts on Zero Waste // Over the past several months, I’ve been reading Cradle to Cradle: Remaking… Read More »Putting Eco-effectiveness Into Practice
- What is Social Impact?Social impact is a huge buzzword. It’s thrown around a lot in the social enterprise and nonprofit worlds. But what is social impact? And why does it matter?
- What You Wear is a Humanitarian Issue. Here’s Why.Earlier this week, I shared five things you probably don’t know about your favorite t-shirt. Today, I’m delving deeper into… Read More »What You Wear is a Humanitarian Issue. Here’s Why.
- Five Things You Didn’t Know About Your Favorite T-shirtComfort Colors t-shirts have been my quarantine uniform. But cotton t-shirts have a heftier environmental and social impact than I… Read More »Five Things You Didn’t Know About Your Favorite T-shirt
- How do you define impact? Mosquito nets, vaccines, & narrativesI created Novel Hand to learn how I can make a sustainable and equitable impact in my community and in the world. But what is impact?
- Thank you to our interns!Happy Tuesday! I can’t believe that it’s already August- and that our interns already finished their time with us last… Read More »Thank you to our interns!
- How burgers cause climate change (and what you can do about it)How do burgers contribute to climate change? Handful explores the impact of meat on the environment and provides sustainable alternatives.
- Meet Handful!Happy Monday! Novel Hand’s big announcement is here: it’s Handful! Handful is a short podcast– like a really short podcast.… Read More »Meet Handful!
- July in ReviewHello and happy Friday! Somehow it’s already the end of July– so I’m recapping this month at Novel Hand! Our… Read More »July in Review
- The National Human Trafficking Hotline identified 51,919 cases of human trafficking in the US between 2007 and 2018This Thursday is the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. Modern day slavery is a reality for millions of people around the world and thousands of people in the United States.
- Can public health teach us how to prevent violence?The COVID-19 pandemic and America’s national conversation about race and police brutality are more connected than you may think. In… Read More »Can public health teach us how to prevent violence?
- Monday Digest: If you had unlimited resources, who would you help first?Hello! Happy Monday, and welcome to my first Monday Digest. This is a weekly series of challenging thoughts, must-read articles… Read More »Monday Digest: If you had unlimited resources, who would you help first?
- Fall 2020: We’re Hiring!Novel Hand is hiring fall interns! Applications close August 3.
- ACTIVISM, MEET IMPACT.To our Novel Hand community, You might notice a few changes to our website today. Each of these changes reflect… Read More »ACTIVISM, MEET IMPACT.
- (Bio)diversity Matters Now More Than EverWhat is biodiversity? Why does it matter for a sustainable lifestyle?
- Mask Etiquette 101Why do I need to wear a face mask? What type of mask should I wear? We have the answers to all of these questions and more.
