NU senior receives community service award

Northwestern University senior Meixi Ng, whose humanitarian advocacy on campus, locally and abroad belies her young age, is the first recipient of the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Prize for Community Service.

Last summer, Ng served as the first undergraduate intern of the United Nations Interagency on Human Trafficking in Bangkok, Thailand, where she proposed a new counter-trafficking framework for Cambodia. She co-founded an international humanitarian organization that benefits children in Southeast Asia. On campus, she co-founded the Northwestern Engagement Coalition. And she serves as a community consultant for Evanston Township High School.

“One of the many leadership skills Ng possesses is her ability to develop an idea and make it a reality,” said Nick Seamons, assistant director of International Student Services. “Her motivation and excitement are infectious.”

The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Prize for Community Service honors a student who exemplifies leadership and service through participation in University and community activities, and the recipient receives a cash award of $5,000. The prize recognizes Patrick Ryan's 14 years of service as chairman of the Board of Trustees of Northwestern University, as well as Patrick's and Shirley's extraordinary voluntarism and commitment to Northwestern and the Chicago community.

Patrick Ryan, a distinguished civic and business leader, is a Northwestern alumnus (EB59 and H09); Shirley Ryan (WCAS61), his wife, also is a Northwestern graduate.

Consistently named to the Dean’s List, Ng will graduate with a double major in the School of Education and Social Policy and international studies in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. Her minor is in communication sciences and disorders.

A native of Singapore, Ng co-founded The Amber Initiative, a youth-led organization that advocates to make positive changes for youth in their communities. Working throughout Southeast Asia, the organization implements activities that include a mentoring program for disadvantaged Singaporean youth and an art competition for children living in the red-light district of Calcutta, India.

On campus, Ng also co-founded the International Students Association and the Northwestern World Cup. She has spent spring breaks volunteering in Ecuador and Guatemala and is facilitating a future student trip to Peru to build a community shelter. As a community consultant for Evanston Township High School, she helps build service-learning curricula. She also tutors elementary school students weekly and is a swim coach for the Special Olympics.

“She has the fine-tuned ability to manage multiple priorities and ongoing projects, all while maintaining academic excellence,” said Seamons.

Ng recently received a 2010 Circumnavigators Club Foundation Around-the-World Travel-Study Grant. This summer she will travel to many countries, including Guatemala, Singapore, Ghana, South Africa and Australia to visit schools and conduct research on education in marginalized communities.