Hello! My name is Eman Marai and I am a second-year Political Science student at Pitt with minors in Arabic and Global Policy. I also work as a Peer Success Guide in Pitt’s Student Success Hub, where I support the Office of the Provost and connect students to on-campus resources. This past summer, I served as a Legal Intern at the Lebanon County Public Defender’s Office in my hometown, and during the spring semester, I was a Research Assistant within Pitt’s Political Science department. Both of these roles have expanded my interest in research and community advocacy, which I am excited to continue as part of an Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative (ACRI) project in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.
The ACRI project works with the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and the University of Pittsburgh to explore trends of outward migration and economic development to support small businesses in Fayette County. The ACRI also consists of 33 other colleges and universities in the Appalachian region, all of which are conducting their own multi-disciplinary research in the region. Fayette County has experienced brain drain as a result of outward migration, a phenomenon which I look forward to learning more about even after this project ends.
To address this issue, I am partnering with a local business called Remember Your Heart Foundation (RHYF). RYHF is a nonprofit which works with local artisans to raise funds that support children in need. These funds provide clothing and shoes to children in Oswego County, New York through engaging events and raise awareness about suicide prevention. I look forward to supporting RYHF’s mission by researching the client’s needs and audience, helping her open a pop-up in Fayette County, and applying marketing strategies to spread her message.
As a Political Science major and pre-law student, I believe this project will reinforce the importance of policies that protect local businesses and limit the impact of outward migration. This topic is particularly interesting to me as I also left my hometown to come to school in Pittsburgh, and 14 years ago left my small town in Egypt to live in the U.S. Like many of Fayette County’s residents, I travel around 30 minutes from my home every day to work in Hershey, a city larger than my own with more opportunities for work. The county is also currently being affected by the closure of Penn State’s Fayette campus, which further incentivizes bright students to look outside of the county for education.
Through my participation in the ACRI project, site visits to Fayette County, and research on the economic implications of outward migration, I hope to build my skills in research, business development, marketing, and collaboration with my peers who are all working with their own clients to promote Fayette County’s economy and uplift rural communities. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to work on this project and ultimately present our findings at the annual ACRI research symposium in D.C. I look forward to getting to know my teammates, my faculty mentors, and my client as well as the residents in Fayette County more closely.