Say hello to Erin Ostlund, one of our 2026 Kirby Edmonds Fellows!

Say hello to Erin Ostlund, one of our 2026 Kirby Edmonds Fellows! Erin Ostlund is a second-year History PhD student at the University of Minnesota, pursuing a graduate minor in human rights, with research centered on gender and labor in Latin American export production and broader U.S. economic, political, and military ties to the region during the late twentieth century. Before returning to graduate school, she spent fourteen years as a secondary Spanish and Social Studies teacher, consistently centering social justice and human rights in her work, and more recently interned part-time with the ACLU of Minnesota on a campaign to abolish 287(g) agreements with ICE, while also becoming deeply involved in local community organizing and rapid response during the ICE occupation of Minnesota. As a Kirby Edmonds Summer Fellow with HRE USA, Erin will develop the virtual 2026-27 Training As Action Series.

Background: Spent fourteen years as a secondary Spanish and Social Studies teacher before returning to graduate school

Degree: Second-year History PhD student with a graduate minor in human rights, University of Minnesota

Focus: Gender and labor in Latin American export production, and U.S. economic, political, and military ties to Latin America in the late twentieth century

Experience: ACLU of Minnesota intern working to abolish 287(g) agreements with ICE; active in local community organizing and rapid response during the ICE occupation of Minnesota