Maya is a rising junior working at Hollaback! this summer.

Although we’re half a century past the 1960s and the closest I’ve ever come to a Lucky Strike Cigarette are vague memories of my granddad, I can’t help but imagine my summer life in New York as a season of Mad Men. I’m not exactly sure why I’m equating them. Perhaps it’s my expectation of encountering challenges along the city streets (both personal and related to gender), or maybe it is something more superficial, like wanting to unapologetically run an office like Joan. There’s also a chance that the hours I’ve spent bored at home watching season after season have made me believe that I should be geared up for a summer working for the “man.”

But I am not Joan, I’m working in Brooklyn and not Manhattan, and the “man” that I’m interning with is quite the opposite: Emily May, Executive Director of Hollaback! In fact, Emily May and Hollaback! are arguably as far from the “man” as it gets—Emily, an international leader in the anti-street harassment movement and Hollaback! an organization that gives women and members of the LGBTQ community an empowered response to street harassment. After its inception in 2005, Hollaback! has trained over 200 leaders internationally, engaged elected officials, won several awards, and received money and support from numerous foundations and corporations, including the New York Women’s Foundation and Ben and Jerry’s Foundation (the latter of which, I was disappointed to learn, has nothing to do with the ice cream).

I’m Maya, by the way. Feminist and Texan. Mango Lassi drinker and cat lover. I am excited and ready for my Moxie adventure—Mad Men peril aside. I’m looking for a challenge, I’m looking to learn, and I’m excited to step into the Brooklyn unknown!

Hollaback! at yo’ girl!