Recently I sat down with Lydia Grate to talk about her journey. She landed in Arkansas by happenstance at the encouragement of a stranger at a grocery store as her family drove cross country to restart in California. They decided to make Arkansas home and never made it beyond the Arkansas River Valley.

Lydia graduated from Arkansas Tech University with degrees in broadcast journalism, public relations, and speech communication. Immediately following her graduation, she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo, West Africa from 2011-2013. During her service, she facilitated trainings (in French) and collaborated with local NGO’s and the US Embassy to organize conferences for youth and women’s empowerment. 

Lydia has worked in six countries and on a variety of public service projects, including teaching hospitality skills to girls at risk of sex trafficking in Thailand, mentoring at-risk youth in Australia, and organizing community festivals in New Zealand.

Don't miss her Arkansas story.