Erin Coggins

Class of 2018
Hometown: Concord, NC

Erin Coggins of Concord, North Carolina, graduated in May 2018 as a Bachelor of Social Work and with a minor in Communication Studies.  She has dedicated her time at UNC Charlotte to anti-trafficking initiatives both in Charlotte and abroad.  After graduation, Erin will continue to live in Charlotte and work as Case Manager at Present Age Ministries, a nonprofit that works with sexually abused, exploited, and trafficked teen girls. Erin’s affiliation with Present Age Ministries began as an internship as she worked to build community support and administrative processes, and she remained throughout her college career to eventually facilitate training in Matagalpa, Nicaragua to implement anti-trafficking services. Erin studied abroad in South Africa, focusing on the impact of HIV/AIDS on victims of abuse and exploitation, and spent a month in Phnom Penh, Cambodia working in a safe home for minor victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking.  She also worked in collaboration with Project NoREST to catalog available services for survivors in North Carolina.  As her civic engagement project, Erin co-founded Not In My City Project, a local initiative to mobilize college students in the anti-trafficking movement by training students to host awareness events and fundraise for direct services for survivors in Charlotte.  On campus, Erin was also involved in Impact Charlotte—a campus ministry, Phi Alpha—the Social Work Honor Society, and the BSW Program Committee.  Erin stated, “I am leaving UNC Charlotte incredibly grateful for the opportunities afforded to me by the Levine Scholars Program as well as more tightly connected to this community, more dedicated to my passion, and more prepared to embrace new perspectives as I continue to grow and learn.”