What I’ve learned in my first week at E3RF
Siena Lambert – E3RF Intern
Growing up, we were constantly told to be a part of the change or stand up for what’s right. It’s an idea woven into the fabric of our education, repeated in graduation speeches, plastered across posters, and echoed by historical figures whose legacies seem entirely out of reach. But as we transition into adulthood and look out at a world injured by crisis, economic instability, and suffering, those words can start to feel hollow. What does that phrase really mean in practice? Has it become too cliche? What could I possibly do that would actually matter?
This summer, I had the opportunity to intern at E3RF in the Atlanta office. Before beginning work I harbored the same quiet skepticism that many of my peers carry. I knew the statistics surrounding human trafficking, and frankly, they terrified me. The problem felt like an immovable crisis; an international issue so complex that any individual effort would just be a drop in a bottomless ocean. I wondered if an internship at a non-profit would just confirm my worst fear: that the problems of our world are simply too big to fix.
But my time at E3RF completely shattered that perspective. It forced me to look past the statistics and focus on my individual responsibility. I realized that our collective paralysis isn’t caused by a lack of empathy; it is caused by a fundamental misunderstanding of how change actually occurs. We are waiting for massive, top-down institutional rescues, when historical progress has always been a bottom-up chain reaction. Working in advocacy taught me that changing the world isn’t about single-handedly dismantling a global network overnight; it is about individuals showing up, day after day, to deliver a continual sequence of intentional answers to the suffering right in front of them.
The Psychology of Powerlessness: Self-Efficacy and the Bystander Effect
To understand why so many of us disengage from major social issues, we have to look at the psychological framework behind human behavior. In psychology, the belief in one’s ability to make a difference and/or succeed is known as self-efficacy. Established by psychologist Albert Bandura, this concept dictates how we set goals, how much effort we put in, and how persistent we remain when facing adversity. Self-efficacy isn’t just empty optimism; it is the engine of human agency.
This principle has been shown through research to suggest that an individual does not act based on how bad they perceive a problem to be, but rather if they believe they can fix the problem. As a society, we often believe that the key to encouraging people is simply showing them more tragedy, overwhelming them with devastating images, tragic stories, and escalating statistics. We assume that if people truly understood how bad things were, they would instantly rise up to help. However, data proves the exact opposite often occurs. When a problem is presented as completely overwhelming, raising awareness without providing a clear, achievable pathway to a solution actually creates a state of numbing or helplessness. People pull away, not because they do not care, but because the emotional weight of caring about an unfixable problem is too heavy to bear. If our self-efficacy is zero, our survival instinct is to look away.
We assume that a larger organization, a wealthier donor, a more qualified expert, or a government agency will step in. But, in order to diffuse the bystander effect, members of a society must believe that “If I don’t act, change will not come”. We have to break the illusion that there is an army of invisible experts handling the world’s pain behind the scenes. True transformation relies entirely on individuals rejecting the comfort of shared responsibility and embracing personal accountability.
Your Step Toward Change
What does it take for you to help save a life? It doesn’t take a massive political platform, a degree in criminal justice, or a multi-million dollar net worth. It simply takes the willingness to show up, educate yourself, change your lifestyle, and impact your community. It requires you to look at the brokenness of our world and make a choice to believe that your small, intentional actions carry real weight.
My internship at E3RF has taught me that change is not a single historic event but rather an accumulation of daily choices. It is the effect of individuals refusing to let the size of a problem dictate the size of their response. Cynicism tells us that because we cannot fix everything, we should not bother fixing anything. But efficacy reminds us that the snowball is built one handful of snow at a time. You can take a step now to make that change. Consider giving to E3RF today, your gift is one more handful of snow added to a snowball already in motion.