I apply my ethnographic experience and training as a West Africa Area Studies specialist in the study of gender relations and women’s rights by examining prominent transnational aid institutions in Niger. This research highlights: 1) changes in gender roles and access to resources connected to material and religious change in the Maradi Region, 2) ways in which women’s rights, gender, and class are understood and applied in development programs and among aid recipients, and 3) discourses of women’s rights and Islamic family law in the Maradi Region and in Niger. I extend this work with my students by teaching an undergraduate African Histories and Cultures course and working closely with Peace Corps Master’s International students who are designing research using household data collection and ethnography, and research examining social vulnerability and gender issues.