J.K. Rowling worked for Amnesty International in London.
After graduating from the University of Exeter, Rowling moved to London and worked as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International. Her role involved reading and translating reports concerning human-rights abuses in the French-speaking world.
Rowling later said that the work exposed her to accounts of political prisoners and helped inspire the idea of a fictional organization devoted to opposing cruelty and injustice. The experience did not create the Harry Potter plot by itself, but it contributed to themes that recur throughout the series. Rowling subsequently moved to Portugal, where she taught English and began writing more seriously.