Alumni Directory Display

she/her/hers

Zoe Kaldor graduated from the University of Denver in 2020 with a bachelor’s in strategic communication and international studies. She was later accepted into the University of Denver, Josef Korbel School of International Studies’ dual-degree program where she received her master’s in international development with a certificate in global environmental change and adaptation. While pursuing her graduate degree, Zoe interned with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)’s Office of Public Affairs. Her responsibilities included drafting social media and blog posts, assisting podcast development, and formatting report summaries. After graduating, she began working for Abt Associates as the communications specialist for the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative VectorLink Project. In this role, Zoe wrote success stories, organized webinars for malaria stakeholders, produced short videos, and maintained the project’s website. She is looking forward to communicating about Mpala Research Centre’s work this coming year as a Princeton in Africa fellow.

Urvi, a native of Delhi, India, graduated from Skidmore College with a degree in Environmental Studies & Film. Her choice of major as well as other endeavors are motivated by her desire to make positive contextual change. While at Skidmore, Urvi followed her passion for conservation as a North Woods steward and an environmental educator at the Wilton Wildlife Preserve and Park. She used Media as a medium to communicate the importance of these natural ecosystems. In doing so, Urvi discovered her interest in the intersection of storytelling, and conservation. She pursued this new-found passion in Tanzania during her semester abroad, where she better understood the linkages between her theoretical/field experiences and the working world. After her semester abroad, Urvi decided to dive deep into the interconnections between the Sustainable Development Goals. This took her to Washington DC where she interned with the Grameen Foundation, UNICEF, and the Vicente Ferrer Foundation over the summer working on marketing, communication, and grant writing. Preparing for life after college, Urvi will be spending her summer interning at the Rainforest Alliance and Vicente Ferrer foundation before setting off to Kenya. She is excited to apply her skills to creating impactful and effective stories for the BOMA Project in Nanyuki, Kenya.

Livia graduated with honors and distinction in politics and a minor in history from the University of the South (Sewanee), where she was also part of the pre-public health program. Her family is from Italy and Tunisia, and she grew up in Italy and the UK. While at Sewanee, Livia served on the Executive Board of the Bairnwick Women’s Center, a student-led organization focused on social justice issues related to gender, intersectionality, and access to sexual health and education, and as a Newman Civic Fellow, where she was able to explore her passions for gender equality and equitable health access for marginalized groups. While in college, Livia was lucky to spend one semester studying at the University of Ghana in Accra, where she also completed an internship at AfricaLead, a USAID program focused on strengthening food security and agribusiness, and conducted independent research on civil society advocacy for gender quotas in the Ghanaian parliament. She also interned at the Makerere University-Johns Hopkins University Research Collaboration on AIDS in Kampala, Uganda where she supported programming for adolescents living with HIV. She is excited to continue working in public health and youth development on the African continent as a Princeton in Africa Fellow with the Botswana-Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative.

he/him/his

 Max Kaye recently graduated from the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where he majored in Culture and Politics (CULP) and obtained an African Studies certificate. Max designed his CULP major to look at strengthening state capacity on the African continent. He also closely follows developments in South and Central America and studied during his junior year in Argentina in a program centered on transnationalism and comparative development in South America. Max has a strong interest in philanthropy and has worked in business development at several nonprofits. As the Peace Programs Development intern at The Carter Center in Fall 2022, Max helped develop grant proposals and researched and created presentations related to European and Asian donors. Prior to that, Max was the Development Intern in the Global Economy and Development Program at Brookings Institution, where he supported the grants management and reporting process. Additionally, Max interned at PeaceTech Lab, a nonprofit dedicated to using tech and media to promote peace, and at the Culmore Clinic, a health care clinic for low-income, predominantly Spanish speaking clients. Max was raised in the Washington, D.C. area. During his free time, he loves to connect with friends and family, work out, watch a variety of sports, and read about new international developments.

Colleen graduated from Kenyon College with degrees in Film and English. She was awarded Honors by the college’s Film and Theater Department for electing to complete a thesis project of an original screenplay and television series. She also studied International Film in Wellington, New Zealand. Colleen served on KGD Film’s production staff, working with local small business owners and nonprofits to boost their community presence. She is dedicated to advocating for social justice causes by crafting narratives that position marginalized groups at the forefront of their own stories. She worked for the nonprofit Identifying Dyslexia, documenting dyslexic students’ personal experiences as a tool to raise awareness for education reform. She held an internship in digital media advocacy, where she developed a social media campaign and an oral history project to educate audiences about challenges faced by foster-care children in her home state, New Jersey. A four-year member of Kenyon’s varsity cross country and track team, she enjoys *casual* twelve mile runs, in her free time. As a communications fellow for the Nyaka Aids Orphans Project, Colleen looks forward to blending her creative and humanitarian passions to share the stories of those in the Nyakagyezi village.

Esther graduated from Duke University with a degree in Political Science. She has a diverse background working internationally and domestically and is driven to develop sustainable avenues of assistance that foster thriving local economies. Most recently, she worked for the City of Cleveland’s Department of Economic Development where she worked to stimulate the attraction of private investment and support entrepreneurship and small business development. Her portfolio invested over $20M, leveraged over eight times of private investment, and caused the creation of ~1500 jobs in the local economy. She also has significant field experience, having conducted qualitative research with displaced populations in eastern Nepal and Cairo, Egypt, worked in Amman, Jordan on conflict prevention, and conducted outreach with immigrants at the Legal Aid Society in the boroughs of New York. Esther sees the potential for social enterprise development and impact capital to deliver financial inclusion and economic development globally and looks forward to joining Global Partnerships in Nairobi, Kenya as a Social Investment Associate to invest in and scale sustainable, impactful enterprises.

Isaac Kim is a recent graduate of Georgetown University with a major in International Politics and a certificate in African Studies. Originally from Northbrook, Illinois, Isaac focused his undergraduate education on the human impacts of environmental change and policy. Previously, Isaac worked as an external relations intern at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the Multi-Country Office of Washington, DC, supporting the external relations team’s engagement with US government officials to sustain support for UNHCR’s humanitarian work. Additionally, he has interned at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, worked as a community development intern at the Lalibela Game Reserve in South Africa, and helped organize the Georgetown Africa Business Conference. In his free time, Isaac enjoys singing choral music and working as a camp counselor at Lac du Bois, a French language immersion camp.

Alumni Update:

Ruby is currently the Internship Coordinator at Generations Ahead, an organization that empowers young parents, in Traverse City, Michigan.

Fellow Bio:

Ruby graduated from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan in 2017, focusing in African Development and Policy. At the University of Michigan, Ruby was the co-president of the Roosevelt Institute, a student-run policy think tank. Through Roosevelt, she led an initiative to increase the university’s procurement from local women- and minority-owned businesses and published a policy on reforming regulations for Michigan charter schools in the national 10 Ideas Journal. She was also president of the Advisory Council for the Global Scholars Program (GSP), a living community focused on global social justice. Ruby has interned with the Niger Delta Partnership Initiative in Washington, D.C., the Department of State at the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania, and local political campaigns in her hometown of Traverse City, Michigan. While working at the Embassy, Ruby loved traveling to speak with students about higher education and testing out her Swahili on her very patient co-workers. She is extremely excited to return to Tanzania and work with IEFT. Ruby loves reading by the lake (any lake), her dog, Rosie, and hosting game nights with friends.

Malika Kounkourou graduated from Boston University (BU) with a degree in International Relations concentrating on Environment and Development in Africa and the Middle East. She completed her senior honors thesis on rethinking sustainable environmental peacebuilding through a case study of uranium mining governance in Niger. Her research highlights necessary contextual factors to consider for the sustainability of a prospective environmental peacebuilding process with the aim of targeting root causes of development and security issues facing indigenous populations and fostering sustainable livelihoods. As a proud daughter of Nigerien immigrants, Malika is passionate about preserving her heritage through her cultural revival brand, Tchidite. Beyond a business, her brand is geared towards reclaiming Tuareg culture through an educational platform as well as combating unemployment by collaborating with Tuareg artisans. Working with Ihsan Foundation and FIPSO Niger, she fundraises, budgets, and manages projects providing humanitarian relief to vulnerable populations facing public health crises. She strives to work with NGOs, IGOs, and governments to find long-term research-based solutions targeting development issues on an institutional level. Driven by her aspiration to advance sustainable development on the African continent, Malika is honored to join Population Services International as a Regional Health Fellow and contribute to the data-driven work they do to shape markets and shift policy to better support consumer empowered healthcare.

A native of Zambia, Nduulwa has been driven by her curiosity to discover innovative solutions to some of the most pressing issues we face. Over the last five years, she has worked to push projects and marketing campaigns forward at a number of nonprofits and startups. Previously, she worked as a marketing and program management consultant for the UMKC Innovation Center’s Technology Venture Studio. As a consultant, she evaluated potential program participants and implemented the studio’s marketing and communications strategy. Nduulwa was also a part of the founding team at WeJapa, a startup connecting companies to tech talent in Africa. She served as chief marketing officer and led the company’s inbound and outbound marketing strategy, resulting in the on boarding of fifteen hiring partners across Africa and Europe. At the Women’s Fund of Omaha, she worked to implement innovative marketing strategies for the fund’s Adolescent Health Project. While at the fund, she managed a social media influencer program, the 2019 summer internship program, and served as project manager and liaison for I Be Black Girl, an initiative that funds grassroots organizations led by Black women and girls. After earning her MBA in 2019, she began to wonder what role business and entrepreneurship can play in Africa’s growth and development and went on to launch Dear Diaspora, a podcast spotlighting African entrepreneurs transforming Africa’s challenges into business opportunities. Recognizing the public sector’s role in creating an enabling environment for business and beyond, she looks forward to gaining a more holistic perspective as a program fellow with Emerging Public Leaders in Ghana.