Alumni Directory Display

Fenja Tramsen is a trainee at the EU Delegation to the Holy See, UN Organisations, Order of Malta, and San Marino, based in Rome. Previously, she worked as a Princeton in Africa Fellow at the International Livestock Research Institute in Kenya, where she published agricultural development communications. Her other governance, migration, and development experience includes roles at the Social Science Research Council, the Niskanen Center in the USA, and the Alliance for Social Equity in Ghana. Fenja holds an MSc in Global Governance and Diplomacy from the University of Oxford and a BA in Political Science and History with High Honors from Swarthmore College, USA.

Alumni Update:

After her fellowship, Emily spent another year working for Plan in the same capacity as a Technical Writer and took on some additional roles and responsibilities. She then returned to the US for a year to do some remaining coursework in order to apply to medical school. She is currently working for UCSF as Research and Training Coordinator for Kenya. She coordinates a program that facilitates medical and master’s students and residents to do clinical work or research here in Nyanza Province as well as connect researchers to one another since they have a multi-institutional research collaboration. She is based in Kisumu, Kenya until June this year, when she will go back to the US for medical school. She is not yet sure which school she will attend, though she has a couple of options already!

Fellow Bio:

Emily (Princeton ‘11) is an economics major with a certificate in African-American Studies from the San Francisco Bay Area, CA. During her time at Princeton she was a member of the varsity swim team, an active Cap and Gown member and occasionally bartended and tutored to pay the bills. Through Princeton she interned with the Global Fund in Switzerland, which sparked an interest in a career in global health and development.  Emily aspires to become a physician one day. While in Uganda next year, Emily looks forward to learning about and participating in local music and dance, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, and waking up to a new adventure every day.

Fellow Bio:

Michael (Princeton ‘11) is a Woodrow Wilson School major from Fargo, ND. At Princeton, he was Academics Chair of Whitman College Council, a member of Princeton Chapel Choir, and a member of Cloister Inn. He enjoys water sports, including swimming, kayaking, rowing and water tubing. Like many North Dakotans, he is an avid sportsman, enjoying fishing, hunting, and hiking. Through Princeton, Michael worked on health policy at the Center for Rural Wealth, University of North Dakota, and studied abroad at the University of Cape Town. While in Lesotho, Michael hopes to learn more about the psychosocial factors surrounding HIV/AIDS, make new friends form Lesotho and all over the world, and bike through the Drakensburg.

Sandra Tsikor graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with honors in International Relations and minors in African Studies and International Development. Upon graduation, she was a recipient of the Arthur Fauset Award for intellectual pursuit and community service. Originally from Ghana but born in Russia, she has been committed to exploring the world around her. She studied intensive French in Tours, France and International Relations from an African perspective at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. She is wholly committed to furthering the political, social and economic conditions in Ghana and Africa. She interned at the IMANI Center for Policy and Education, a think tank in Ghana, conducted research and produced a report on recommendations in improving Ghana’s doing business environment. This research fed into her senior thesis project where she received grants to conduct field research on entrepreneurial Ghanaian return migrants from the US and the UK, the challenges they face and policies for alleviating them. Interested in strategy and consulting, she has worked at the ShawbellConsulting Limited in Ghana and Deloitte Consulting with government agencies to transform their model, garner efficiency and improve their public service delivery. At UPenn, she managed the processes of 9 teams in delivering web content for the Wharton Africa Business Forum, a gathering of executives and leading professionals interested in furthering business in Africa. Sandra Tsikor is interested in exploring entrepreneurship, specifically social entrepreneurship, and youth leadership as a means for furthering Africa’s development. As such, she looks forward to her fellowship with the African Leadership Academy in South Africa!

Susan holds a Bachelor of Fine Art with a minor in Human Rights and Conflict Studies as well as a teaching certificate in Art Education from Birmingham-Southern College. During her undergraduate career, she discovered an interest in promoting cross-cultural empathy through creative storytelling. Susan explored her passion for cultural exchange by traveling to Avedo, Ghana, where she taught art and English at a rural primary school. She also spent a semester studying art in Florence, Italy. While in Birmingham, Susan participated in long-term service-learning initiatives. She partnered with NorthStar Youth Ministries, an outreach program where she taught weekly art classes and mentored elementary students. Susan also participated in service throughout her internship at Glide Foundation, an internationally recognized social services organization in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco. While at Glide, she contributed to the Communications department’s efforts to share powerful stories of hope and healing and also assisted with creative arts programming for Glide youth. After graduating, Susan taught in an inclusive classroom for both children with special needs and typically-developing children. She is thrilled to begin this adventure and looks forward to learning from the Maru-a-Pula community, discovering the arts in Botswana, and exploring the country’s breathtaking landscape.

Fellow Bio:

Stephen is a Civil and Environmental Engineering major from Sayville, NY. At Princeton, Stephen was an Outdoor Action leader, a first aid instructor, and a member of the Princeton Band. In Kenya, he looks forward to learning Swahili, developing a taste for ugali, and adapting to a rural lifestyle.

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Originally from Maryland, Delana graduated cum laude from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, earning a degree in American Studies, a minor in Politics, and a certificate in Civic and Global Leadership. While at Sewanee, she completed over 1,000 service hours as a Bonner Leader, primarily focusing on establishing a trail recognizing the university’s historically Black community through the Roberson Project on Slavery, Race, and Reconciliation. She also served as a philanthropy intern for the South Cumberland Community Fund, managing a $30,000 grant distribution to local community organizations. Outside of Sewanee, Delana studied abroad in Ghana, exploring globalization and the legacies of enslavement. Later, she earned a Biehl International Research Fellowship to return to Ghana for an independent research project in Nima, Accra. Additionally, she led outreach trips to Selma, Alabama, collaborating with university students to engage with civil rights foot soldiers and community organizers. Following the Princeton in Africa Fellowship, Delana plans to pursue a master’s degree for a career in foreign service. She enjoys rollerskating, bowling, and watching investigative documentaries.

Satya, a Los Angeles native, graduated from Yale University earning  a B.A in Environmental Studies with a concentration in Energy Studies. Her academic work focused on resource use and sustainability, and during her time at Yale, she traveled extensively to explore her interests. Sachi spent one summer in Costa Rica studying sustainable development and another in Istanbul, Turkey interning with an energy investment firm where she conducted research to inform the development of their first biomass plant. She also spent a semester in Copenhagen, Denmark studying sustainable design and renewable energy systems. After graduating, she joined the Market Intelligence and Strategy team at Vestas, a global wind power company. There, motivated by her passion for climate change mitigation, she has worked to understand the drivers of renewable energy demand, analyze challenges the industry faces, and help customers and utilities identify opportunities to increase wind power deployment. In her free time, Sachi loves hiking and camping, seeing live music, and spending time near the ocean. She’s excited to spend the year in Nairobi pursuing her interests in the intersection of business and social/environmental impact, and to explore the outdoors in East Africa!

Jennifer graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Peace and Conflict Studies. Her defining experience at Berkeley was the Global Poverty and Practice Minor. Through a fellowship generously provided through the minor, Jennifer spent a summer in an Internally Displaced Persons camp in Kenya where she taught children in a two room “prop-up” school; helped establish a micro-loan project for women; and raised money from friends and family in the US to start an agricultural initiative for planting and irrigation projects on nearby land. Jennifer studied abroad in Paris and spent time in New York as a peer counselor for the International Rescue Committee’s “Youth Summer Academy.” During the school year she interned with IRC’s Oakland branch to provide recently arrived refugees access to government and charitable organization resources for support. After graduation, Jennifer spent her time at Human Rights Watch in San Francisco and the Environmental Defense Fund. Jennifer, who was on the Cal Dance Team at Berkeley, looks forward to exploring Johannesburg’s menu of dance classes and encountering new friends and cultures along the way.