Alumni Directory Display

Cameron graduated from Princeton University with a BA in Molecular Biology and a certificate in Neuroscience. Her senior thesis research involved conducting stereotaxic neurosurgery on rats to determine a pathway possibly involved in decision making. She volunteered as an EMT at Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad and has been a member of the squad since 2012. Her other primary activity on campus is the Student Global AIDS Campaign, a club that focuses on raising funds and awareness about HIV/AIDS in the student population and the surrounding community. She has also had the opportunity to take her interest in HIV/AIDS abroad through her internship at UNESCO’s Health Promotion Unit in Bangkok, Thailand where she analyzed national action plans and epidemiological data from countries in the Asia Pacific. In the summer of 2012, she interned as a clinical research assistant at UChicago Medical Center for CPR research where she aided in planning initial testing of an application measuring mental awareness in cardiac arrest patients. She has also had the opportunity to view the medical field from a biotechnology perspective through her internship in 2011 at Philips Medical Systems in their AED development unit.

Makeda graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Political Science and American Studies. During her time at Columbia, she served as a Research Fellow in the Laboratory of Intergroup Relations and the Social Mind under Professor Valerie Purdie Greenaway, studying intersectionality, stereotyping, and discrimination. A first-generation Ethiopian-American, Makeda has always been motivated by a passion for civil and human rights advocacy both in the United States and abroad. Prior to joining the International Rescue Committee, she worked at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School, where she focused on advancing innovative voting rights and democracy reforms. Before that, Makeda interned for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the Department of State, as well as the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia and for the Office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In addition, throughout college she served as an intern with NBC Nightly News and MSNBC, focusing on both domestic and international breaking news and ongoing deep impact coverage.

Carla is originally from Korea and grew up in Bahrain and England. She graduated from Dartmouth College in 2015 with a degree in Government, focusing on International Relations. At Dartmouth, Carla was an active member in the Student and Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault and worked as student coordinator for the Center for Gender and Student Engagement, during which she helped organize two campaigns for women’s empowerment. During college, Carla also interned with the Future of Peace Operations program at the Stimson Center in D.C; as research intern, she conducted research on IDP camps in South Sudan and on best practices of monitoring and evaluating civilian protection interventions. She also briefly volunteered at the non-profit Refuge PNan in Korea, assisting refugees with legal and livelihood aid. Upon graduation, Carla worked in the Refugee Legal Aid Program at the non-profit St. Andrews Refugee Services in Cairo. As legal fellow, she helped resettle refugees from Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, and Syria in safer countries. Carla speaks English and Korean fluently and is learning French and Arabic. She looks forward to working with refugees in Adjumani, learning about Ugandan people and their culture, and traveling to new places.

Alumni Update:

Jessica is currently the Development and Community Relations Coordinator at New Door Ventures based in San Francisco where her work focuses on leading individual giving development and New Door’s volunteerism program. She resides in San Francisco. 

Fellow Bio:

Jessica, a native of Hartland, Wisconsin, graduated from Macalester College with a B.A. in International Studies, minors in Anthropology and Political Science, and concentrations in African Studies and Human Rights and Humanitarianism. Jessica’s interest in Africa began when she volunteered at a children’s home in South Africa when she was 13 years old. She has worked with the home for over 8 years. That inspired her to create her own non-profit organization, 15:30 Project, providing the children she works with opportunities for higher education. Her work has been highlighted in local media outlets and earned her several nationally recognized awards. At Macalester, Jessica interned with the U.S. State Department at the embassy in Mozambique where she helped draft the 2016 Human Rights Report. Then, Jessica interned with Kakenya’s Dream in Washington, D.C., advocating for girls’ education and against female genital mutilation in Kenya and assisting with advocacy initiatives. She studied abroad in Gaborone, Botswana where her semester focused on urban development. In Botswana, she conducted human rights research about discrimination against people with albinism. Jessica is interested in the intersection of education, human rights, and diplomacy particularly in the Southern African context. 

Jasmin recently graduated in May 2015 from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) with a Master’s degree in International Development and International Economics, and a specialization in Management for Development. She received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in Sociology and Art History. Upon graduating from UCLA, Jasmin worked for a relief and development NGO as a Program Development Officer, designing, implementing and evaluating global multi-sectoral development programs. Most recently, Jasmin spent a summer interning with the UN in Myanmar, completed a Practicum consulting for the World Resources Institute’s Sustainable Finance Department, and interned with a USAID contractor to conduct impact evaluations of various USAID E3 projects. Jasmin speaks French, Italian and Japanese and is looking forward to learning Chichewa and spending time in the “Warm Heart of Africa.”

Tesay, born and raised in the D.C. area, graduated from Stanford with a degree in International Relations and a minor in African and African American Studies. She is the proud child of Ethiopian immigrants and speaks Harari and Amharic and loves music and travel. While at Stanford, Tesay worked at the Center for African Studies as a Program Assistant where she coordinated events ranging from academic discussions to community events. While studying abroad in Cape Town, South Africa, she interned at the Iziko Social History Centre where she supported community research initiatives and forums working to shift the gaze of museums away from a colonial lens. Tesay also has experience in civil advocacy and spent a summer as a Communications Intern at the Council on American-Islamic Relations. She spent the last year working at Google coordinating candidate experience and supporting hiring efforts across Google and did significant work developing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs on her team. Tesay is extremely passionate about the intersection of digital media and social impact and hopes to pursue a master’s in International/Public Policy and/or an MBA.

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 Hannah was born in Kenya and raised in Zimbabwe, where she developed a passion for public health and youth mentorship while volunteering with children impacted by HIV/AIDS. She is a recent University of Virginia (UVA) graduate who majored in global public health and minored in sociology. Hannah’s commitment to supporting youth in her community motivated her to volunteer at the UVA Children’s Hospital and mentor high schoolers who volunteer with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville. Growing up in Zimbabwe and attending an international school, Hannah valued learning from people of different backgrounds. Therefore, as president of the Global Student Council at UVA, she started roundtable discussions for students of all cultural backgrounds to identify differences and similarities in their UVA experiences. In addition, Hannah led independent research studies as an undergraduate. Most recently, she has continued to support people living with HIV/AIDS by investigating factors to improve access to HIV care at UVA’s Ryan White HIV Clinic. Hannah’s experience with remote Africa-based work solidified her interest in further developing her connection to the region. In 2021, she interned with the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) and wrote reports on gender inequality in Zimbabwe and ZimRights’ financing options. That year, she also collaborated on a remote investigation of the best clinical practices at the University of Rwanda’s multidisciplinary pain management clinic. After this fellowship, Hannah intends to pursue a master’s in public health. She aims to increase global access to quality and affordable health care

Alumni Update:

After Nahal’s year at IRC in DRC, and the great opportunity of a second mission with IRC (this time briefly in Chad), Nahal moved back home to Australia where Nahal completed a JD at Melbourne Law School. Nahal then spent about three years advising and representing the state in constitutional and administrative law matters, before moving from being a civil servant to an international civil servant at the World Intellectual Property Organisation in Geneva this year.

Eva is from Baltimore, Maryland. After high school, she spent a year in New York City as an AmeriCorps member with the program City Year, and then went on to major in Economics and graduate from Emory University in 2014. During her junior year, she started working on an RCT that is measuring the cost-effectiveness and health impacts of water, sanitation, hygiene, and nutritional interventions on child health and cognitive development in rural Western Kenya. She travelled to Bungoma, Kenya for 10 weeks over the summer to continue working on the study as an intern for Innovations for Poverty Action. Eva was also a research assistant for the social enterprise program at Emory’s business school, and is excited to continue using business concepts and solutions to create meaningful impact with The BOMA Project. She is also looking forward to meeting new people, learning Swahili, and seeing the sights she didn’t get to see last time!