Alumni Directory Display

Emily, born and raised in Houston, TX, graduated from Wellesley College with a degree in Neuroscience. While at Wellesley, Emily completed a multi-year internship at the Center for Addiction Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital where she conducted clinical research examining neurocognitive recovery following sustained cannabis abstinence in adolescents and young adults. In her spare time, she mentored students from a Boston housing project through the Mission Hill After School Program, and also participated in multiple global health projects in rural Nicaragua. After finishing school, Emily wanted to experience working in the nonprofit sector and moved to Honolulu to serve as an Americorps VISTA at Hawaii Children’s Action Network. In this role, she designed and oversaw a community outreach program to engage stakeholders, community partners, and donors, and also launched and coordinated a volunteer program. Emily is passionate about creating sustainable solutions to support and empower vulnerable populations. She believes in the power of robust research and preventive strategies to improve health outcomes in under-resourced global regions. For fun, Emily enjoys hiking, surfing, and climbing with friends. She is excited to serve and learn in her post as a Research Fellow with the UNC Malawi Surgical Initiative.

Brian Njoroge graduated from Duke University with a double major in Public Policy and International Comparative Studies and a certificate in Markets and Management. At Duke, Brian was involved with the African Conversations Club where he continuously worked with various departments to promote African scholarship on campus. Additionally, he coordinated fundraising for the school newspaper and sat on the Duke Students Alumni Board. During his junior year, Brian was involved in designing a state-wide computer science curriculum for middle school students in North Carolina. He spent his final year as part of an international workshop exploring care economies in the Global South to develop a universal care index. Previously, he has worked with Equity Bank in Kenya, and with Social Entrepreneur Corp in Guatemala consulting for local non-profits. Brian has also volunteered at a community-based micro-finance in Kampala and designed an agricultural project that was implemented in Central Uganda. In his spare time, he enjoys taking photos and running on trails. His interest in serving the marginalized communities through policy and critical development continues to shape what he does, and he is looking forward to working with Kupona Foundation in the coming year.

Ciara graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. She heralds from South Africa. Her upbringing sparked an aptitude towards service, starting with an all-embracing portfolio of volunteer work in schools and hospitals within disadvantaged communities. Studying abroad has brought her important opportunities to learn at the cutting edge of research science. Recently, she performed extensive fieldwork in Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique, encompassing a continental-scale study on plant and animal species interactions. This project extended both her abilities to handle challenges as well as an undying respect and desire for field research. She also passionately cares about the environment, especially as it pertains to sustainability and continuously seeks out programs, worldwide, that look to achieve a positive impact in that field. Ciara’s time at Princeton has not only been about academic learning. Her inclusion in the rowing team has taught her how to push beyond her perceived limits, to continue on ignoring pain and exhaustion. The camaraderie of being part of the crew has forever molded Ciara’s loyalty and commitment to the team. Even with a naturally shy demeanor, Ciara has willingly taken on the task of telephone calling to raise funds from undergraduates, alumni, and parents in support of Princeton’s AG Campaign and now has taken on the role of co-chairing her own class’ AG Campaign. Ciara is, and always will be, a Princeton tiger. She is looking forward to exploring Kenya and pursuing her passions for service and research during her fellowship with Mpala Research Center. 

Akinyi Ochieng started her professional journey working with fast-growing innovators like Nova Credit and WorldRemit to design programs, initiatives and campaigns to advance economic mobility. After several years in the financial services industry, she joined APCO as a social impact consultant to help organizations align profit and purpose.

Akinyi is currently a senior associate director at APCO in New York where she works with leading corporations, foundations and nonprofits within North America, Europe and the Middle East, to improve and advance their social impact in the world. She has worked across various sectors such as technology, entertainment, financial services, consumer goods and education.

She holds a deep expertise in economic development and food security in Africa, with a successful track record of mobilizing multi-million-dollar public-private partnerships to accelerate sustainable business practices in the region. Her insights on business, culture, and politics in Africa have been featured in Forbes, CNBC, BBC, African Business Magazine and the World Economic Forum. She has continued her pursuit of sustaining and developing the African continent and its resources by serving as Board Chair of SOS Sahel USA and a Trustee of Operation Fistula, organizations that have proven to be dedicated to food security and maternal health in Africa. In 2019, she was named one of the 100 Most Influential People of African Descent under 40 . She has previously served as a co-president of the inaugural PiAf Alumni Board and was a Fellow at Global Shea Alliance in Accra, Ghana during her time as a Princeton in Africa Fellow.

Akinyi holds an MSc in Global Politics from the London School of Economics and a BA in Political Science and African Studies from Yale University. She also holds a certificate in Strategic Philanthropy from the University of Cambridge’s Judge School of Business.

Tim Offei-Addo, a Ghanaian-American raised in the Boston area, graduated from Amherst College with a degree in Environmental Studies. At Amherst Tim served as the Co-President of Remnant, the Black Christian fellowship, where he focused on creating a space where students could grapple with issues at the intersection of faith and race. He also served as Co-President of the Kidney Disease Screening and Prevention Club and organized free kidney screenings for underserved populations in the Amherst Area. These experiences helped significantly during his internship with the Ghanaian Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA). While shadowing government officials Tim noticed the important role community organizations played in MOFA and NGO partnerships. He returned to Ghana to conduct research for his undergraduate thesis, analyzing the cultural competency of Ghana’s National Climate Smart Agriculture Action Plan. Upon its completion he presented his thesis at the Harvard Club to the Amherst College Trustees and distinguished guests. Since graduating Tim has pursued his passions as a Policy Analyst for Climate Scorecard: a non-profit initiative that seeks to strengthen emission reduction pledges to the Paris Agreement and an Apprentice Gleaner at Boston Area Gleaners an organization that harvest surplus farm crops and donates them to Food Banks. Tim enjoys farming, cooking, watching soccer and listening to music in his free time.

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Malaika Ogukwe, a Nigerian-American raised in the suburbs of Boston, MA, graduated from Pomona College, earning her bachelor’s degree in economics. She spent a semester in Copenhagen, Denmark, studying Globalization and European Economies at DIS. Malaika has always been passionate about youth & community work, and while at Pomona, she led multiple high school mentorship programs and served as a Jumpstart Team Leader in local preschool classrooms. Malaika spent her early career at a management consulting firm, a VC-backed beauty startup, and in tech. Her dedication to youth capacity building was reignited when she returned to Jumpstart, where she served as Site Manager at the Claremont Colleges site and managed the operations and partner relationships of the program. Malaika is grateful for the opportunity to support Emerging Leaders Foundation’s goal to empower the next generation of young leaders. After the Princeton in Africa Fellowship, Malaika plans to pursue a Master’s of Education. Malaika leads mindfulness & wellness workshops and in her free time enjoys creative expression, using ceramics, dance, yoga and photography as her mediums.

Coryna Ogunseitan graduated from Yale in 2017 with a BA in Literature. She speaks Spanish and French and is most interested in literature of the black diaspora written in these languages. Her junior fall, she spent a semester abroad in Santiago, Chile, becoming fluent in Spanish and studying modern Ibero-American literature. The fact that many of these texts were not available in English led her to develop an interest in literary translation. She was an intern at Glossolalia, PEN America’s new translation journal, where she worked primarily on the issue “Women Writing Brazil,” a compilation of writing by all female Brazilian authors. She is passionate about making marginalized narratives, like those presented in Glossolalia, exposed to global audiences, and in keeping with this goal also worked to facilitate interviews with formerly incarcerated people for StoryCorps through the Yale Undergraduate Prison Project. With this organization, she also tutored inmates in the New Haven Jail for the GED. She is also involved in the writing community at Yale, and has served as Artistic Director of TEETH Slam Poets and an editor of Weekend, the arts and culture section of the Yale Daily News.

Biafra is a Nigerian-American, seeking to advocate and serve underserved populations through artistic activism, community engagement, and implementation of evidence-based research. He graduated from Amherst College with a double major in Interdisciplinary Global Public health and Middle Eastern Studies. While at Amherst, Biafra completed a study abroad year in Cairo, Egypt at the American University of Cairo. There he conducted research for his seniors honors thesis “Cardiovascular Disease: Exploring Cultural and Economic Conditions to Inform Intervention”. Which provided him the opportunity to interview a range of health professionals in both Arabic and English for potential reform policies. At The UT School of Public Health, he’s delved into innovative approaches to tackle HIV/AIDS. At The Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI) he researched Suicidality in the Intellectual and Developmental disabilities population. He is a CDC Undergraduate Public Health Scholar and received a certificate of public health training in Maternity Child Health/Research at KKI. Most recently, he worked at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in the Genitourinary Oncology department doing clinical research as a program coordinator. Additionally, he served as an ambassador for the Baltimore Health Dept. working in community outreach alongside health clinicians, to increase Covid-19 literacy, conduct needs assessments, and increase vaccination rates in Baltimore. Following the Piaf fellowship, Biafra seeks to further his experience working in global public health while obtaining a Master’s degree. A lover of the arts, he is a co-host for the podcast Shapes of Love, a dance choreographer, and a spoken word artist.

JingKai, a native of Malaysia, graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.A. in Economics. He speaks professional Bahasa and Mandarin Chinese. At UC Berkeley, he had several student leadership positions as the External Vice President of Delta Phi Epsilon (UC Berkeley Professional International Relations Fraternity) and the External Events Chair of the International Student Association. JingKai has earned the Outstanding Delegate at the World Youth Economic Forum. He also has extensive research experience including as a research assistant for the Center for African Studies at UC Berkeley, analyzing the rotation in the ministerial cabinet in 36 African countries. In addition, he was a research assistant on an Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) study regarding social incentives for prenatal care and safe delivery in Sierra Leone and for Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences (BITSS). He was an international development intern with the Uganda Village Project (UVP) in rural Uganda. JingKai is really excited for the opportunity to return to the continent as a Princeton in Africa fellow and looks forward to working with Imani Development in Malawi as a junior consultant.

Alumni Update:

Ibilola is working as a Senior Associate in the West & Central Africa and Haiti region at Chemonics International. Her work focuses on project management of activities across West Africa & the Caribbean. She works primarily in DC, with travel to Nigeria, Mauritania, and Haiti.

Fellow Bio:

A Nigerian raised in California, Ibilola graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, with a BSFS in Culture and Politics and a minor in African Studies. Passionate about the continent, Ibilola has integrated her love for African affairs into her personal and professional life. During her junior year, she spent a semester abroad in Lomé, Togo, where she interned for the Political-Economic bureau at the US Embassy and led English conversation classes at the local university. On return, she interned for the US Chamber of Commerce’s Africa Business Center, as well as the State Department’s Africa Regional Media Hub. At Georgetown, she served as President of the African Society of Georgetown, and helped plan and conduct Georgetown’s second annual Africa Business Conference. She also wrote articles on business, democracy, and diplomacy in West Africa as a reporter for The Caravel, Georgetown’s only international affairs newspaper. Ibilola is excited about the opportunity to work with ASE in Benin, and looks forward to improving her French and learning more about Beninese life!