
Originally from San Diego, California, Kelsey graduated from Harvard with a B.A. in Social Studies, focusing on human rights and humanitarian frameworks in the global south. Her senior honors thesis, “Permanent Impermanence: Identity and Agency in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, Tanzania,” examined Congolese refugees’ experiences with protracted conflict and prolonged humanitarian aid dependency in western Tanzania, where she conducted 5 weeks of ethnographic research. While at Harvard, Kelsey also received a minor in Modern Middle Eastern Studies and a language citation in Swahili. As an undergraduate, she spent two summers working for a small HIV/AIDS education nonprofit based out of Arusha, Tanzania, and returned to East Africa for a third summer to intern with the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission in Kigali, Rwanda, where she edited the first English-language translation of The History of Rwanda, used across Rwandan schools for civic education. Kelsey is thrilled to continue her work with refugees and looks forward to exploring life in Nairobi.