Alumni Directory Display

Olivia is from Chicago and graduated from the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan with a focus on poverty, health, and international development. During her time as a Wolverine, she led a summer volunteering trip to Peru as part of an internship with Childreach International, lobbied on Capitol Hill as a member of the ONE Campaign, and worked at Barger Leadership Institute on campus. She interned with LIFT Communities, working one-on-one with low-income and homeless individuals to help build a sustainable path out of poverty. During her semester study abroad in Cape Town, South Africa, Olivia volunteered weekly at a primary school in Nyanga Township as an English tutor for fifth grade students. She is excited to continue addressing issues of education and inequality as a Fellow with the Kucetekela Foundation. Olivia looks forward to exploring Lusaka and playing ultimate frisbee on Sundays, a KF Fellow tradition.

Alumni Update:

When her fellowship ended, Alison headed home to Fort Lauderdale, FL. She studied for the GRE while visiting family and friends before moving to Washington, D.C. in January 2014. She works in USAID’s Bureau for Global Health with a team focused on implementation science in HIV. She’s had the opportunity to return to Africa since her fellowship ended, and will be visiting Tanzania, Malawi and Benin this spring and summer.

Fellow Bio:

Alison is a politics major from Plantation, FL. At Princeton, she was a member of Wildcats A Cappella, a Project Coordinator for Anchor House and a member of the Cap & Gown Club. She enjoys singing and writing in her free time. Alison has studied abroad in Istanbul and Dakar during her time at Princeton. While in Kampala next year, Alison looks forward to learning Luganda and riding boda-bodas.

Jessica graduated from Macalester College with a BA in Economics and an interdisciplinary concentration in International Development. In college, she participated in the four-year civic engagement program Bonner Community Scholars and worked at the youth farming organization Urban Roots.  Jessica studied abroad at Ashesi University in Ghana. Her involvement with Sesa Mu Farmers’ Initiative inspired her honors thesis, which used econometric methods to analyze the effect of loan timing on fertilizer use in Ghana. Jessica earned the Winter Mann-Hill Fellowship to design and lead a workshop on sexual violence prevention and response for Ashesi students that volunteer with Future of Africa, a nonprofit that serves street children. She served as an AmeriCorps VISTA at the International Rescue Committee’s refugee resettlement office in Utah and developed initiatives to improve access to contraception and better respond to domestic violence. Jessica has worked on a farm in Nicaragua, attended the UN climate negotiations in Paris, and is passionate about health equity. She is excited to continue working with the International Rescue Committee in Sierra Leone and support education, health, and women and girl’s protection and empowerment programs. 

Isabella graduated from Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service in May 2017 with a degree in Science, Technology and International Affairs. During her time at Georgetown, Isabella focused on the implications of environmental policy in the lives of people worldwide. Her interest was solidified during her semester in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where she worked at a BRICS Policy Institute studying the intersection between gender and climate in the BRICS countries and researching ground-up adaptive solutions to climate change pioneered by women. While at Georgetown, Isabella was a tour guide and the Director for Human Resources at the Corp, the largest entirely student run nonprofit in the world. Isabella has an insatiable curiosity for the natural world around her and as such idolizes Dr. Jane Goodall and enjoys hiking and camping.

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Originally from Germany, Fenja Tramsen spent her teenage years living in Yorkshire, England. In 2023, she graduated from Swarthmore College with a double major in History and Political Science. During her time at Swarthmore, Fenja developed her interest in politics by working as a research assistant at two labs (one focused on incarceration in the American South, and the other on the impact of socio-economic status on voting). She also enjoyed pursuing studies abroad, first studying Arabic in Amman, Jordan, and later spending a semester in Ghana studying history, politics, and Twi. While in Ghana she completed a policy internship at the Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability in Accra, which deepened her interest in both advocacy work and international relations. Fenja also developed a strong set of skills in donor relations, archival work, and environmental justice through her positions at the List Art Gallery, the Peace Collection archives, Swarthmore’s Office for Alumni Engagement, and the Office of Sustainability. As a culminating academic project, Fenja combined her interests to complete archival research in Berlin for her thesis on German colonial livestock projects in Namibia. Fenja is thrilled to be joining the International Livestock Research Institute as a Princeton in Africa fellow this year!

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.