Neena graduated in May 2017 from Georgetown University with a B.S. in Global Health.  She spent a semester in Ghana conducting research for her thesis on risk factors for youth suicidal behaviors.  She has additional research experience working with a Georgetown team to conduct a systematic review of the health of transwomen sex workers in the United States.  Neena has interned at the World Bank, where she wrote blog posts discussing health issues in Africa, as well as USAID’s Evidence to Action Project, where she conducted literature reviews on youth mental health and male engagement in gender equity.  Her other internship experiences include educating patients about nutrition at a federally qualified health center and supporting participants of a domestic violence shelter.  At Georgetown, Neena was involved in GU Medical Brigades, a group that assists doctors to provide medical services to a rural community in Honduras, as well as GIVES, an organization that implements random acts of kindness.  As outreach director for both organizations, she coordinated over fifty community service events for members.  She is looking forward to exploring Kenya and pursuing her passions for service and international development during her fellowship with the BOMA Project.  

Alumni Update:

Nicholas is based in Durham, NC while completing a Master’s in Biomedical Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine. Nicholas applied to the 2020 medical school application cycle, and ultimately hopes to focus on sexual health amongst LGBTQ* adolescents.

Fellow Bio:

Nicholas, a native of North Carolina, ( UNC ’17) graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in American Studies and minor in Social and Economic Justice. While at Carolina, he co-founded UNC’s chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) to challenge stigma surrounding mental illness. He worked with University administration to enhance mental health-related policies and procedures affecting students, faculty, and staff. He has also worked with the Infectious Disease Clinic at UNC Hospitals to craft a nutritional program for the clinic’s HIV patients, with a focus on the intersection of nutrition, race, and class. Nicholas is an alumnus of Columbia University’s Summer Public Health Scholars Program (SPHSP). While studying at the Mailman School of Public Health, he served as an HIV/AIDS Prevention and Outreach Intern with CAMBA where he facilitated focus-group sessions comprised of parents of LGBTQ* youth to communicate the relationship between familial acceptance and positive health outcomes in queer adolescents. For fun, Nicholas enjoys spending time with friends, watching sports (go Heels!), staying active, and binge-watching Rupaul’s Drag Race. He’s honored to join BIPAI Botswana and explore Gaborone and beyond!

Alumni Update:

Morgan is currently a PhD student at the University of Washington, where he studies how new technologies and urbanization influence the politics of sub-Saharan Africa. 

Fellow Bio:

Morgan graduated in 2016 from the London School of Economics with an MSc in Global Politics and an emphasis on global health and post-conflict development. Having previously graduated from Colorado College with a BA in Sociology along with minors in African Studies and International Community Development, Morgan has completed a number of research and internship programs in sub-Saharan Africa. Commencing with his study in Rwanda as an undergraduate, Morgan has since conducted academic research throughout west Africa focused on developmental athletic academies and worked in northern Uganda on the development of health and youth livelihoods programs. Morgan has also gained governmental experience developing policy briefings, communications programs and exploring data systems within two UK Shadow Ministries. Alongside these roles, Morgan has worked as an editor and writer for his university’s paper, served as an advisor for two national parliamentary campaigns and supported the IRC as a Health Access and Intensive Case Management Intern. He is an avid backpacker, pick-up soccer player and writer of unintelligible screenplays. Morgan is eager to dedicate himself further to increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of sub-Saharan African healthcare systems as an analyst focused on HIV-prevention for the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) in South Africa.

Alumni Update:

Abby is continuing her work in College Access as a Partnership Coordinator with CollegeSpring. Her work focuses on ensuring the successful implementation of their program in underserved schools across New York City.

Fellow Bio:

Abby graduated from Franklin and Marshall College, a Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude with a joint major in Government and Psychology and a minor in Africana Studies. Born and raised in Nigeria, she migrated to the U.S in 2007. Prior to undergrad, her experiences as an immigrant led her to become interested in issues regarding education, human rights, immigration, and refugee policies. During her time at F&M, she volunteered with the ESL classes held for middle school refugee students. She continued her work with this population in Lancaster through an internship at the Refugee Center near F&M. In her role she helped plan and recruit refugee students for the English summer immersion program. She also helped with planning and facilitating workshops for refugee parents. In her senior year of college she conducted research on the human rights conditions in Mali and Guatemala. Her research allowed her to put together an evidentiary packet and legal brief on behalf of an asylum seeker from Guatemala. Morufat is excited to continue to learn more about the field of education, immigration, and refugee policy making during her time in Uganda as a Princeton in Africa Fellow.

Mina received her B.A.H. from Stanford University in Comparative Literature with a minor in African Studies. During her time in Palo Alto, she has been deeply involved with the Haas Center for Public Service, serving twice as an African Service Fellow in Accra, Ghana, working as a peer adviser for the Undergraduate Fellowships office, leading sessions for a preschool service program in which Stanford students build relationships with young learners while helping scaffold their early math literacy, participating in and leading an Alternative Spring Break program, and participating on the National Advisory Board of the Haas Center as a student member. Mina’s work at the West Africa AIDS Foundation was transformative and led her to pursue her Master’s in African Studies, which she just received, also from Stanford. She is excited to work with the Kucetekela Foundation in Lusaka, Zambia for the upcoming year and hopes to come away with new strategies for addressing educational inequity in the space of Lusaka. She looks forward to learning about the structure of educational non-profits and cannot wait to meet the students with whom she will be working.

Alumni Update:

Mikia is a Private Sector Specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank’s innovation laboratory, the IDB Lab. Her work focuses on project origination, client-relations and monitoring support for IDB Lab funded projects in The Bahamas Country Office

Fellow Bio:

Hailing from Nassau, Bahamas, Mikia graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas. During her studies, she held various leadership positions on her college campus, pursued internships, and gained invaluable diverse experiences across the United States and the world. Most notably, she participated in a fully-funded study abroad program in Rwanda and Uganda, concentrating studies on peace, reconciliation, and sustainable development. While in Rwanda, she received the distinct opportunity to work with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), in conjunction with the World Bank. She was a part of the Strategic Investments team, which led the negotiation of strategic investments on behalf of the Government of Rwanda. At Philander, Mikia was also selected as an inaugural fellow for the University of California’s Summer Institute of Emerging Managers and Leaders Program, which was held at the UC, Berkeley Haas School of Business, in which her team placed 2nd in a sustainable business model competition. Upon graduation, Mikia joined the Operations team of Credit Suisse in Nassau, Bahamas, where she rotated on three transaction processing desks – Treasury and Issuance, Wealth Management, and Structured Products, and settled transactions/resolved cash reconciliations across a broad spectrum of asset classes. As a Social Investment Fellow at Global Partnerships in Kenya, Mikia is excited for a fresh new path in pursuing her passion of bridging business and social impact to uplift communities in the East Africa Community.

Meital Kupfer graduated in 2017 from the George Washington University with a BA in International Affairs, focusing on International Development.  Meital spent a semester in Kampala, Uganda. During her time in Uganda, Meital spent two months in Kyangwali Refugee Settlement as an Education Intern for Action Africa Help – Uganda. There, she also conducted an independent case study on the structure and quality of Kyangwali’s education system. She has interned for Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro in Washington, D.C., focusing research on paid maternal leave and trade agreements for legislative assistants. She was an Advocacy and Government Relations Intern for the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), tracking congressional legislation, writing memos, and advocating for refugee resettlement in the field of government relations. She was a  Protections Intern at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Washington, D.C. handling asylum seekers’ cases. She was a Virtual Student Foreign Service intern for the USAID Economic Growth office in Kampala, Uganda, proofreading communications and conducting strategic stakeholder analysis on donors.  Lastly, she was an executive board member of the No Lost Generation chapter at GW, a campus initiative partnered with the State Department aimed at providing quality education for refugee youth.  In her free time, Meital enjoys hiking, reading, and going to concerts. She is looking forward to returning to Uganda as a Fellow!

Megan graduated from American University’s School of International Service with a degree in International Studies, concentrating in peace and conflict resolution. Much of her undergraduate coursework and research centered on the nexus of gender and conflict, leading to her senior thesis on girl child soldiers and their reintegration processes. At American, Megan led an Alternative Break program to Rwanda for undergraduate and graduate students to study women and youth development in a post-conflict context. Megan furthered her passion for the region when she studied abroad in Nairobi, Kenya and interned at Peace Tree Network, a local peacebuilding organization. Throughout her undergraduate career, Megan interned with organizations in Washington, D.C., including ILive2Lead, United to End Genocide, and the U.S. Department of State. She also served as President of the School of International Service Undergraduate Council. After graduating, Megan worked at Chemonics International in the East and Southern Africa regional business unit. Born and raised in Mililani, Hawaii, Megan loves going to the beach, hiking, and playing basketball. She is excited to return to Rwanda and its thousand hills, learn Kinyarwanda, and support Resonate’s mission to unlock leadership potential in women and girls.

Matt, a native of Colorado and Minnesota, (Princeton ’16) graduated from Princeton University with a degree from the Woodrow Wilson School in Public and Foreign Affairs. During the summers, Matt did a French immersion program in Chicoutimi, Quebec. He also interned for the US State Department in Paris, France and the US Global Leadership Coalition in Washington D.C. Following graduation, he worked at Deloitte Consulting. While there, Matt worked on several proposals aimed at bringing increased energy generation to countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, among several other federal projects. In his free time, Matt enjoys hiking, snowboarding, and photography. Matt is excited to travel to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania as the International Rescue Committee’s Supply Chain Operations Fellow.

Megan, a New Jersey native graduated from the University of Southern California with a major in Psychology and a minor in International Relations. As an undergraduate, she was awarded funding to participate in a summer research trip in Iceland, Norway and Finland where she studied the impact of climate change in the Arctic region. In her junior year, Megan spent a semester studying at the University of Cape Town, where she developed a deep interest in economic development and public policy. Following her semester abroad, she interned at Ubuntu Pathways, a South Africa based non-profit that provides comprehensive health, household, and educational services to people in Port Elizabeth’s townships. After graduating, Megan worked as the director of a research lab that studies non-democratic politics. In this role, she used computational social science methods to explore propaganda in Gabon and Congo, as well as to analyze patterns of corruption in autocracies.  Megan is thrilled to be joining The BOMA Project in Nanyuki, Kenya. She looks forward to gaining a more nuanced understanding of international development and income generation, learning Swahili, and exploring Kenya’s natural beauty!