Kamila is originally from Uzbekistan and at the age of 6, her family immigrated to Queens, New York City. Kamila graduated from Princeton University in May 2021 with a degree in medical anthropology and a minor in global health and health policy. While at Princeton, she focused on studying infectious diseases in low-resource settings. This interest first developed during her study abroad program in India, after her first year. Her experience in Sonipat, India was formative and pushed her to explore the understanding of care in low-resource environments. Kamila has interned at Zithulele Hospital on the Eastern Cape of South Africa in a tuberculosis research study. There, she conducted quantitative research on the diagnoses and outcomes of tuberculosis patients and witnessed the burdens of infectious disease on the well-being of the Xhosa population. Additionally, she worked with researchers at the University of Malaya to conduct qualitative research trying to understand consistent condom usage in intimate partners of HIV-positive men who inject drugs, one of the country’s most vulnerable groups. Kamila wrote her senior thesis on the syndemic relationship between Covid-19 and tuberculosis on the Eastern Cape of South Africa. On campus, Kamila was a leader trainer and Wilderness First Aid instructor and coordinator for one of the largest outdoor action orientation programs in the country and works closely alongside the directors to update curriculum and developmental leadership goals. She is excited to continue working in public health and low-resource care as a Princeton in Africa Fellow Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative.

Carolyn grew up in New York and double majored in Neuroscience & Behavior and Italian Studies at Columbia University. While in school, Carolyn developed a keen interest for healthcare advocacy through her research and volunteering. At Columbia’s Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain, she studied how health disparities and sociocultural factors affect the aging of diverse individuals living in New York City’s Washington Heights. Over the years, Carolyn has committed herself to maintaining a community-oriented focus by participating in various outreach opportunities; she has worked as a support counselor, first aid instructor, and Emergency Medical Technician, developing her skills in active listening and crisis management. She served as president of Columbia University’s chapter of Global Brigades, fundraising for and organizing a brigade to Honduras that provided medical resources, health education, and sanitation facilities to underserved communities. Carolyn currently works with the Cancer Outcomes Research and Education Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she implements supportive care interventions focused on improving quality of life, coping strategies, and patient empowerment via informed decision-making. While working with Young 1ove next year, Carolyn hopes to help similarly empower young people in Botswana regarding their health and education. She feels grateful for the opportunity to learn more about responsible engagement and sustainable development in a global health context, and is excited to engage with Botswanan culture, meet new people, and learn Setswana.

A recent graduate from New York University Abu Dhabi with a major in economics and a concentration in finance, Gaurav aspires to use his education and internship experience in the private sector to find data-driven solutions to empower communities in the developing regions of the world. His prior professional experiences include business strategy and research roles at Emaar Properties (Real Estate), Integra Ledger (Blockchain) and Mukta Arts Limited (Entertainment). He has academic and professional experiences in several countries including the USA, Spain, Tanzania, the UAE, India, and Nepal. Passionate about diversity and inclusion, Gaurav is very curious about other cultures and wants to meaningfully travel the entire world while responsibly engaging with local communities. Apart from impact work, Gaurav writes songs, plays the guitar, and makes travel videos on YouTube.

Edwina was born and raised in Ghana. She graduated from Stanford University in 2020 with a degree in Energy Resources Engineering and a minor in African Studies. She worked with energy companies in New York City developing community-generated clean energy solutions for the Long Island community, and with oil companies in Southern California where she developed solutions to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions from an oilfield. She explored her interest in service by working on self-designed projects with two Ghanaian NGOs – the West African AIDS Foundation (WAAF) where she designed and implemented a community intervention program to train Ghanaian high-school-aged youth as HIV/AIDS peer and Smartix Education where she developed a comprehensive sexual health education curriculum and teaching module for Ghanaian schools, through a fellowship from Stanford University. She is passionate about female empowerment and worked with Stanford’s Clayman Institute for Gender Research where she conducted research, analyzed data, and helped plan events. Through these academic and professional experiences, she explored the intersection of energy, health, and education. She speaks English, Asante Twi, Fante, French, Yoruba, Mandarin, and Igbo and enjoys cooking, building-watching, learning new languages, and reading African Science fiction books. As a young African, she is excited by the upsurge in youth-led innovation, service, and social activism across the continent and is eager to work with fellow African youth to contribute to the continent’s well-being and development, while cultivating meaningful relationships. Post fellowship, she hopes to pursue an MBA focusing on social impact on the African continent.

A native of Bukavu, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Wilo Muyoma graduated from Whitworth University in 2016 with a major in computer science. Most recently he worked at Microsoft as Azure cloud engineer. He left Microsoft to help start a poultry and logistics company in Eastern Congo alongside his childhood friend. During his PiAf fellowship, Wilo will serve as Junior Consultant/MEAL Fellow with the West Africa Rice Company (WARC) in Accra, Ghana.

Victoria Monge graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in health policy and management from the Gillings School of Global Public Health, as well as a degree in global studies. She also holds a certificate in international politics from Sciences Po Grenoble in Grenoble, France. At UNC Chapel Hill, Victoria worked at the local Refugee Support Center, where she served as a French translator and collaborated with various governmental agencies to meet the needs of the Center’s clients. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa as well as the service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega and has also worked in several different research labs throughout college. Victoria recently completed her senior honors thesis on the intergenerational effects of witnessing intimate partner violence on a cohort of young children in South Africa. During a previous corporate strategy internship with the insurance company Humana, Victoria created a business case for investment in the social determinants of health by healthcare payers. More recently, she interned with the Shot@Life team of the United Nations Foundation, where she advocated for increased access to vaccinations for children around the world. Following the Princeton in Africa fellowship, Victoria plans to attend law school and pursue a career in global health law. Originally from Michigan, she enjoys reading, swimming, and learning languages. She is looking forward to working with American Leprosy Missions this coming year.

Kathryn (Katie) recently graduated from Tulane University with a dual-degree in international development and finance through the University’s Altman Program in International Studies and Business. Through the program, she spent the summer after her freshman year in Vietnam and split her junior year between Senegal and France. A Boren scholarship supported her study of Wolof, spoken in Senegal, Gambia and Mauritania, at both the University of Florida and in Senegal. During her time in Dakar, she worked for Social Change Factory, an organization that provides professional and educational programs for youth in nine West African countries. After her junior year, she worked for The Carter Center on the Independent Observer team of the 2015 Peace Agreement in Mali. On this team, she contributed to the production of a public document overviewing the Agreement’s implementation status and to the development of a conflict event mapping database for the country. Building upon her academic and professional experiences, she is excited to critically analyze the role a humanitarian organization can play in supporting post-conflict societies in West Africa through her fellowship with the International Rescue Committee Sierra Leone.

A native of Zambia, Nduulwa has been driven by her curiosity to discover innovative solutions to some of the most pressing issues we face. Over the last five years, she has worked to push projects and marketing campaigns forward at a number of nonprofits and startups. Previously, she worked as a marketing and program management consultant for the UMKC Innovation Center’s Technology Venture Studio. As a consultant, she evaluated potential program participants and implemented the studio’s marketing and communications strategy. Nduulwa was also a part of the founding team at WeJapa, a startup connecting companies to tech talent in Africa. She served as chief marketing officer and led the company’s inbound and outbound marketing strategy, resulting in the on boarding of fifteen hiring partners across Africa and Europe. At the Women’s Fund of Omaha, she worked to implement innovative marketing strategies for the fund’s Adolescent Health Project. While at the fund, she managed a social media influencer program, the 2019 summer internship program, and served as project manager and liaison for I Be Black Girl, an initiative that funds grassroots organizations led by Black women and girls. After earning her MBA in 2019, she began to wonder what role business and entrepreneurship can play in Africa’s growth and development and went on to launch Dear Diaspora, a podcast spotlighting African entrepreneurs transforming Africa’s challenges into business opportunities. Recognizing the public sector’s role in creating an enabling environment for business and beyond, she looks forward to gaining a more holistic perspective as a program fellow with Emerging Public Leaders in Ghana.

Yara El-Khatib is a recent graduate of Yale University, where she studied global affairs and global health studies. As an undergraduate, she has grown passionate about strengthening health systems and their resilience through equitable, community-led, evidence- driven development and public health interventions. Prior to her senior year, she worked as an Associate Consultant Intern at Bain & Company, where she supported the integration of two biotech companies during COVID-19 through her role in communications and change management. She also previously served as a project management intern with VillageReach in Lilongwe, where she helped VR transition the operations of a healthcare hotline program to the Ministry of Health. At Yale, she  worked on qualitative research projects focused on various public health topics, notably: health interventions to manage noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) following natural disasters in the Caribbean; an effective NCDs prevention strategy for youth in Angola to be implemented by UNICEF and AstraZeneca; and, most recently, state and local policies in Connecticut that mitigate and adapt to climate change while simultaneously promoting health. She is excited to build upon these undergraduate experiences as a Regional Health Fellow with Population Services International in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, where she will support the implementation of various sexual and reproductive health (SRH) projects. Yara enjoys playing ultimate frisbee, singing a cappella, and spending time with family and friends in her free time. 

Jada Elder is a recent graduate of Temple University and is passionate about issues related to law, community development and human rights. Jada graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 2020, and a Master of Arts in English in 2021. Her academic research is primarily grounded in the study of postcolonial literature. Before starting her MA, Jada completed a year of service with AmeriCorps, making a positive impact on youth development organizations throughout the city of Philadelphia. She also spent time as an intern at the District Attorney’s Office of Philadelphia conducting legal research concerning family law and civil issues. Most recently, she interned at the Public Interest Law Center where she executed substantive legal projects and assisted in tenant organizing initiatives with Renters United Philadelphia. Jada is excited to pursue her interest in the intersections of education and public policy advocacy at Equal Education!