Dhruvi is a graduate of NYU Abu Dhabi, where she studied Civil Engineering with a concentration in Urbanization and developed an interest to work at the intersection of policy and sustainable development. Her field experience working in Dharavi, Mumbai with local potters on mitigating air-pollution through the design of a retrofitted chimney highlighted the importance of developing cost-beneficial and need-based solutions at a local level. She has formed a strong understanding of global efforts geared towards environmental conservation through conducting research with NYU Langone and Yale University on mapping waste disposal pathways across the United States, with a specific focus on New York. Her senior capstone project highlights the rising need to better manage global waste, working to design an effective and sustainable system applying waste-to-energy technologies in Abu Dhabi. She is interested in transportation networks and spent last summer working at the New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Here, she worked on a wide range of projects from advancing congestion pricing to building out proposals for MTA’s organizational reform. By combining her experience with community-led initiatives to city-level projects, she is determined to build a career at the intersection of sustainable development, infrastructure, technology, and the environment. As an Indian-Kenyan, born and raised in Nairobi she is looking forward to developing her monitoring and evaluation skills in the context of her home country Kenya.

Emily is a recent college graduate interested in human rights and social justice. She previously worked with the Central and West Africa program at the National Democratic Institute, supporting portfolios in Nigeria and Sierra Leone, and with the Humanitarian Agenda program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She also completed an internship with Innovations for Poverty Action in Tanzania and a fellowship with the Open Impact Institute in Uganda. She is excited to learn more about Sierra Leone and migration justice through her fellowship with IRC. Outside of work, Emily volunteers with RAINN to support survivors of sexual violence. She graduated from the College of William and Mary in 2019 with a degree in International Relations.

Michelle graduated from Connecticut College majoring in International Relations with minors in French and Global Islamic Studies. While in college, she studied abroad in Kigali, Rwanda. She also interned with Fondation Artisans de la Paix et du Développement au Rwanda, a grassroots development organization, where she helped manage the distribution of 2,000 energy-saving stoves. Michelle concluded her college career by writing an honors thesis on the role of UN Peacekeeping Operations leadership in shaping organizational culture to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse. After college, Michelle worked as a program assistant at the Social Science Research Council where she helped administer international fellowships for PhD candidates, contributing to grants management, report writing, data analysis, and communications. Outside of work she takes Kiswahili lessons and completed Population Works Africa’s e-learning platform on decolonizing development. Michelle is excited to work with the Kupona Foundation and learn more about community-based healthcare programs in Tanzania.

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.

Livia graduated with honors and distinction in politics and a minor in history from the University of the South (Sewanee), where she was also part of the pre-public health program. Her family is from Italy and Tunisia, and she grew up in Italy and the UK. While at Sewanee, Livia served on the Executive Board of the Bairnwick Women’s Center, a student-led organization focused on social justice issues related to gender, intersectionality, and access to sexual health and education, and as a Newman Civic Fellow, where she was able to explore her passions for gender equality and equitable health access for marginalized groups. While in college, Livia was lucky to spend one semester studying at the University of Ghana in Accra, where she also completed an internship at AfricaLead, a USAID program focused on strengthening food security and agribusiness, and conducted independent research on civil society advocacy for gender quotas in the Ghanaian parliament. She also interned at the Makerere University-Johns Hopkins University Research Collaboration on AIDS in Kampala, Uganda where she supported programming for adolescents living with HIV. She is excited to continue working in public health and youth development on the African continent as a Princeton in Africa Fellow with the Botswana-Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative.

Katerina recently graduated from Tufts University with a degree in International Security. As an undergraduate, Katerina worked as a writing tutor, was a member of Tufts Mock Trial and acted as a Green Dot ambassador to improve campus culture around sexual misconduct. She has explored her interest in law, international affairs and intersecting health or environmental issues through work experience at a food-tech start-up, an INGO and the State Department. Through these internships and academic experiences, Katerina has conducted regional conflict analyses, explored the role and limits of nongovernmental peacebuilding and used GIS to explore conflict trends over time. She hopes to attend law school and pursue domestic and international peacebuilding and negotiations. She is excited to complement her academic experiences with practical training at the International Rescue Committee in Nairobi and challenge her current understanding of development and aid work.

Makeda graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Political Science and American Studies. During her time at Columbia, she served as a Research Fellow in the Laboratory of Intergroup Relations and the Social Mind under Professor Valerie Purdie Greenaway, studying intersectionality, stereotyping, and discrimination. A first-generation Ethiopian-American, Makeda has always been motivated by a passion for civil and human rights advocacy both in the United States and abroad. Prior to joining the International Rescue Committee, she worked at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School, where she focused on advancing innovative voting rights and democracy reforms. Before that, Makeda interned for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the Department of State, as well as the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia and for the Office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In addition, throughout college she served as an intern with NBC Nightly News and MSNBC, focusing on both domestic and international breaking news and ongoing deep impact coverage.

Katie graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a major in English and minor in consumer psychology. At Penn, she was involved in Wharton’s undergraduate marketing club, MUSE, where she led projects for their nonprofit consulting division. During her junior year, Katie spent a semester studying at the University of Cape Town, where her passion for serving marginalized communities grew. Following graduation, Katie developed her marketing and communication skills at Rabin Martin, a global health consulting firm, where she communicated public health programs and corporate social responsibility initiatives. She then moved to Edelman, a global communication firm, where she worked in their Corporate and Public Affairs sector driving communications strategy, executive leadership positioning and media relations for Fortune 500 companies such as eBay, Audible, and the PepsiCo Foundation. Looking for ways to further engage with her passions, Katie joined Amref Health Africa’s Young Professional Board where she works on event planning, fundraising and strategy development to forward their mission. She is excited to return to the African continent to work intimately with those fighting to protect and uplift populations most susceptible to systemic injustices.

Jessica is a Charleston, South Carolina native and graduate of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. She started her career in humanitarian work as an intern at the International Rescue Committee in Atlanta, GA assisting resettlement division caseworkers and aiding newly arrived refugee families. Later, Jes spent the summer in DC with Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service as a refugee/immigrant advocacy intern in the midst of the family separation crisis. There, she drafted written materials for the advocacy team, created digital media content, and engaged in Princeton Office of Religious Life research examining the relationship between the organization’s faith-based foundation and refugee resettlement. As a creative mind, freelance photographer, and global citizen, Jes seeks to combine creative and analytical problem solving in the humanitarian sector. She aims to produce digital media material for humanitarian organizations as a way of promoting awareness for global issues and inspiring engagement from worldwide audiences. Motivated by a deeply rooted love for language, culture, and learning, you’ll find Jes constantly on the move. This year, she’s excited to join Gardens for Health International – camera in hand – as a communications and development fellow in Rwanda.

Mary graduated from The University of Maryland, College Park with a degree in Food Science and Global Poverty. Her experiences are mainly focused in nutrition, agriculture and education. Mary’s enthusiasm for nutrition led her to work with the US Department of Agriculture’s Child and Adult Food Care Program during her Junior year of college. As she progressed through college, she completed research in International Food Safety with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Mary is a Nigerian native and believes that education and culture are vital to personal development and growth. During the late months of 2006, the United Nations predicted that some minor languages of the world would become extinct by 2025. In response to the prediction, she pioneered an undergraduate class with the University of Maryland’s African American Studies department on the native Nigerian language; Igbo. Her international work spans throughout the countries of Nigeria, Uganda, Haiti, and Taiwan. In her free time she goes on personal missions trips and volunteers with non-profit organizations like Oxfam and The World Bank.