Gwladys Boukpessi is a passionate young professional originally from Togo, West Africa. Growing up, her mother was a caseworker in the New York City area for African refugees seeking asylum. Witnessing their struggles for a better life made Gwladys want to dedicate her life to improving conditions for people around the world. In 2019, Gwladys graduated from Lehigh University where she earned a Bachelor of Science in environmental engineering with a minor in sustainable development. While at Lehigh, Gwladys was awarded the Dale S. Strohl ’58 Undergraduate Summer Research Grant to study sustainable waste management solutions in Ghana. Her undergraduate career also included research in Kenya on their clean water crisis and interning in Nepal with a local NGO to help improve local waste management. After graduating, Gwladys worked as an Environmental Engineer for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection where she helped to develop and implement air pollution control programs and regulations to improve air quality for NJ residents. In addition, Gwladys also served as an intern and Youth Ambassador for African Hope Committee, an NGO that empowers African immigrants in New York City through health education programs, immigration services, and social service support. Driven by her love for Africa and international development, Gwladys is honored to join the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT as a Research Fellow.

Ben Boston is driven to develop innovative governance solutions for sub-Saharan Africa. Ben is a native of Connecticut and a recent graduate of Stanford University, where he majored in political science and minored in history. His undergraduate studies focused on politics, governance, and conflict in post-colonial Africa. As a senior, he completed an honors thesis in international security studies, entitled America in East Africa: Security Partnerships, Aid Dependence and Diplomatic Leverage, through Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation under the advising of Professor Jeremy Weinstein. He has worked on US policy towards and communication on Africa while interning in the State Department with the Office of East African Affairs and the Press and Public Diplomacy office at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, and with USAID at the U.S. Mission to the African Union. He also has experience working in American domestic politics, organizing for Elizaebeth Warren in Iowa in 2020 and for Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire in 2016. At Stanford, he organized weekly breakfast donations for a local homeless shelter and served as the Captain, President, and Financial Officer for the Men’s Lacrosse team.

Catherine Blizzard was born and raised in Dallas and graduated from Middlebury College with a degree in international and global studies, german concentration, with coursework focusing on global health and refugee studies. A dynamic writer and effective communicator, she endeavors to help bolster the success and funding of global health and development organizations by telling their stories. Professionally, Catherine has worked with nonprofits, foundations and small healthcare startups. During college, she gained marketing and fundraising experience with Communities Foundation of Texas and spent a year living and working in Germany where she interned with the House of Democracy and Human Rights in Berlin. Since graduating she has explored the public health startup sector and spent her summer after graduation conducting qualitative research and conducting a needs-based assessment for Health Together. Currently, Catherine is the Business Development Consultant at Empathetics, Inc. and works directly with client outreach and development. Following a global health experience in the Volta region of Ghana, Catherine developed an interest in reproductive health education and access in the region. A US colleague and she have partnered with a Ghanaian friend and colleague to create ENE Empower, a nonprofit that promotes the development of women leaders by increasing their access to education, furnishing menstrual products, and reducing the violence and stigma around female reproductive health. She is very excited to join the Princeton in Africa community and to develop her fundraising and grant writing skillset with the Mt. Elgon Ecosystem Trust in Kitale, Kenya.

Haja is from Freetown, Sierra Leone. She attended United World College, Red Cross Nordic from 2015 to 2017 where she transitioned to Skidmore College New York to complete her Bachelor of Arts Degree in environmental studies. Haja will be working with EL-KOONY Center in Kitale Kenya, as a Communications and Marketing Fellow. Haja is very interested in the field of development and looks forward to gaining new skills while learning Swahili. Moreover, she is very excited to learn more about issues affecting women, especially period poverty to see how best she can improve and expand her social enterprise, uman4uman, a Sierra Leonean-based business that produces reusable sanitary pads for women and girls.

Janhavi was born and raised in India and graduated from The George Washington University (GWU) with a master’s in international affairs in 2018. During her graduate study, she worked with Search for Common Ground (SFCG) in Yangon, Myanmar for a summer, supporting research and advocacy efforts for peacebuilding programs in the country. Janhavi credits this experience with propelling her into the world of international relief and development and has since conducted research on youth civic engagement in Myanmar in partnership with the US Agency for International Development (USAID). She has also consolidated refugee resettlement casework from Uganda for submission to the US and Canada with the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) and analysed US and UN policy frameworks for humanitarian access and assistance in Yemen, Syria and South Sudan at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Additionally, through an internship at the International Peace Institute (IPI), she supported research efforts focused on Protection of Civilians (POC) mandates in UN peacekeeping missions and the effects of sanctions regimes on humanitarian action. Janhavi drew from these experiences in informing her approach to her most recent role as well, as she wrote weekly editorials on foreign policy, international security and development, and humanitarian affairs for a digital publication (Statecraft) in India. As crises evolve to become more multifaceted and complex, she believes it is more necessary than ever to continue strengthening her understanding of international development and humanitarian response efforts in hopes of supporting impactful, innovative, and sustainable solutions.

Emma Anderson is a graduate student at the London School of Economics pursuing an M.Sc. in international development and humanitarian emergencies. She graduated with a B.A. in international affairs from The George Washington University in 2020. During her master’s degree, Emma worked as a graduate consultant at the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office, researching the humanitarian-development nexus in northeastern Nigeria and proposing policy recommendations to close humanitarian aid gaps in the region. At DevTech Systems, Emma served as proposal coordinator for USAID-funded projects in Jordan, the Philippines, and the DRC. Emma has also worked specifically on the Sahel region of Africa during her time at the World Justice Project, where she researched extensively rule of law and access to justice in 5 different Sahel countries. She has conducted field research in Jordan and worked at an anti-violence center in South Africa, and has published multiple articles, blogs, and academic papers. Emma also formerly ran a podcast called Foreign Affairs Inbox, managing a team of student hosts and conducting interviews with high-profile guests. For fun, Emma likes to run a radio show at her local station in London! She is thrilled to be joining IRC Somalia as a PiAf Fellow for this upcoming year.

Born and raised in Charlottesville, Virginia to Nigerian parents, Temi developed a unique insight on the transnational incidents that affect the African continent. As such, she devoted her personal and academic career toward addressing these circumstances especially as they relate to education and post-conflict reform. She sees the implementation of effective educational policy as the backbone for ensuring peace amongst Africa’s next generation. Temi holds a B.A. in global security and justice as well as French from the University of Virginia. While at UVa, Temi galvanized support for advocacy campaigns centered on girls’ education in Sub-Saharan Africa by working as Vice President of the University’s ONE campaign where she encouraged students to write petitions in support of international initiatives to local senators. During university, Temi worked with adult language learners as an ESL tutor through the International Rescue Committee. As a part of her studies, she conducted qualitative research on the relationship between international bodies like the ICC and their effect on human rights abuses on the continent. For her capstone thesis, she compiled data from over 100 different African news sources to assess the public response to international criminal intervention. Temi completed an internship in the U.S State Department’s Bureau of Human Rights, Labor, and Democracy where she conducted legal analysis on International Human Rights cases within several African nations. Temi is a 2020-2021 recipient of a Fulbright Grant to Côte d’Ivoire where she teaches English at an all-girls high school and conducts peer-tutoring programs for prospective university students. She looks forward to gaining a more holistic view on the educational needs within the region while supporting the mission of The African School of Economics.

Afi Apefa Bello is originally from Togo, West Africa. At the age of 6, her family immigrated to the United States. Having grown up aware of the circumstances which faced her family and others across the African continent, Afi was inspired to address them in her career, especially those concerning disparities in education and gender. Afi graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in May 2019, where she majored in African, African-American, and Diaspora Studies. While at UNC-CH, Afi studied several languages spoken across the African continent, including Kiswahili and Lingala. In 2017, she was awarded the U.S. Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowship to study intensive Kiswahili in Tanzania through the Howard University Swahili Study Abroad program. Driven by her passion for education and gender equity, Afi returned to Tanzania in 2018 as an intern with non-profit organization Students for Students International (S4Si), in partnership with NGO Forum for African Women Educationalists where she worked to address gender disparities in secondary education in Zanzibar. Afi later became Co-Executive Director of S4Si. Through the Okun Foundation grant, Afi conducted research exploring Afro-Diasporic community relations. Afi remains curious as to the role which the African Diaspora plays in development in Africa. At UNC-CH, Afi was awarded the Annexstad Family Foundation Leaders of Tomorrow scholarship in its inaugural class, 2015, and was named a 2017 Harvey Beech scholar. After graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill, Afi served as a College Advisor with the Carolina College Advising Corps, working to increase college access and other post-secondary opportunities for low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented high school students. Afi volunteers with Refugee and Immigrant Community Partnership in North Carolina to address the needs of its immigrant communities. Afi enjoys sewing with African fabric, African literature, and learning new languages. She is excited to work with the African School of Economics this year!

Sami, born and raised in South Seattle, graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a degree in the natural sciences and international studies. His work experiences in undergrad ranged from cancer research at the University of Michigan to digital health software and business development in Lagos, Nigeria at a startup he credits with opening his eyes to opportunities on the continent. This professional interest goes well with his language background – having studied Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, and Wolof through courses and a study abroad program where he conducted research on youth organizing in Sufi communities in Senegal, Italy, and France. Sami interned at Bloomberg Philanthropies where he supported early stage public-private partnerships across youth employment and business verticals. After a scholarship program in Taiwan just before COVID-19 hit the US, he is excited to be working with the African Leadership Academy.

Conor graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Political Science and a certificate in African Studies. Academically and professionally, he specializes in issues of institutional design and government accountability. Conor has examined these topics closely in his research, including a comparative investigation into East African tax administrations and a senior thesis that tested links between urban protests in South Africa and the responsiveness of municipal officials. In the summer of 2019, he interned at the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, where he supported efforts to develop and expand regional partnerships and transparency initiatives. He is especially passionate about protecting the human rights and dignity of the most vulnerable, having taken part in State Department initiatives to combat human trafficking. Conor is excited to work as a Princeton in Africa fellow with Kaz’O’zah Keza, an organization that provides artisan training and organizational support to communities in Burundi and Uganda.