Alumni Update:

Will is currently a Senior Consultant in Deloitte’s International Development practice, working with international donor and government clients to build strategies for inclusive growth. He is based in Washington, DC.

Fellow Bio:

Will grew up in Boulder, Colorado, and in Saratoga, California. He graduated from Georgetown University in May 2016 after majoring in Science, Technology, and International Affairs, with a concentration in Energy and the Environment and a focus on Computer Science. Will’s main academic interests include international development, natural resource management, and sustainability. During his time in college, he studied abroad in Stellenbosch, South Africa, where he learned about the many environmental issues confronting sub-Saharan Africa. Will operates on the fundamental belief that every human being should have an equal chance at achieving success in life. To pursue this belief, Will has served for three summers as a staff member of the Appalachia Service Project, working to eradicate substandard housing. He will work as a Technology Systems Fellow for Lwala Community Alliance in rural southwestern Kenya, assisting with the organization’s holistic, community-led model for development. Outside of work, Will is an avid skier, hiker, runner, and Denver Broncos fan. During his time in Kenya, Will hopes to learn some Kiswahili, listen to local music, explore East Africa, and eat some weird and new things.

Alumni Update:

Victoria lives in Dar es Salaam where she is completing her dissertation on fistula mental health in partnership with CCBRT, her PiAf host organization. She provides individual and group therapy to people with cancer and their loved ones. 

Fellow Bio:

Victoria is from Narragansett, Rhode Island. She received her B.A. from Brown University in Political Science and Religious Studies, where she graduated magna cum laude. At Brown, she concentrated on African-American religious strategies and women’s empowerment. Victoria also served as president of Partners in Health Engage at Brown, leading the group in organizing, advocating, and fundraising for health as a human right. She has conducted research on food security and import reliance in Senegal, worked with Ghanaian women to establish a sustainable water business as a Saha Global Field Representative, and traveled to South Africa to direct the Universal Promise Women’s Empowerment and Health Education Initiatives. Victoria is passionate about community-based health care and education as tools of empowerment. She loves practicing yoga, cooking, swimming, and singing along with Beyoncé. She is eager to explore Dar es Salaam and grateful for the opportunity to promote health equity alongside CCBRT.

Originally from Accra, Ghana, Vanessa grew up in Romeoville, Illinois, a town next to the city of Joliet, Illinois. A Shakespeare fanatic, she heartbreakingly had to leave Romeoville to attend the University of Minnesota, where she graduated in 2016 with degrees in Journalism and History. Vanessa has written for The Minnesota Daily, Minnesota Public Radio, and The Reporters Inc., a nonprofit journalistic house. Vanessa is interested in all aspects of journalism, including philanthrojournalism and global communications. A longtime history buff, she served as the diversity outreach intern and a National History Day mentor for the Minnesota Historical Society. Vanessa was involved in various campus organizations, but counts her time as a 2014 Orientation Leader as her favorite. Vanessa believes in getting a well-rounded experience in academics and work, which led to her interning for Congressman Keith Ellison and working as an ESL classroom assistant for adult refugees. Due to her internships at organizations that work to strengthen communities in Minnesota and throughout the world, she was named a Kevin Mossier Award Scholar. Vanessa is a soccer fanatic and spent the summer of 2015 in Berlin researching German soccer history. This resulted in a 60 page research paper on the formation of German national identity through World Cups. Vanessa is beyond excited to come to the rainbow nation and work with the future leaders at the African Leadership Academy – and possibly beat some students in soccer. She is especially excited to learn from the students at ALA and explore Johannesburg!

Alumni Update:

Having just graduated from Sciences Po’s Paris School of International Affairs with a Masters in International Public Management, Sylvana is currently working at UNESCO as the Communication and Outreach Consultant for a project on intercultural dialogue for peacebuilding. She is based in Paris. 

Fellow Bio:

Sylvana is from Orange, Connecticut and graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2016 with majors in Political Science (focusing on International Relations and Comparative Politics) and English Literature, and a minor in Anthropology. She has studied abroad in Argentina, England, Switzerland, Rwanda, and Uganda. While at Vanderbilt, Sylvana tutored with The After-School Program, wrote for the online magazine the Odyssey, did freelance photography for groups on campus, and was an officer of Alpha Delta Pi, amongst other things. During her summers at university, Sylvana travelled to Gulu, Uganda with Pros for Africa on a medical mission and interned in the Multimedia Division of the New York office of Human Rights Watch. All of these experiences led to her decision to focus on human rights advocacy and development in Africa. Sylvana is beyond excited to explore West Africa, as well as visit her homestay families in East Africa, and start work with the ACA! Some of her goals for the next year are to climb Kilimanjaro and get accepted to law school!

Alumni Update:

Stuart is pursuing a PhD in political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research focuses on the bureaucracy of public services in Senegal. Though he is currently based in Boston, Stuart returns to Dakar and Senegal often.

Fellow Bio:

Originally from Ellicott City, Maryland, Stuart graduated from Swarthmore College in June 2014 with high honors in economics and political science. He also studied for a semester at the Institut d’études politiques de Bordeaux in Bordeaux, France through a Middlebury College program. While at Swarthmore, Stuart worked as a research assistant in the political science department and a teaching assistant in the economics department. He also ran on Swarthmore’s varsity cross country and track teams. Prior to his PiAf fellowship, Stuart worked for two years at the Center for International Development at Harvard University. He has also worked with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, D.C. and the U.S. State Department in Paris, France.

Staci graduated with an Honors B.S. degree in Bioengineering from the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State University. After helping set up and run a temporary medical clinic in Ghana, Staci volunteered in Cape Town, South Africa with One Heart Source, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering children through education. She returned to work with the non-profit for two consecutive years to co-manage and innovate programs. During the summer of 2015, Staci led the health volunteer program and built community partnerships for 2016 expansion. As a student in the Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship Program at Penn State, she integrated her public health interests with the launch of technology-based social enterprises. She conducted a study in Kenya to evaluate handgrip strength as a diabetes-risk screening tool, resulting in a Journal of Medical Engineering & Technology publication. In addition, Staci co-developed a business model to expand an affordable greenhouse venture to Mozambique and contributed to a published manuscript investigating the integration of entrepreneurial and vocational training. Staci conducted further research in Zambia to identify healthcare pathways and evaluate mobile health projects’ potential to reduce gaps in care. Staci looks forward to a challenging, transformative year with Lwala Community Alliance in Kenya!

Alumni Update:

Shaquilla is currently a fourth-year PhD student in Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. She was recently awarded one of the inaugural Penn Presidential PhD Fellowships to support her research on nonprofit decision-making and identity in East Africa. She currently serves as a general board member for the PiAf Alumni Board and is chair of the PiAf Anti-Racism Committee.

Fellow Bio:

Shaquilla graduated from Harvard University in May 2016 with a degree in Social Studies and focused on African-American women in the media. Shaquilla is passionate about journalism and public service, and her undergraduate experiences combined both passions. At Harvard, Shaquilla was the editor-in-chief of the Harvard Independent, a weekly newspaper, and an officer for three years at the Phillips Brooks House Association, an umbrella non-profit with over 80 programs serving people in Boston and Cambridge. Shaquilla also served as a senior staffer for Harvard Model Congress, an organization that runs government simulations for high school age students around the world. This past March, Shaquilla completed her senior honors thesis entitled “‘The Pulse of Black America:’ Ebony Magazine’s Creation and Reflection of Black Female Identity from 1980 to 2015.” While working at the World Agroforestry Centre’s AWARD program that provides scholarships and leadership training for African women scientists, Shaquilla hopes to learn Kiswahili, go on a safari, and learn a few traditional Kenyan dances.

Shayla graduated from Princeton University in 2015, with a major in Spanish and Portuguese Languages and Cultures and certificates in Global Health and Health Policy and Latin American Studies. She is interested in sexual and reproductive health as well as public health. During her undergraduate years, she studied abroad in Havana, Cuba and conducted ethnographic thesis research on women’s childbirth experiences in São Paulo, Brazil. She served as a Peer Health Adviser and developed the curriculum for the Safer Sexpo program, a comprehensive safer sex educational program mandatory for first-year students. Outside of her work in health, Shayla facilitated multiple identity-based discussion groups that encouraged students to share their perspectives on issues such as race, gender, and sexuality. After graduating, Shayla worked with UMatter, Princeton University Health Services’ new health and wellbeing initiative focused on active bystander intervention among the campus community. Shayla is thrilled to work in Gaborone, Botswana with Young 1ove, and is looking forward to learning more about public and sexual health. She is very excited to explore all that Botswana and southern Africa has to offer.

Shan was born and raised in Durham, North Carolina, and graduated from Bowdoin College in 2016 with a B.A. in Biology and a minor in Music. He spent a semester studying abroad in north-central Tanzania as part of the Wildlife Management Program through the School for Field Studies. While there, he conducted research on land protection strategies in the region and conducted interviews with local communities about human-wildlife conflict. Shan has held internships with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service where he monitored prescribed fire effects and invasive species on a National Wildlife Refuge in Minnesota, and at the Duke Lemur Center where he conducted a research project on the response to visual and olfactory cues in Cockerel’s sifakas. At Bowdoin, Shan was the music director for his a cappella group and was a whitewater kayak instructor with the Outing Club in addition to working for the Office of Admissions. Shan is so excited to return to East Africa and to experience Kenya for the first time with Nyumbani Village. While there, he hopes to improve his Swahili skills and to explore the region with other PiAf Fellows!

Ryan graduated with a BA in Economics and International Affairs, with a concentration in International Development. Prior to graduating from GW, Ryan also studied Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Since graduating, he has worked at Mathematica Policy Research in Washington, DC, where he managed research and evaluation projects for the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the U.S. Department of Education, and other federal agencies. He has interned with several international organizations focused on reducing poverty worldwide, including The United Nations World Food Programme and TechnoServe. Ryan is originally from central Connecticut, but has lived in Washington, DC for six years. He is a regular hiker and skier, and is active in the DC standup comedy scene. Ryan is honored to have the opportunity to help the International Rescue Committee provide vital assistance to refugees living in Kenya.