she/her/hers

Malikia Cherubala is a 2023 graduate of Appalachian State University where she earned her B.S. in Community and Regional Planning, with a focus on Sustainable Development, and she holds a Certificate in Geographic Information Systems. Her academic interests are rooted in the fabric of my upbringing. As a Congolese from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kinshasa, Malikia is passionate about redeeming Congo and other African countries to a place where people and the environments they live in are restored and valorized. The absence of foresight and safeguards for both people and the environment and the neglect of urban planning across Africa is this glaring gap that propels her toward the urban planning profession. Malikia’s overarching goal is to reshape perceptions and approaches to development within vulnerable communities while advocating for their sustainable advancement. Launching her professional career, Malikia interned with two local governments in the Transportation Planning sector. Her work involved extensive research and strategic planning to implement multimodal transportation in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and across the state of North Carolina. Outstandingly, Malikia was selected as one of two undergraduate students from a class of 40 to serve as a data collector and analyst for a master’s-level project. Her expertise in transforming complex data into actionable insights was evident when she presented her findings at the County’s Housing Forum, communicating complex information effectively. Post graduation, Malikia made significant contributions as the Community Development and Housing Planner at the City of Salisbury. Malikia envisions her future in strategic planning and implementation and is honored to kick this off through her Growth and Insight fellowship with Entrepreneurial Solutions Partners in Côte d’Ivoire. In her free time, Malikia loves to fellowship and connect with people around food, art, love, and vision.

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Hannah Greene graduated from New York University Abu Dhabi after completing the pre-medical track and a degree in Social Research & Public Policy. In between semesters, she’s worked on five farms around the world, starting in Kenya, learning the arts of shepherding goats, pickaxing, and harvesting crops on these permaculture farms. While studying abroad in Accra, Ghana, she worked in an immunology laboratory and did field research for her senior thesis, which focused on the use of antibiotics and antimalarials in community health. Through visits to 83 community medicine vendors, she sought to identify the public health challenges reported by shopkeepers and predict the emergence of antimicrobial resistance at the neighborhood level. Launched by an exchange program scholarship to live in Malaysia in high school, she’s taken every opportunity to backpack around the world and learn from new contexts. She’s an enthusiast of anything outdoors, including going camping throughout the Emirates and training for triathlons and a marathon. In Abu Dhabi, she created a number of environmental sustainability initiatives on campus targeting resource consumption and fast fashion and led community engagement and appreciation programs for migrant workers in Abu Dhabi. Over the last four years, she’s worked with interdisciplinary research laboratories focused on engineering, healthcare sustainability, demography and public health, and social biases in the publication of academic literature. She plans to attend medical school in France and work as a physician of emergency medicine following this fellowship. Originally from Baltimore, USA, she’s driven to build equity in health care worldwide.

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Maya is a recent graduate of Tulane University, holding a Bachelor of Science in Public Health, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music Performance, and a minor in International Development. Her professional interests include infectious diseases, reproductive health, and advancing equity within global health. During her undergraduate studies, she studied abroad in Dakar, Senegal, where she interned with the Senegalese National Malaria Control Program and conducted an independent research project on female genital mutilation in Senegal. At Tulane University, Maya served as a research associate in the Center for Applied Malaria Research and Evaluation, where she led projects related to the costs of malaria vector control and supported the New Nets Project, a joint venture between Unitaid, PATH, and The Global Fund to accelerate the scale-up of next-generation insecticide-treated nets to combat growing insecticide resistance among mosquitoes. Maya also interned in fundraising for Global Health Corps, working to support the development of global health leaders in both the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa. Following the Princeton in Africa fellowship, Maya plans on attending graduate school in Switzerland, where her family is originally from, to pursue a career in global health. In her spare time, Maya enjoys playing the violin and baking. She is so excited to be joining PSI in Côte d’Ivoire!

Malika Kounkourou graduated from Boston University (BU) with a degree in International Relations concentrating on Environment and Development in Africa and the Middle East. She completed her senior honors thesis on rethinking sustainable environmental peacebuilding through a case study of uranium mining governance in Niger. Her research highlights necessary contextual factors to consider for the sustainability of a prospective environmental peacebuilding process with the aim of targeting root causes of development and security issues facing indigenous populations and fostering sustainable livelihoods. As a proud daughter of Nigerien immigrants, Malika is passionate about preserving her heritage through her cultural revival brand, Tchidite. Beyond a business, her brand is geared towards reclaiming Tuareg culture through an educational platform as well as combating unemployment by collaborating with Tuareg artisans. Working with Ihsan Foundation and FIPSO Niger, she fundraises, budgets, and manages projects providing humanitarian relief to vulnerable populations facing public health crises. She strives to work with NGOs, IGOs, and governments to find long-term research-based solutions targeting development issues on an institutional level. Driven by her aspiration to advance sustainable development on the African continent, Malika is honored to join Population Services International as a Regional Health Fellow and contribute to the data-driven work they do to shape markets and shift policy to better support consumer empowered healthcare.

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. 

As a public health activist, Lola Flomen believes that every life has equal value. Having volunteered at the Jones Safe House for Youth in South Africa, the Chiang Rai Special Education School in Thailand, and Oleleshwa’s Girls Secondary School in Kenya, Lola has a plethora of hands-on experiences in youth health programs in developing countries. A graduate of International Affairs with a focus on global public health at the George Washington University, Lola is most passionate about treating infectious diseases amongst girls and women of reproductive age. Working as an intern for Save the Children’s Department of Humanitarian Response, Lola has written dozens of memos on emergency health delivery mechanisms. Her work with family planning at the United Nations Foundation’s Universal Access Project and internship with Adolescent Sexual Health and Reproductive Rights Team at Save the Children led her to evaluate and monitor development agendas. In light of her recent experience with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Kenya, Lola aspires to become an epidemiologist and alleviate global preventable communicable diseases. Lola is looking forward to her PiAf post with PSI in Abidjan where she will be the Regional Evidence and Reproductive Health Fellow.

Fellow Bio:

Nina ’10 is a College of Social Studies major from Baltimore, Maryland. During her time at Wesleyan University she was involved in a student led trip to Ahmedabad, India where she wrote grants and taught English at a local NGO SPRAT. She also studied abroad in Mali, which sparked her interest in West Africa. This past year she co-taught a student forum on international volunteerism and local NGOs in the developing world. In her free time, Nina participated in West African as well as Indian dance performances. She loves to dance and looks forward to learning more West African dance while in Cote d’Ivoire. She also looks forward to an exciting year of travel and adventure and is excited to meet great people!

Melissa previously worked as a Partnership Analyst at the United Nations Office for Projects Services (UNOPS) Brussels Liaison Office. She was born in San José, Costa Rica and in 2009 she moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Government at Smith College. In 2014 she completed a Master’s Degree in International Security at the Institut d’études politiques de Paris (Sciences Po Paris). She is fluent in English and Spanish, and proficient in French. Throughout her career Ms. Salazar has worked at a variety of international and governmental institutions such as: the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Presidential House of Costa Rica, and the Permanent Mission of Costa Rica to the United Nations Office in Geneva. Her international experience has given Ms. Salazar an insight to the world of international diplomacy, and has made her passionate about development and security issues. Previously, Ms. Salazar was a member of the Smith College Club of France, where she acted as Point of contact for the Smith College Junior Year Abroad (JYA) students in Paris. She is also an active member of the Pi Sigma Alpha National Honor Society in Political Science. She is a huge fan of travel, and her desire to discover the world has taken her to places like Israel, Malaysia and Chile. Melissa is looking forward to her work with Olam next year.