She/her/hers

Beata Corcoran recently completed a Labouisse Fellowship assisting particularly vulnerable asylum seekers from Syria, Afghanistan, and Somalia, including survivors of torture and human trafficking through the Caritas Cyprus Migrant Center (Nicosia, Cyprus). She is passionate about the delivery of ethical, life-affirming and community-informed health care delivery in low-resourced settings. She has experience in grant assessment and allocation as well as database management, project monitoring and implementation research from internships at USAID’s Center for Innovation and Impact and UNICEF’s Health System’s Strengthening Unit (Washington, DC). Beata was first exposed to community-led, trauma-informed support while working with Philani’s community health workers, who use a mobile clinic to treat malnourished infants and new mothers in Khayelitsha Township (Cape Town, South Africa). Beata has documented the work of numerous NGOs through visual and written storytelling for donor relations, including in Jakarta, Indonesia and in Tofo, Mozambique. Beata Corcoran graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Medical Anthropology, and certificates in Global Health & Health Policy and African Studies. Her academic research focused on structural violence and climate migration. As a student, Beata dedicated herself to humanitarian causes, volunteering with a campus organization aiding survivors of intimate violence and leading workshops on healthy relationships. Growing up in Washington, DC, Beata’s main interest lies in developing creative, effective solutions to bridging linguistic and cultural barriers. She considers herself a lifelong learner, and continually works to understand new communities and contexts. She plans to pursue graduate studies in humanitarian approaches to armed conflict and forced migration, laying the foundation for a career in global health crisis response or migration policy.

Emily, born and raised in Houston, TX, graduated from Wellesley College with a degree in Neuroscience. While at Wellesley, Emily completed a multi-year internship at the Center for Addiction Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital where she conducted clinical research examining neurocognitive recovery following sustained cannabis abstinence in adolescents and young adults. In her spare time, she mentored students from a Boston housing project through the Mission Hill After School Program, and also participated in multiple global health projects in rural Nicaragua. After finishing school, Emily wanted to experience working in the nonprofit sector and moved to Honolulu to serve as an Americorps VISTA at Hawaii Children’s Action Network. In this role, she designed and oversaw a community outreach program to engage stakeholders, community partners, and donors, and also launched and coordinated a volunteer program. Emily is passionate about creating sustainable solutions to support and empower vulnerable populations. She believes in the power of robust research and preventive strategies to improve health outcomes in under-resourced global regions. For fun, Emily enjoys hiking, surfing, and climbing with friends. She is excited to serve and learn in her post as a Research Fellow with the UNC Malawi Surgical Initiative.

Songyue Xu graduated from New York University Abu Dhabi with a degree in Social Research & Public Policy. Given her strong interest in economic development, Songyue has gained professional experiences in banking, consulting, consumer products, NGOs, and entrepreneurship. Songyue has interned as a strategy analyst in Dubai with Philip Morris International. Later as an investment banking analyst at Alpha Capital, a boutique financial advisory firm based in New York, she has advanced her skills in financial modeling through facilitating multiple M&A transactions between Chinese investors and American technology firms. As a treasury and trade summer analyst at Citibank in Hong Kong, she has also deepened her understanding in credit risk management. In 2017, Songyue studied in Ghana for a semester, during which she worked part-time at a local consulting firm. She has built a strong bonding with the continent ever since then. Songyue is passionate about community building. She has helped with grant writing for Media Response, a Ghanaian NGO, and has designed national school engagement projects with Special Olympics Summer World Games 2019 to expose secondary school students in the UAE to the spirit of Special Olympics. In daily life, Songyue enjoys dancing, rowing, and rock climbing.

Alumni Update:

Sarah is now working in the Sustainability Department of Olam International. Her work focuses on making a positive impact for people and communities in their food and agricultural supply chains across Africa. She is based in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire and is often on the road supporting their operations in various countries on the continent.

Fellow Bio:

Sarah graduated with a major in International Affairs, concentrating in International Development, and a minor in Sociocultural Anthropology. During her time at GW, Sarah served as President of Students Helping Honduras and was an active member of Delta Phi Epsilon, a Professional Foreign Service Sorority. She studied abroad in both Uganda and France, and spent time as an intern with Le Conseil de l’Europe, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State and with Population Services International, an international public health and social marketing NGO. While in Malawi next year, Sarah looks forward to rededicating herself to international service and learning more about humanitarian aid. She also is very excited to learn some Chichewa, explore the arts scene in Lilongwe and connect with the people and culture in The Warm Heart of Africa.

Regine recently graduated from Mount Holyoke College, majoring in Economics and minoring in Politics. To satisfy her deep interest in Africa, its politics, and its economic systems, she took a plethora of classes in African Studies, in economic development, and in international and nonprofit work. Her connection with the continent and her passion for it is deeply rooted in her social and academic experiences gained from living in an African city. She was born and raised in Accra, Ghana, and she speaks Twi and English fluently. In the past year, she has used her analytic and problem-solving skills by working in Ghana as an equity trading intern with Stanbic Bank. While in college, she also served as the Associate Entrepreneurship Coordinator at Mount Holyoke College and the Public Relations Coordinator for the Debate Society. Regine is excited about the opportunity to work with Imani Development in Malawi, to learn more about international development, and to explore Malawian culture.

Alumni Update:

After his fellowship, Michael moved to Boston to complete an MD and an MPP at Harvard. He is currently a resident in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, also in Boston.

Fellow Bio:

Mike Honigberg ’08 is a Woodrow Wilson School major and pre-medical student from McLean, VA. At Princeton, Mike was a varsity swimmer, a dancer with BodyHype Dance company, a tour guide and officer of Orange Key, and co-chair of the PIIRS Undergraduate Fellows. He studied abroad at the University of Cape Town in the spring of 2007, an experience which instilled a love of Africa in Mike. Mike has worked in chemistry and nanotechnology research, in pediatric trauma care in Washington, DC, and in pharmaceutical consulting in Boston. Working this year to prevent and treat pediatric HIV in Lilongwe, Malawi, Mike can’t wait to immerse himself in Malawian culture and explore as much of Africa as possible.

Laura majored in Economics and International Affairs with a certificate in Global Health. She spent the first 11 years of her life growing up in France, and spent some time last summer traveling to Cape Town, South Africa doing volunteer work. While at Madison, she was the president of the International Studies Major Association, and spent a semester in Washington D.C. interning at the Corporate Council on Africa, partaking in the 9^th biennial U.S.-Africa Business Summit and conducting research on women entrepreneurs in the East African Community. Laura also interned for World Wide Village, a Minnesota based nonprofit, and spent a few months interning for Envest Microfinance, through which she gained a broader understanding of foreign investment in the developing world. While in Malawi this year, Laura looks forward to exploring Malawian culture, traveling throughout the region and hopefully pick up some Chichewa!

Alumni Update:

Kate is now living in Washington, DC, working at the Council on Foreign Relations as Associate Director of Studies and missing Malawi’s sunsets.

Fellow Bio:

Kate studied International Relations and History, with a minor in French Literature, and studied abroad at Sciences Po in Paris. Since graduation, Kate has been working at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, DC. There, she has worked as a research associate for U.S. foreign policy, special assistant to the director of Studies, and most recently, assistant director of Studies. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, sailing, biking, swimming, as well as baking.

Katie is a 2012 graduate of the University of California, Berkeley with a major in Political Science and minor in Global Poverty and Practice. After graduation, she worked in Washington, D.C. with the Department of Justice focusing on foreign corruption cases. She is passionate about disaster response and protection of displaced populations, with experience as a Disaster Assistance Team responder with the American Red Cross and as an intern with the Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement and the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. Katie is excited to broaden her knowledge of work in the humanitarian assistance field as a PiAf Fellow with the UN World Food Programme in Malawi, and looks forward to exploring the local music scene in Lilongwe, diving in Lake Malawi, and meeting new friends in “the Warm Heart of Africa.”

Alumni Update:

Kaitlin is working at the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining as an Explosive Ordnance Risk Education Officer. Based in Geneva, she works at a global level (policy, coordination, capacity development) with periodic travel to mine-affected countries, especially in the Middle East.

Fellow Bio:

Kaitlin studied Government and African Studies, co-founded a student anti-genocide coalition and was awarded high honors for her thesis on the politics of classifying mass atrocities. In addition to her studies at Smith, Kaitlin participated in an experiential learning program on peace and conflict in East Africa and spent her junior year abroad in Geneva on Smith’s Advanced Program in International Relations and Development Studies. Kaitlin continued her education at the London School of Economics and Political Science, graduating in 2013 with a Master’s degree in comparative conflict studies. Her dissertation focused on explaining differences in patterns of conflict within two regions of the DRC. Having previously interned with Human Rights Watch and the International Centre for Migration, Health and Development, Kaitlin is excited to now learn about the unique challenges and rewards of working in the field. She is also looking forward to discovering Malawi’s countryside, learning to cook without perishable ingredients, and (hopefully) adopting an adorable furry friend.