Alumni Update:

Rebecca recently finished a Masters in International Development and Management at Lund University in Sweden, and is interested in working in the areas of women’s empowerment, youth leadership, and rural livelihoods.

Fellow Bio:

Becca is from Blairstown, New Jersey and graduated with a degree in Environmental Studies and a minor in Anthropology. While at Davidson, Becca worked for the Office of Sustainability to support new environmental initiatives on campus, and was also a summer Sustainability Scholar and Environmental Justice Intern. She recently studied in India, Senegal, Argentina, and Washington D.C., which allowed her to write a thesis on an urban political ecology of food insecurity. She is passionate about increasing food and environmental literacy among children and adults and hopes to share this while working with the Rwanda School Project. Becca also loves the outdoors and looks forward to running, hiking, and exploring throughout the year in Rwanda.

Alumni Update:

Oluseyi is currently finishing her first year of graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania where she studies Social Work and Global Public Health. This is a three year program that will result in an MSW/MPH with focuses on health communications and health communications for mental health.

Fellow Bio:

Originally from Lagos, Nigeria, Oluseyi graduated with a BA in Print Journalism and French. Oluseyi is passionate about the study of the African continent in addition to nutrition, global food systems/the policies that govern them, and the intersection of food and politics. During her year in Rwanda, Oluseyi hopes to explore the beauty of a country rich in history and nature, to learn everything she can about agriculture and nutrition from her host organisation: Gardens for Health International, and to sharpen her French language skills while gaining new ones in Kinyarwanda.

Megan graduated from American University’s School of International Service with a degree in International Studies, concentrating in peace and conflict resolution. Much of her undergraduate coursework and research centered on the nexus of gender and conflict, leading to her senior thesis on girl child soldiers and their reintegration processes. At American, Megan led an Alternative Break program to Rwanda for undergraduate and graduate students to study women and youth development in a post-conflict context. Megan furthered her passion for the region when she studied abroad in Nairobi, Kenya and interned at Peace Tree Network, a local peacebuilding organization. Throughout her undergraduate career, Megan interned with organizations in Washington, D.C., including ILive2Lead, United to End Genocide, and the U.S. Department of State. She also served as President of the School of International Service Undergraduate Council. After graduating, Megan worked at Chemonics International in the East and Southern Africa regional business unit. Born and raised in Mililani, Hawaii, Megan loves going to the beach, hiking, and playing basketball. She is excited to return to Rwanda and its thousand hills, learn Kinyarwanda, and support Resonate’s mission to unlock leadership potential in women and girls.

MK graduated from Ursinus College in 2015 with a degree in environmental studies and biology and minors in peace and social justice and applied ethics. At Ursinus, MK was a part of the Bonner Leader Program, through which she worked very closely with several community-focused environmental organizations. MK also had the opportunity to conduct ecology research in Costa Rica, volunteer in Jamaica, and study abroad in Cape Town, South Africa during her college career. Upon returning from Cape Town, MK interned with the Institute on Science and Global Policy (ISGP). While at ISGP, MK helped plan and facilitate an international conference at Cornell University titled Food Safety, Security, and Defense: Focus on Food and the Environment, which allowed her to connect her interests and gain experience in the field of international aid and agricultural development. After graduating, MK moved to Hong Kong where she worked as a Visiting Service-Learning Tutor at Lingnan University’s Office of Service-Learning. MK is beyond excited to continue working with students in an academic setting through her fellowship with The Rwanda School Project and to share her passion for agriculture and environmental sustainability.

A New York native, Maggie graduated from Temple University with a BA in Photojournalism. She is a founding member of Temple Refugee Outreach, connecting students with refugee families for tutoring in basic urban living and the English language. She has produced published work for audiences in South Africa, Italy, and the United States. As a rising junior, Maggie independently produced a short documentary on AIDS orphans living in Johannesburg, South Africa, with university funding. She continues to volunteer as an HIV awareness ambassador for the NGO Hope Cape Town. Maggie studied the politics of European migration in the context of the global refugee crisis during a semester abroad in Rome, going on to document West African migrant workers picking fruit for mafia-run produce companies in southern Italy. Stateside, Maggie has reported on issues ranging from incarceration, food access, and addiction, to transgender rights, police brutality, and gang violence. She worked as a photojournalist in New Orleans, New York, and Philadelphia, and will continue to explore the U.S. as a Denver Post intern this summer. Maggie is thrilled to explore Rwanda and work with Gardens for Health International, where she will produce photo, video, and written content as a communications Fellow!

Led by his interest in the power of media to influence culture, Malcolm majored in Culture and Communication with a minor in Latin American Studies at Ithaca College. While studying abroad in Quito, Ecuador, Malcolm volunteered with Chicos de la calle, a local non-profit organization that provides academic support to school-aged street vendors. This experience grew his interests in economic development and youth-capacity building. He later returned to Ecuador and traveled to Ghana as part of Ithaca College’s Martin Luther King Scholar Program to develop a comparative case study on regional disparities in economic development and social mobility. Back in Ithaca, NY, Malcolm served as an English tutor to Guatemalan migrant workers and interned with the Committee on U.S.- Latin American Relations (CUSLAR) at Cornell University. After graduating, Malcolm returned home to Phoenix, Arizona where he managed casework for constituents as an intern in the Office of U.S. Senator John McCain, before moving to Beauvais, France to teach English and U.S. Culture in a public high school. He enjoys swimming, playing the piano and dancing bachata, and is beyond excited for his new adventure in Rwanda with the UN World Food Programme. He looks forward to studying Kinyarwanda and learning more about development through food security.

Alumni Update:

Lorna is currently Programme Policy Officer with the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Kabul, Afghanistan. Her role supports WFP’s emergency response work, programme monitoring, resource mobilization, and inter-agency engagement. She is very keen to connect with alumni working on any aspect of forced migration and displacement and would like to shift her career focus in this direction.

Fellow Bio:

Lorna is from London, United Kingdom, and graduated with a major in Political Science and a minor in African Studies. While at UNC Chapel Hill, Lorna spent a semester at the University of Cape Town and interned at the Gender, Health and Justice Research Unit, where she worked on a project aiming to improve gender-based violence awareness and prevention programming in high schools. Lorna has conducted research for an NGO in Tanzania and worked as an intern with the Africa division of an investment management group in Washington, DC. While in Kigali, Lorna is excited to learn some Kinyarwanda and looks forward to learning more about food security through her work with the UN World Food Programme.

Alumni Update:

Kelly received her MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business in 2018, where she focused on social impact and emerging markets. She now works in management consulting at Deloitte in San Francisco.

Fellow Bio:

Kelly is a Culture and Politics Major and African Studies minor who grew up all over the world in the United States, the UK and Russia. At Georgetown University, she engaged in various activities including serving as Secretary of the African Society of Georgetown and student tutor at the African Immigrant Refugee Foundation. Kelly studied abroad at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and spent summers interning in Ghana and Kenya, fulfilling her love for traveling and meeting new people. While in Rwanda next year, Kelly looks forward to making new friends, using her Kiswahili while picking up French and Kinyarwanda, dancing up a storm and going on some exciting trips around the region including finally climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro.