Yasmin Dagne is from Silver Spring, MD, and is a recent graduate of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. She received certificates in Arabic Language and Culture and African Studies, and studied at the University of Cape Town. On campus, she was a member of the International Relations Council and of diSiac Dance Company. She was a 2013-2014 Fellow at the Program on Religion, Diplomacy, and International Relations at the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination. She has interned for the U.S. House Subcommittee on Africa and for the National Democratic Institute. She is excited to work for WFP in Dakar and to live in the country whose world-renowned musicians created the soundtrack to her childhood.

Violette is a French native who just graduated from Johns Hopkins University, with a dual degree in International Studies and Public Health Studies. Her interest in international development was sparked after an internship at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Paris, where she worked in the Health and Human Development sector, mostly focusing on health issues regarding women in developing countries. The following year, she was chosen to represent France at the G(irls)20 Summit, which picks one young woman from each G20 country to meet and discuss changes in women’s status around the world. Her passion for African culture and public health related issues regarding women in Africa broadened after a semester abroad in Cape Town, South Africa, which led her to return to Africa the following year, in Ethiopia, as an intern for the AMREF. She is looking forward to discovering a new part of Africa and a new area of development work, as a fellow at the UN World Food Program in Dakar, Senegal.

Alumni Update:

Toni is in Toronto, Canada, where she is from, living close to her aging parents and family and friend. She still longs to work abroad again. She is working in human rights in Canada (what Americans call ‘civil rights’) and she is the Director of Human Rights at a major university. She works on issues of discrimination and harassment as well as sexual violence. She is a human rights lawyer. She is also completing her PhD (hopefully this year!) at the University of Toronto and she is looking at interviewing and when we say “Toni is a perfect fit for PiAf!”, what we mean by fit. She is asking “who fits?” and “who doesn’t?”

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.

Fellow Bio:

Stephanie Keene ’08 is an English major and African American studies certificate student from Coral Springs, FL. At Princeton, Stephanie was a member of the JV tennis team, a Mathey RCA, and a Sustained Dialogue Moderator. As an English major, Stephanie’s independent work compared African American literature to Francophone-African literature, and she is very excited to explore West African culture as a fellow in Dakar, Senegal next year.

Alumni Update:

Ryan currently works as a Program Officer with FHI 360.

Fellow Bio:

Ryan is from Holland, Pennsylvania and graduated with a degree in Anthropology. Interested in the intersections between public health, culture and food, Ryan conducted senior thesis research on neighborhood food access in Baltimore city and worked for a year as a research assistant at the Center for a Livable Future. At Hopkins, he participated in the Baltimore Collegetown Leadershape Program and organized food justice volunteer initiatives through the Center for Social Concern. Abroad, Ryan interned for a summer with the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health and Population Services International in Kigali, Rwanda, spent a semester studying abroad across Kenya, and pursued an independent study of the street food industry in Kisumu, Kenya. Ryan looks forward to picking up some Wolof, traveling through West Africa and exploring Senegalese culture this upcoming year.

Nicole graduated magna cum laude from Duke University with a double major in Public Policy and Global Health and a minor in French Language. Prior to joining PSI, Nicole worked at the United Nations Foundation in Washington, DC, where she developed policy and advocacy tactics to advance the mission of UN health agencies. While at UNF, Nicole spent six months on detail to the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, supporting WHO’s resource mobilization and partner engagement efforts. She has previously held positions at Global Health Strategies in New York and at the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global Health Diplomacy. Nicole’s passion for global health was sparked by a trip to Haiti, where she learned Creole and conducted research on mental health following the 2010 earthquake. A native of Los Angeles, California, Nicole enjoys going to the beach, hiking, listening to live music, and supporting LA and Duke sports teams. She is thrilled to be joining PSI’s West and Central Africa team and looks forward to improving her French, exploring the region and culture, and learning about the intersection of technology, data, and health care delivery in Senegal.

Alumni Update:

Two years ago, Molly moved to central Maine with her husband, and has since started a new role as Chief Operating Officer for Maine’s Medicaid program.

Fellow Bio:

Molly ’10, from West Chester, PA, concentrated in the Wilson School at Princeton University with a certificate in Environmental Studies. At Princeton, she was president of the Triangle Club, the director of Manicure for the Cure, the vice president of Oxfam Princeton, and an active member of Greening Princeton and Tower Club. She spent her summer studying abroad in France, working at the Pennsylvania Governors School for International Studies, and working at the Millennium Challenge Cooperation. While in Dakar next year, Molly looks forward to improving her French, learning Wolof, and maybe seeing an elephant or two.

Born in Washington DC to Nigerian and Cameroonian parents, Loriade has lived and/or worked in twelve countries on three continents, loves traveling, and speaks French fluently. At Wellesley College, she was a Davis United World College Scholar and Albright Fellow who shadowed physicians at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana and joined the inaugural cohort of the CDC Undergraduate Public Health Scholar Program. She graduated in 2014 with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and French Cultural Studies then enrolled in the Health Systems program at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Public Health. After contributing to the final evaluation of the AIM-Health program in Tanzania for her mandatory practicum in early 2016, Loriade interviewed government officials and development partners for health in Kenya and Liberia for the WHO’s review of the Harmonization for Health in Africa initiative last summer. She is currently working for the WHO’s Regional Office for Africa as a Temporary Advisor. Ecstatic about this opportunity to gain more experience in Africa, Loriade looks forward to developing her technical and leadership skills as a member of PSI’s West and Central Africa team, discovering Senegal and learning Wollof during her PiAf fellowship.