Katy studied Political Science, Global Security, and African Studies and is originally from Eden Prairie, Minnesota. During her time as an undergraduate, Katy spent a semester at the University of Ghana where she interned for a women’s rights organization. At UW, she was the Chair of Amnesty International and the Regional Organizer for the Conflict-Free Campus Initiative. She conducted research for her senior thesis at the U.S. Africa Command. Katy is looking forward to exploring Nairobi, getting to know Kenyan hip hop, and attempting to learn Swahili!

Alumni Update:

Ela is currently the Communications Manager for Habitat for Humanity’s Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter, an international unit focused on housing market systems development in more than 40 countries.

Fellow Bio:

Ela, a native of Canada, graduated from Davidson College with an honors degree in History focusing on colonial Africa and the diaspora. While at Davidson, Ela studied abroad in Dakar, Senegal and completed independent research at the British Library as a Kemp Scholar and Kelley Scholar, which culminated in an 80-page honors thesis on the British East India Company’s dependence on African slavery. After graduating, Ela worked for Habitat for Humanity International in Washington DC, supporting their global programs in WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene), land tenure, gender, and urban development. As a fellow, she helped organize regional conferences on land tenure in South Africa and the Philippines and represented Habitat at the ninth World Urban Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Prior to working for Habitat, Ela served on the international Board of Directors of WE Charity, traveling as a speaker. She also shared the stage with Al Gore, on various occasions, addressing top media executives, including CEOs from Fox, Time Warner, and Universal McCann. Ela is also a proud alumni of Pearson College UWC in British Columbia, Canada.

Camille joins PiAf from Human Rights Watch, where she worked in women’s rights. Originally from Atlanta, Camille studied International Affairs at Georgia Tech. In Atlanta, Camille worked with the local refugee population through the International Rescue Committee. Upon graduating in December 2011, Camille took a post at Human Rights Watch’s press desk in New York and quickly became acquainted with the world of journalism. She looks forward to applying her combined communications, refugee services, and women’s rights background in her PiAf role. Camille is thrilled to join the International Rescue Committee in their work on Somalia. She will be based in Nairobi at IRC’s Somalia country office as a Program and Grants Fellow. She looks forward to taking Nairobi by storm: exploring the music scene, learning some Swahili, venturing out of the city to hike, and enjoying the year-round sunny weather.

Ben grew up in Durango, CO (Go Broncos!) and graduated from American University’s School of Public Affairs with an interdisciplinary degree in Communications, Law, Economics, and Government. During college, Ben interned at several private organizations and government agencies while also working at AU’s Student Veterans Office. During his junior year, Ben studied for eight months in Nairobi, Kenya, and interned with Sisi ni Amani, a local peacebuilding organization that used targeted text messages to monitor violence and encourage peace during the run up to Kenya’s 2013 election. Ben also served as an official election observer at Kenya’s election headquarters during the week of voting. After graduating, Ben worked for the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and for the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. He also served as the president of the Congressional African Staff Association, a bipartisan and bicameral group of congressional staffers who organize events on African issues and promote the continent on Capitol Hill. Ben is very excited to head back to Nairobi, where he hopes to add to the IRC’s incredible work, build on his Swahili, explore more of the continent with other Fellows, and experience another election.

Hailing from NYC, Alexandra has a B.A. Honors in International Relations from Stanford University, where she consolidated her regional specialization and quantitative/qualitative research training through an M.A. in African Studies with a concentration in political economy and security. While abroad, Alexandra studied conflict resolution and post-conflict development economics through programs at University of Oxford and Hebrew University. Outside of the classroom, Alexandra conducted research in West Africa for her B.A. Honors Thesis, Measuring government reform progress in post-conflict states: A comparative case study of Sierra Leone and Liberia. Alexandra has also pursued her interest in topics such as poverty eradication, gender-based violence, infectious diseases, food security, and political accountability across sub-Saharan Africa through work as a Stanford research assistant; RTI International research intern; USAID policy intern; Stanford in Government International Fellow at Ghana’s Center for Democratic Development; and Stanford Graduate Teaching Assistant for Global HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria. She looks forward to working for IRC, learning Swahili, horse riding, and exploring Kenya. Following the fellowship, she plans to work in social impact investing in the developing world, and eventually return to school to pursue an MBA/Ph.D.