Princeton in Africa Staff and Board

Damilola-Elizabeth Akinyele

Dami is an International Training, Development, and Education Professional driven by quality education, social impact, inclusive and equitable institutions and programs. She has spent her career cultivating strong leaders, strengthening institutions, and developing high-impact programs in Africa, the United States of America, the Middle East, and Asia. Her professional experience spans over ten years, and her donor experiences include the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Embassies, state and local governments in Nigeria, West Africa.

Before joining PiAf, she oversaw the operations, organizational strategy, vision, and leadership for 38 faith-based non-profits in the U.S., the U.K., and Africa with a $2M monthly operational budget at LoveWorld Inc USA. Previously, Dami was an Innovations & Development Program Officer at World Learning, where she managed a $1.8 Million program grant from the U.S. Department of State and implemented a portfolio of professional exchanges for U.S. Special Envoys in 160+ countries. In a previous role as a Programs Associate at World Learning, Dami designed and implemented education and leadership programs for Iraqi Young Leaders on peacebuilding and reconciliation, youth activism, and civic engagement and managed continued professional development for a network of 2,000+ alumni. Dami was a co-chair and founding member of World Learning’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Taskforce, which managed the vision, strategy, and execution of the organization’s DEI efforts.

As a co-founder at ETRAssociatesNG, a training, education, and development consultancy firm, Dami consults with the Ministry of Education Lagos State, Nigeria. She also developed and implemented multiple youth leadership and teacher training workshops and manuals for 500+ participants across 18 local governments for the Ministry of Education Ondo State, Nigeria. 

Dami has worked at DLA Piper, Baltimore as a Project Associate where she managed administration and operations for global lawyers. As a Graduate Intern at IREX D.C., she developed context-specific, research-based toolkits on gender and technology for participants from 13 countries and co-facilitated workshops for U.S. Department of State Programs. At Morgan State University, she worked as a Research Assistant on a published research and Teaching Assistant for three undergraduate courses. Damilola was born in Lagos Nigeria. She received her B.A. in Sociology from Morgan State University and her M.A. in International Training and Education with a concentration in development and exchange at American University, Washington, DC.

Dami enjoys visiting her family on the African continent, theater, canoeing, reading, and discussing African history and institutions. Talk to Dami about the continent!

Email her at dakinyele@princetoninafrica.org

Stephanie Hooper Leroy

Stephanie Leroy started working with Princeton in Africa in 2010, first as program manager and later as program director. (When she started at PiAf there were only 26 Fellows and 2 staff!) In 2018, Stephanie relocated to Wilmington, NC to be closer to family.

She received a BA in English and a BA in French from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. She later went on to receive a certificate in Web Design and Animation from the Art Institute in Charlotte, NC as well as an MA in International Education from the School for International Training in Brattleboro, VT. She learned Spanish in Barcelona, Spain where she earned a certificate to teach English as a Foreign Language and where she taught English as a Foreign Language (EFL) for 2 years. She also taught EFL in Kofu, Japan for 1 school year. Stephanie was a group leader for Visions Service Adventures in Peru and Costa Rica, where she led U.S. high school students on trips involving service projects and cultural and language immersion. She also worked with ProWorld in their Urubamba, Peru site as a volunteer coordinator for U.S. college students. She helped found a new site for ProWorld in Mysore, India before moving to Princeton.

Stephanie has 2 children, a wire fox terrier and a husband who worked for 10 years with Princeton’s Bridge Year Program and now teaches and advises at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

In her free time, Stephanie enjoys hiking, scuba diving, reading and just hanging out with her family.

Email her at sleroy@princetoninafrica.org

Emma Claire Jones

Emma Claire’s interest in African affairs began in 2013, when she moved to Dakar, Senegal for a 9-month fellowship as part of Princeton University’s Novogratz Bridge Year Program. Living in Dakar sparked an interest in international education and postcolonial history, which she continued to develop through language immersion and research in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, and the UK during her undergraduate studies. After graduating with a BA in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton in 2018, she completed a Princeton in Asia fellowship to teach ESL at the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. She worked in Bishkek for two years, mentoring Kyrgyz, Tajik, and Afghan high school graduates as they applied to international universities alongside her ESL classes. In summer 2020 she returned to the Princeton area, where she completed Princeton’s Program in Teacher Preparation and taught history (including an African history course!) at Princeton High School until summer 2023.

Emma Claire is thrilled to be working with education and development initiatives on the African continent again as Princeton in Africa’s Program Manager. She is passionate about increasing access to international fellowship opportunities and looks forward to working with the Princeton in Africa team to extend PiAf’s reach and support fellows through their PiAf year and beyond.

Outside of work, Emma Claire is an avid knitter who loves to cook/eat her way through new recipes and cuisines. She also enjoys all things history-related, from museums to historical fiction and documentaries.

Ngan Chiem

Ngan Chiem (“Non Chim” or “Ngân Chiêm”) was born in Sóc Trăng, VN and grew up in the suburbs of South Jersey. Her interest in the African continent first began with the writings of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and was further nurtured during her time at Princeton University, where she received a BA in Politics. Influenced by postcolonial feminist works such as Adichie, Min Jin Lee, and Arundhati Roy, she completed a historical fiction manuscript set in 1980s post-war Vietnam as her thesis for the Creative Writing Department. In addition, she was a research assistant for Princeton Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and co-authored a paper on the sociotechnical infrastructure of an indie food delivery service. In the past, Ngan has worked as a creative content intern at the National Geographic Society and a head fellow at the Emma Bloomberg Center for Access and Opportunity. She is excited to work with PiAf fellows as they partner with host organizations to build equitable and effective systems on the African continent! 

In her free time, Ngan loves to bike, bake, and watch new releases on Discount Tuesday at her local theater! 

James F. Robinson

Jim has been involved in Finance throughout the past 30 years. Previously, Jim served as a Director at Barclays Capital in New York City and worked with Cantor Fitzgerald. Jim has served as Class President for the Class of ’72 (2002-2007) at Princeton University, has chaired or co-chaired reunions and has been very active in annual giving. He has also served on other boards and has insight into non-profit boards, governance and fiduciary responsibilities. Jim’s passion for Africa comes from his daughter’s and God-daughters fellowships through PiAf. As a result of his commitment and belief in overseas service-related opportunities, Jim has successfully turned PiAf into the Class of ‘72’s International Community Service Initiative.

E. Robert Meaney

Bob Meaney is the former Chairman International at Valmont Industries, Inc. of Omaha, Nebraska. He joined Valmont in 1994 and for 18 years led the company’s international operations and global development. Prior to joining Valmont, Meaney was with Continental Can Company for 20 years and held positions in international operations including General Manager Asia-Pacific and President Continental Can France. Meaney currently serves on the boards of Infinity Property and Casualty Corporation and WaterAid America. He also serves as Distinguished Fellow at the Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Institute at the University of Nebraska and was a 2012 Advanced Leadership Fellow at Harvard University. He served as a member of Princeton in Africa’s Advisory Board from April 2014 to December 2015. Meaney earned a BA in History (cum laude) from Princeton University and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. From 1969 to 1972 he served as an engineering officer in the U.S Navy.

Bryant R. Blount

Dean Bryant Blount has served in Princeton University’s Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students (ODUS) since 2013, working to support the undergraduate disciplinary system, and serving as assistant secretary to the Committee on Discipline. He also serves as the office’s liaison to the Housing, Dining and Facilities departments, coordinating and accommodating special housing and dining needs of undergraduates. In collaboration with the Housing Office, he selects, trains and supervises student staff that serve as dormitory supervisors. Dean Blount is also the liaison to the Prospect Street Eating Clubs and works closely with the undergraduate club officers and with the leadership of the graduate boards. In addition, Dean Blount leads strategic efforts to effectively market, communicate, and document ODUS programs, awards, and opportunities.  He also serves on a variety of ad hoc committees and supports other ODUS projects and initiatives.

Dean Blount graduated from Princeton in 2008, earning an A.B in History. He followed this with a MSc in sociology from the London School of Economics. Dean Blount has remained connected to the Princeton community, where he was a member of the varsity track and field program, a residential college adviser in Forbes College, and a WPRB sports broadcaster. He now volunteers as a Forbes fellow, and is an academic-athletic fellow to the varsity men’s and women’s basketball, men’s track, and football teams.

Helen Ackley

Helen is a retired Adult Nurse Practitioner. She was the former Coordinator of Travel and Immunization Services at Princeton University with over 30 years of experience. She has a MSN and BSN from the University of Pennsylvania and is certified in Travel Health by The International Society of Travel Medicine.  Ms. Ackley has been assisting Princeton in Africa and our Fellows for many years by providing informative and engaging health presentations at the orientation meetings for new Fellows. Helen is also on the Health and Safety Committee and actively monitors and advises on organizational policy. Lastly, she reads applications and interviews Fellowship candidates.

Katherine Anderson

Katherine is the Director of Operations for the Segal Family Foundation, where she provides the systems and support to make sure their community thrives, and the team can smoothly execute their vision. After receiving her B.A. from Princeton University in 2008 she spent two years as Princeton in Africa Fellow – first with the Tanganyika Christian Refugee Service in western Tanzania and later with the International Rescue Committee in South Sudan. She then stayed with the IRC in South Sudan for several years, managing a program that trained & equipped local women to diagnose & treat children in their villages for malaria, diarrhea, and pneumonia. Katherine was awarded a MA in Conflict, Security & Development from King’s College London in 2013 and now lives & works in northern New Jersey.

Amaka Anku

As head of the Eurasia Group’s Africa practice, Amaka helps clients understand the interaction of politics, policy, and markets across sub-Saharan Africa. She is a member of the firm’s Global Macro practice, where she focuses on comparative global politics. Amaka is an adjunct professor at Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, and she teaches a graduate course on political risk analysis. She is also a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations. Amaka often appears on major TV networks and is frequently quoted in the world’s leading newspapers. Prior to Eurasia Group, Amaka worked with various organizations across sub-Saharan Africa. She also practiced law in the international arbitration and litigation group of global law firm Shearman & Sterling, LLP, where she represented multinational corporations in multimillion-dollar, cross-border disputes. She grew up in Enugu, Nigeria, and speaks Igbo and French. Amaka holds a bachelor’s degree from the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and a doctor of law degree from Harvard Law School.

Gilbert Collins

Gilbert Collins has served as Director of Global Health Programs and Associate Director of the Center of Health and Wellbeing at Princeton University since late 2016. Prior to that, he was the Director of Graduate Student Life at the Woodrow Wilson School for three years.  Before coming to Princeton, Gilbert worked for eight years in southern Africa, directing HIV/AIDS interventions and other development activities as the U.S. Peace Corps Country Director in Namibia and Associate Director in Botswana.  Earlier, he served as the Evaluation and Planning Team Leader for the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance at the U.S. Agency for International Development, providing strategic guidance for relief and development activities in health, water/sanitation, nutrition, psychosocial support, shelter, and other sectors for seven years.  Gilbert is an MPA graduate of the Woodrow Wilson School, with a concentration in development studies.  He earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, and has also studied in Berlin and Beijing.

Professor Jacob Dlamini

Jacob is a South African journalist, historian, and author. He is currently an assistant professor of history at Princeton University, specializing in African history. Jacob Dlamini is a historian of Africa, with an interest in precolonial, colonial and postcolonial African History. He obtained a Ph.D. from Yale University in 2012 and is also a graduate of Wits University in South Africa and Sussex University in England. Jacob held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Barcelona, Spain, from November 2011 to April 2015, and was a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University from August 2014 to May 2015.

Steven Feldstein

Steven Feldstein is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in the democracy, conflict, and governance program where he focuses on issues of technology and democracy, human rights, and U.S. foreign policy. Previously, he was the holder of the Frank and Bethine Church Chair of Public Affairs and an associate professor at Boise State University. He served as a deputy assistant secretary for democracy, human rights, and labor in the U.S. Department of State as an appointee under President Obama. In that role, he had responsibility for Africa policy, international labor affairs, and international religious freedom. Prior to that position, he served for three years as the director of policy at the U.S. Agency for International Development. He previously worked as counsel on the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations under Chairmen Joseph Biden and John Kerry. Feldstein’s articles and essays have been published widely and he is the author of The Rise of Digital Repression: How Technology is Reshaping Power, Politics, and Resistance (Oxford University Press, 2021). He served as a PiAf Fellow in Rwanda for the International Rescue Committee from 2000-01. He is a graduate of Princeton University and Berkeley Law and lives in Washington DC with his wife, Elizabeth Gutting, and two children.

Brian Fix

Brian D. Fix is an international lawyer, now based in New York after spending much of his career overseas as a partner of two international law firms — Salans (a Paris-based firm now combined with Dentons) and Surrey & Morse, which merged into Jones Day.   He has principally represented foreign governments, multinational companies and international financial institutions in structuring and negotiating joint ventures, acquisitions, project finance, public-private partnerships (PPPs), and foreign direct investment both in emerging markets (particularly Africa and Eastern Europe) and in France.

A graduate of Columbia College and Columbia Law School and qualified to practice law both in New York and in France, he began his career in in Washington D.C. and practiced successively in Paris, the Middle East, New York, London, and again Paris.  He opened and initially managed Salans offices in Warsaw, Poland and Kyiv, Ukraine, in the early 1990s and handled the first six Ukrainian project financings for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.  Once those offices matured, and after several years as a French transactional lawyer, he has again concentrated on the African continent, where he had spent much of his early career, particularly in Senegal, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, and Kenya, advising clients on industrial, agro-business and tourism projects.  In the 1980s, he served as part of a UN mission examining the 50 largest government-owned companies in Kenya.  For the past three years, he served as the “PPP Hotline” for the Government of Senegal and for the three prior years, as legal advisor to the Office of the President of Sierra Leone, reviewing and renegotiating mining contracts.

Mr. Fix remains an adjunct professor at Sciences Po in Paris, teaching a masters’ seminar on the negotiation of international development projects in Africa. He works in both English and in French. 

Holly Sanderson Garrett

Holly is the Director of Operations for 17 Asset Management where she oversees the coordination, communication and direction of all initiatives. She is the former Foundations and International Development Director for the Good Capital Project where she coordinated partnerships, investor relations and outreach. Holly joined the Princeton in Africa Foundation Board in 2003 and became the first full-time Executive Director in 2004.  Since then, she has been an active Princeton in Africa’s board member serving on the development and program committees.  Holly has extensive non-profit experience in development work including capital campaigns and strategic planning. Through her consulting business, she worked with several African non-profits on scaling their efforts in Africa. In addition to Princeton in Africa, her current and previous board affiliations include the Ivy Club 1879 Foundation (President), Planned Parenthood in New Jersey (Vice Chair), the World Food Program Committee of Princeton (Chair), The Crisis Ministry of Trenton and The Princeton Junior School.  Holly currently lives in New York City with her husband, Rob Garrett ’90 and their children.

Rebecca Graves-Bayazitoglu

Dean Graves-Bayazitoglu joined the Office of International Programs in July 2019. As Senior Associate Dean, she oversees the creation, implementation and assessment of international learning opportunities for undergraduates. She is responsible for the Office of International Programs, including the Novogratz Bridge Year Program, Study Abroad, the International Internship Program, and Fellowship Advising.

Upon completing her doctorate in French at Princeton, Rebecca taught at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and Haverford College, returning to Princeton to work in the residential colleges. She served as director of studies at Rockefeller College, and then as founding dean of Whitman College for almost a decade; in both roles, she advised students on all aspects of their Princeton education. In 2016, Rebecca moved to the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning as its director, working closely with the McGraw Center staff to support inclusive and innovative teaching, and all forms of effective student learning, including through the use of academic technology. During her time at Princeton, Rebecca Graves-Bayazitoglu has served on numerous University committees, including the Steering Committee for Women’s Leadership, the Residential College Task Force, and the President’s Ad Hoc Committee on the Classroom Learning Environment.

David Huntington

David Huntington is a partner in the Corporate Department of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in New York. Prior to joining Paul, Weiss, David served as counsel to Chairman William H. Donaldson and Chairman Christopher Cox of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. Prior to that, he served as senior counselor to the general counsel of the SEC. He has also served as an attorney-advisor in the general counsel’s office of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. David is also on the board of directors of the Regional Plan Association and is currently serving as president of Power Ten New York and chairman of the board of directors of Row New York. He is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School.

Daniela Kaisth

Daniela is the founder of Gratias Partners, a philanthropy consulting firm that focuses on helping new foundations and philanthropists to give more effectively, including through collaboration with other donors. Previously, Ms. Kaisth was Vice President for External Affairs and IIE Initiatives at the Institute of International Education (IIE). With more than 20 years experience in international non-profit management, she oversees development, communications, new initiatives and emergency assistance to students and scholars. Ms. Kaisth is responsible for leading IIE programs that address critical higher education needs in crisis, post-conflict, and transition countries, such as IIE’s Scholar Rescue Fund and Emergency Student Fund. She also coordinates the development of new programs that respond to urgent needs in international education and advance IIE’s reputation and brand. Prior to her current position, Ms. Kaisth served as Vice President of Strategic Development, Director of Development and Corporate Partnerships and Manager of Foundation Relations at the Institute. She has also worked as a development consultant, writer, and editor at various non-profit organizations in New York and Ottawa, Canada. Ms. Kaisth received a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs and a Diploma in International Studies from Johns Hopkins’ Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). She received a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa. Along with Scholar Rescue Fund chairman Dr. Henry Jarecki, Ms. Kaisth co-authored Scholar Rescue in the Modern World in 2009.

Nancy Kanach

Prior to her retirement in 2017, Nancy Kanach was the Director of the Office of International Programs and Senior Associate Dean of the College. Nancy oversaw the Study Abroad Program, the International Internship Program, post-graduate fellowship advising, as well as the Bridge Year Program.  As the director of the Office of International Programs, she was responsible for developing, promoting, and coordinating international academic activities for Princeton undergraduates that complement their on-campus studies. As Senior Associate Dean of the College, Nancy monitored the academic integrity of study abroad programs, approved transfer credit for outside programs, and worked closely with faculty to maintain and develop Princeton programs. She served on the Academic Consortium Board for the Council on International Educational Exchange and is currently the review editor of Frontiers: the Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad. Her career at Princeton spans over 30 years. She has a Ph.D. in Russian literature from Cornell University and has taught in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at Princeton.

Grace Penn

Grace Penn is the Associate Director for International Affairs and Operations, reporting to the Associate Provost for International Affairs. She is responsible for supporting Princeton’s oversight of Mpala and advancing the international scope of Princeton’s teaching, research, and service mission. From December 2015 to February 2022 Grace served as the Associate Director for Affinity Groups in Princeton’s Office of Advancement. In this role she helped to lead University strategy for affinity programming. Grace supported volunteer leaders for the Asian American, Black, Latino and LGBTQ+ alumni groups, working with their boards to strengthen organizational capacity and increase alumni engagement. She also managed the planning process for several large scale on-campus affinity conferences to celebrate these groups of alumni. In addition, Grace supported the Princeton Prize in Race Relations, a national prize for high school students doing work in their schools or communities to advance racial equity. Prior to coming to Princeton, Grace worked in K-8 education as a teacher, teacher coach and reading specialist in public schools in the Bronx, NY and West Windsor, New Jersey. Grace has deep knowledge and experience managing a variety of stakeholders, building board capacity, project management and diversity equity and inclusion work. Born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya,  Grace is an alumna of Princeton University with a BA in Politics and a certificate in African Studies, and also holds an MA in international education from Columbia University.

Ettie Philitas

Ettie Philitas is an Executive Director with J.P. Morgan Asset Management, where he serves as Head of Infrastructure Debt.  He is also a member of the Infrastructure Debt Group’s Investment Committee and a Portfolio Manager.  He was previously an Investment Director with Africa50’s Project Finance team where he originated and managed infrastructure investments across Africa.  Prior to his role at Africa50, Ettie was an Associate with the Private Credit team at KKR, where he focused on direct lending, opportunistic credit, special situations, and equity investments.  He has also worked with the Private Debt team at Muzinich & Co. and with the Leveraged Finance Origination & Restructuring group at Credit Suisse, where he advised clients on over $19bn of high-yield and leveraged loan financings and provided dedicated coverage to issuers in the Power & Utilities space.  Ettie began his career as an Analyst with Deutsche Bank’s Private Wealth Management group in New York.  Ettie holds a B.A from Princeton University and an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Ettie is passionate about entrepreneurship and social impact. He is a proud Princeton in Africa Alumni Fellow, having worked with African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa from 2009-10.  He also serves on the Associates Council of Prep for Prep and on the Board of Student Diplomacy Corps.

Aly Kassam-Remtulla

Aly Kassam−Remtulla is Associate Provost for International Affairs and Operations, reporting to the Provost.  As the University’s senior international affairs officer, he leads the development and administration of partnerships, policies, and programs that advance the international scope of Princeton’s teaching, research, and service mission and enhance the University’s global connections.  As part of his portfolio, he manages the Mpala Research Centre, Princeton China Center, Davis International Center, and the Global Safety and Security unit.  As a leader with a profound commitment to the liberal arts, Aly has deep experience in strategic planning, faculty engagement, fiscal stewardship, personnel and operations management, and fundraising.

Previously, Aly held appointments at Princeton in the offices of the executive vice president, vice president for campus life, dean of the Graduate School, vice provost for institutional equity and diversity, and vice provost for academic and budget planning.  Beyond his administrative responsibilities, Aly is a faculty advisor for first-year and sophomore students in Wilson College, a lecturer in the Department of Anthropology where he teaches an undergraduate seminar, and a mentor for doctoral students.

Prior to coming to Princeton in 2010, Aly was a program officer at the MacArthur Foundation where he managed the creation of two new portfolios and awarded more than $60 million in grants.  He chairs the board of trustees of the Mpala Research Centre and serves on the boards of Princeton in Beijing and Princeton in Africa.  Aly was born in Kenya, raised in Canada, and attended the United World College-USA and Stanford University where he graduated with honors and with distinction.  He received an MSc, MBA, and PhD from Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar.

Professor Emmanuel Kreike

Emmanuel Kreike is a Professor of History and the head of the African Studies Department at Princeton University. He received a Ph.D. in history from Yale University (1996) and a second doctorate in environmental sciences from Wageningen Agricultural University in the Netherlands (2006). Emmanuel’s research and teaching interests focus on the intersection of war/violence/population movements, environment, and society. He is particularly interested in how violence and war and ensuing forced migration led to the destruction of human landscapes and how people rebuild lives and livelihoods in often, alien environments. He has done extensive research across southern Africa, particularly in Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, and South Africa and has worked for and with a number of organizations in Africa, including UNDP, UNHCR, USAID, SIDA as well as various NGOs

Donna Maywar

Donna Maywar has worked for Princeton University since 2014, having worked in the field of Human Resources Compliance for over 14 years. Prior to Princeton, Donna worked in Pharma in various compliance capacities. She is a Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) senior certified professional (SCP).

Donna has served on a couple of boards over the course of her career, having connections to local community-based organizations as well as the field of regulatory compliance management. In addition to serving as a local YWCA board member, she is currently a member of the New Jersey Industry Liaison Group. Donna holds a BS in Business Administration and resides in Trenton, New Jersey where she owns a community used and rare bookshop with her husband. She is the proud mother of a high school freshman and a college freshman.

Professor Mahiri Mwita

Mwita is a lecturer of Swahili and African studies at the Princeton Institute of International and Regional Studies (PIIRS) at Princeton University. He is also the Director, Princeton in Kenya – a summer study abroad program that offers Elementary Swahili Instruction and the Global Seminar on: Kenya – The Evolution of the Capital of Western Capitalism in Eastern Africa. Mahiri’s teaching and research interests focuses on contemporary relations and interactions between Africa and Western (European and American) imaginaries through the lenses of post-colonial theories. He is interested in how historical events such as colonization, the cold war conflicts, 9/11 and the politics of “global war on terror” has been and continue to define how the West (and now the East led by China) sees, defines, and relates with Africa. This determines not only the political, economic, and cultural interactions between African states and the rest of the world, but also why and how Kiswahili and African languages have become an important part of the “critical” international education in the American/Western academy and political policy. Before joining Princeton, Mwalimu Mahiri grew up and went to school in Kenya and Tanzania and taught at Moi University and Egerton University in Kenya, and more recently at St. Lawrence University in New York. His teaching philosophy challenges students to confront the Euro-centric knowledge bases that molded the West’s trajectories towards Africa, relearn, and seek new paradigms of re-engaging with Africa and its role, relation, and interactions with the rest of the world.

Professor Chika Okeke-Agulu

Chika Okeke-Agulu specializes in classical, modern, and contemporary African and African Diaspora art history and theory. He previously taught at The Pennsylvania State University, Emory University, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and Yaba College of Technology, Lagos. Professor Okeke-Agulu was the Robert Sterling Clark Visiting Professor of Art History at Williams College (2007), and Clark Fellow at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute (2008). He is also on the faculty of the Center for African American Studies, Princeton University. In 2006, he edited the first ever issue of African Arts dedicated to African modernism, and has published articles and reviews in African Arts, Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism, Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art, Art South Africa and Glendora Review. He has written catalogue essays and organized several exhibitions, including the Nigerian Pavilion at the First Johannesburg Biennale, 1995; Seven Stories About Modern Art in Africa (Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, 1995); and The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa, 1945-1994 (Museum Villa Stuck, Munich, 2001). In 2002 he served as Academic Consultant for Documenta 11 as well as coordinator of its Platform 4 conference in Lagos, Nigeria. In 2004, he co-organized and wrote catalogue essays for the Fifth Gwangju Biennale, South Korea, and Strange Planet, Georgia State University Art Gallery. Professor Okeke-Agulu, also a practicing artist with over 35 exhibitions of his work, is co-editor of Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art, published by Cornell University. Professor Okeke-Agulu is a recipient of the Arts Council of the African Studies Association Outstanding Dissertation triennial award (2007).

Professor Daniel Rubenstein

Dan Rubenstein is the Class of 1977. Professor of Zoology, Director of Princeton’s Program in Environmental Studies, former chair of Princeton’s Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology as well as the former Director of the Program in African Studies at Princeton University. He has received numerous research grants, been elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Animal Behavior Society and has received the University’s President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching. Dan conducts long-term research projects at the Mpala Research Center in Kenya on zebras and human-wildlife conflict, especially how new land sharing and planned grazing strategies can improve livelihoods while sustaining biodiversity.  At Mpala he also coordinates Princeton’s field semester in Kenya and mentors summer thesis students and interns

Paul Sullivan

Paul Sullivan is the President of International Business for Acrow Bridge, a world leader in the development and implementation of bridge infrastructure projects in frontier and emerging markets. Sullivan has enjoyed a long career working in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, focusing for more than a decade on bridge infrastructure projects, including those requiring complex structured finance. Sullivan currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) in Washington D.C., as well as on the Board of Princeton in Africa (PiAF).  Mr. Sullivan is also the Vice Chair of the United States Trade Representative’s Trade Advisory Committee on Africa (TACA), and a Member of the Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committee for the Export-Import Bank of the United States (SAAC).  Before joining Acrow, Sullivan practiced as a corporate attorney in the United States and Latin America, and served as a judicial clerk for the appellate court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and for Honorable Justice Hugh O’Flaherty of the Supreme Court of Ireland. He earned his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Duquesne University in the State of Pennsylvania and his Master’s of Legal Letters (LL.M.) from King’s College London. Sullivan is based in New York City.

Robert Wolk

Rob manages a family office, where he focuses on global public and private market investments. Previously he was a Partner and Managing Director at the Carlyle Group in Hong Kong, in charge of Carlyle’s telecom, media and technology investments across Asia, and as an Executive Director in the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs in London and Hong Kong. Rob serves as Board Chair at the Catalytic Impact Foundation (CIF), an impact investing group focused on investing in innovative startups that address unmet healthcare needs.  He is also the founder and Co-Chair of Princeton Alumni Angels, one of the largest and most active alumni investing groups. Rob currently serves as President of the Princeton Association of New York City (PANYC), a member of the national Princeton Schools Committee (PSC), Co-Chair of the Bronx (NYC) Alumni Schools Committee, and Vice Chair of the NYC Princeton Prize on Race Relations (PPRR).  He is a member of the Committee on Awards for Service to Princeton and serves on the Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS) Alumni Board.  Rob previously served on Princeton’s Alumni Council Executive Committee, where he chaired the Committee on Regional Associations (CORA). Rob is the USA Board Chair of Amref Health Africa, the largest healthcare NGO in Africa.  He is a member of the Board of Directors of Volunteers of America – Greater NY and previously served as a member of the Board of Trustees at the Trinity School in New York and a member of the Board of Directors at educational nonprofit Breakthrough NY.  Rob received an A.B. in Political Science from Princeton and an M.Phil. in International Relations from Cambridge University.  He and his wife, Kyung‐Ah, have two daughters, Kaylie and Keira.

George Hritz

George is a lawyer with Bartels & Feureisen, LLP in New York. In addition to more than 45 years of private and public law practice in New York and Washington, D.C., George has held several positions in government, including law clerk to a U.S. District Court judge in New York, counsel to a Special Inquiry of the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee, and as Associate Independent Counsel in Washington, D.C.. George also served as counsel, executive committee member, and board member of the International Rescue Committee for over 30 years. Through his work with the IRC, he has traveled regularly to Africa. He is a graduate of Princeton University and Columbia Law School. 

Frank C. Strasburger

Frank C. Strasburger is the former Episcopal chaplain at Princeton University and founding president of Princeton in Africa.  Frank first became involved with the Africa continent through a refugee program he headed while Canon of the American Cathedral in Paris in the 1980s. In 1993, during a 3-month sabbatical from the Episcopal Church at Princeton, he and his family spent 2 months living and working in South Africa, an experience which led in 1997 to his leaving Princeton to become president of Medical Education for South African Blacks. In 1999, as he returned to full-time ministry, he became the first board president of the newly founded Princeton in Africa and led the organization for its first five years. Now an emeritus board member, Frank remains active with PiAf, having attended every orientation and most of our retreats.  Retiring from active ministry in 2007, he became more heavily involved in volunteer efforts, teaching writing to struggling high school seniors; founding and facilitating Healthy Masculinity,  group of male Bowdoin College students who meet weekly to talk about what it means to be a man; participating on the Maine Steering Committee of both Obama presidential campaigns and serving on several local boards.  In 2014, he became a founding board member of Zambia-based Healthy Learners, a PiAf partner organization, stepping down as board chair in 2019.  Much of the spirit of his 50 years focused on young people can be found in his book, Growing Up: Limiting Adolescence in a World Desperate for Adults. Over those same 50 years, Frank has been involved in countless nonprofits, a number of which he helped found, in the educational, medical, political, and religious realms, learning along  the way (sometimes painfully) some of the systemic issues endemic to such organizations.  He and his wife Carrie, who live on the coast of Maine, have three grown children and four grandchildren.

James A. Floyd, Ph.D.

Jim is a licensed psychologist, and a life-long Princeton, NJ resident.  He is a recipient of the Princeton University Alumni Council Award for Service to Princeton, the Princeton-in-Africa (PiAf) “Founders Medal”, the Association of Black Princeton Alumni (ABPA) Award for Service, and a Princeton University Award “For Commitment and Contributions to Students”. His Princeton campus and alumni involvements include: faculty in the Psychology Department (13 semesters), a Mathey College Fellow, the Tower Club graduate board, Class of 1969 Board, a founding board member of the Class of 1969 Community Service Fund (now Princeton Internships in Civic Service), Princeton Project 55 (now AlumniCorps) board, vice-president and founding board member of PiAf, the PU Alumni Council Executive Committee and Committee on Community Service, the ABPA board, and participating on the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC) and its executive committee.  Ph.D. University of Rochester; retired from the N.J. Div. of Mental Health and private practice in psychology.

Lydia Bernard-Jones

PiAf Year: 2019-2020 

PiAf Organization: Last Mile Health, Liberia

Lydia is an expert public health practitioner with several years of multi-country administrative experience and multi-sector research experience. She is skilled in monitoring and evaluation, project management, quality improvement and program implementation with my work with local and international NGOs from projects, volunteering and full-time work opportunities across sub-Saharan Africa. Lydia is skilled in establishing evaluation systems and developing key metrics to monitor progress and evaluate impact. 

Catherine Blizzard

PiAf Year: 2021-2022 

PiAf Organization: Elgon Ecosystem Trust, Kenya

Catherine Blizzard is a fundraising and development professional who is passionate about community-based healthcare as a catalyst for expanding universal health coverage. With experience in institutional fundraising, proposal development, and individualized donor engagement, Catherine works as a Partnerships and Development Manager for Last Mile Health, a global health nonprofit that works to save lives in the world’s most remote communities. She is currently based in Boston, MA.

Gilles Amadou Ouédraogo

PiAf Year: 2014-2015 

PiAf Organization: Lutheran World Federation, Burundi  

Gilles Amadou was a fellow with the Department for World Service of the Lutheran World Federation in Burundi from 2014 to 2015. After his fellowship Gilles Amadou was recruited by LWF in their Central African Republic Offices as a monitoring Officer. He then joined UNDP as a UN Volunteer, thus leveraging his skills as a Regional Monitoring and Reporting Specialist. He is currently a Programme Officer at the UN Convention on Land and Drought managing a project related to monitoring the progress of the Great Green Wall’s implementation. What drives him is fostering growth in and around sub-Saharan Africa through viable sustainable projects that will ensure the improvement of livelihoods for future generations.

Kamila Radjabova

PiAf Year: 2021-2022 

PiAf Organization: Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative, Botswana

Kamila Radjabova is a 2021 Princeton University graduate in medical anthropology with a minor in global health and health policy. She worked with Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative, Botswana in 2021-22. Professionally, Kamila has interest in studying infectious diseases in tropical settings and improving population health. She will be an MPH candidate with a concentration in epidemiology at Brown University in 2023-25. She is thankful to PiAf  for her time with BIPAI and as the PiAf Program Coordinator this past December to June. In her free time, Kamila is an avid adventurer and loves to write music.

Dhruvi Joshi

PiAf Year: 2020-2021 

PiAf Organization: Lwala Community Alliance, Kenya

Dhruvi is a Client-Facing Associate in the Nairobi, Kenya office at IDinsight, a mission-driven global advisory, data analytics, and research NGO that helps government leaders maximize their social impact. She supports decision-makers to design effective programs and rigorously test what works for communities, using a wide range of evidence tools. Prior to IDinsight, she worked at Sanergy, a social agricultural enterprise combating the sanitation crisis through a circular economy approach. Dhruvi holds a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from New York University Abu Dhabi. She is driven to engage in work at the intersection of policy and sustainable development. 

Maggie Andresen

PiAf Year: 2017-2018 

PiAf Organization: Gardens for Health International, Rwanda 

Maggie Andresen is a freelance journalist and the editorial manager and lead writer for the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley. She has reported on the intersection of human rights, healthcare, migration, and climate change from Rwanda, Palestine, Nigeria, Kenya, Italy, South Africa, and the United States. She has been published in The Guardian, Undark Magazine, Vice World News, The Washington Post, and more. She is an alumna of the Fulbright Program, the International Women’s Media Foundation, and the Eddie Adams Workshop. Maggie is a member of Women Photograph, the Overseas Press Club of America, and the Frontline Freelance Register. She is currently based in Oakland, CA.

Haja Isatu Bah

PiAf Year: 2021-2022 

PiAf Organization: Mount Elgon Ecosystem Trust, Kenya

Haja is from Freetown, Sierra Leone. She attended United World College, Red Cross Nordic from 2015 to 2017 where she transitioned to Skidmore College New York to complete her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Environmental Studies. Haja completed her fellowship with EL-KOONY Center in Kitale Kenya, as a Communications and Marketing Fellow. Haja is very interested in the field of development and environment. She is the founder of Uman4Uman, a social enterprise that produces and sells reusable menstrual pads to girls and women in Sierra Leone, whilst teaching them about menstrual health.

Mgbechi Ugonna Erondu

PiAf Year: 2010-2011 

PiAf Organization: Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative, Botswana

Mgbechi Ugonna Erondu, M.D., M.F.A. was a 2011 PiAf Fellow with the Botswana- Baylor International Pediatric HIV Initiative. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Princeton and certificates in African Studies and Creative Writing. She completed her Pediatric Anesthesiology training at Texas Children’s Hospital (Baylor) and is a graduate of the U of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop where she received a Humanities Distinction and recipient of the 2016 Plughaupt Prize for Fiction. She has completed fellowship in pediatric palliative medicine at UCSF 8and will be joining faculty at Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital – Stanford.

Faith Fugar

PiAf Year: 2016-2017 

PiAf Organization: Help Age International, Kenya

Faith Fugar currently serves as a Political Officer at the United States Embassy in Bamako, Mali, where she covers human rights, anti-trafficking in persons, and refugee issues. Previous tours include Consular Officer in Guangzhou, China, Pickering Fellow at the U.S. Embassy in Dakar, Senegal and Pickering Fellow on the Nigeria Desk in Washington, DC. Faith completed her Princeton in Africa Fellowship in Nairobi, Kenya as a Grants Fellow for Help Age International. She is an alumna of the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. Faith is fluent in French and Mandarin.

Colin Vaida

PiAf Year: 2018-2019 

PiAf Organization: International Rescue Committee, Tanzania

Colin is finalizing a four-year tenure as a consultant with Arabella Advisors where he supported family, corporate, and institutional clients on a variety of philanthropic projects. Most recently, he supported clients in developing and implementing grantmaking strategies in economic mobility, health equity, international gender equity, and early education. In the Fall of 2023, Colin will be pursuing a Master’s in Public Policy from Cambridge University where he hopes to continue to hone his skills in social impact. Colin graduated from Davidson College with a BA in Political Science. He is an avid Miami sports fan and loves to cook in his free time.