Alumni Directory Display

Gwladys Boukpessi is a passionate young professional originally from Togo, West Africa. Growing up, her mother was a caseworker in the New York City area for African refugees seeking asylum. Witnessing their struggles for a better life made Gwladys want to dedicate her life to improving conditions for people around the world. In 2019, Gwladys graduated from Lehigh University where she earned a Bachelor of Science in environmental engineering with a minor in sustainable development. While at Lehigh, Gwladys was awarded the Dale S. Strohl ’58 Undergraduate Summer Research Grant to study sustainable waste management solutions in Ghana. Her undergraduate career also included research in Kenya on their clean water crisis and interning in Nepal with a local NGO to help improve local waste management. After graduating, Gwladys worked as an Environmental Engineer for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection where she helped to develop and implement air pollution control programs and regulations to improve air quality for NJ residents. In addition, Gwladys also served as an intern and Youth Ambassador for African Hope Committee, an NGO that empowers African immigrants in New York City through health education programs, immigration services, and social service support. Driven by her love for Africa and international development, Gwladys is honored to join the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT as a Research Fellow.

Alumni Update:

Douglas is a Master’s Candidate at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), doing his first year at the SAIS Europe campus in Bologna, Italy. He will be doing his second year in Washington, DC. He studies Energy Resources & the Environment with a special focus on renewable energy technologies and project finance. This summer he will be doing a summer internship at the US development finance agency the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), doing structured finance for energy, infrastructure, financial services and foreign policy priority projects.

Fellow Bio:

Douglas is from Vero Beach, FL and earned his degree in economics and international relations from New College of Florida. Doug moved to Washington, D.C. in 2008 after graduation to pursue a career in international development. He has worked in development in various capacities including international landmine and unexploded ordnance remediation; economic growth and development at the Millennium Challenge Corporation; monitoring and evaluation of development projects with Social Impact; and post-earthquake relief efforts with Destination: Abricots with whom he volunteers. Doug loves to travel—he studied abroad in Italy, traveled to Haiti to deliver earthquake relief aid, and spent three months in Iraq doing work in mine risk education. Doug is excited to be the first PiAf Fellow to work with the innovative Village Enterprise and to explore the culinary and linguistic diversity of Uganda and Kenya.

Alumni Update:

After staying on at at her fellowship organization, CCBRT in Tanzania, for an additional eight months, she moved to Washington, D.C. to work on the East and Southern Africa team at Chemonics in April 2019. She is still exploring how she can apply all she learned at CCBRT to continue serving women and girls, especially the most vulnerable, at home and abroad!

Fellow Bio:

Joelle graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Dual B.A. Program between Columbia University and Sciences Po (Institut d’études politiques de Paris) in May 2016, receiving bachelor’s degrees from both institutions. She studied Sustainable Development at Columbia University, where she was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society and received Departmental Honors. In her senior year, she was granted the Global Fellowship in Sustainable Development to conduct research for her thesis regarding safe water accessibility in arsenic-impacted areas of Bangladesh. During her time in France, she studied Political Science and specialized in the Middle Eastern region. Since graduation, Joelle has worked at Global Health Strategies, an international consulting firm specializing in global health communications and advocacy. Joelle is excited to explore Dar es Salaam next year and practice her Swahili. She is grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the amazing work of CCBRT in promoting maternal health.

Danielle majored in Political Science and Human Rights, with a minor in French. While at Barnard, she held leadership positions in Columbia’s Amnesty International chapter, and interned at Human Rights Watch in the Africa division and the Foundation Relations unit. She studied abroad in Uganda and Rwanda, and spent a summer in Tanzania researching aid projects to refugees and slum-dwellers. After graduating, she spent a year as an education consultant in Ghana helping high school students navigate the international college admissions process and traveling around West Africa. Since then, she has been taking classes in Boston and working for a public health education and advocacy NGO that promotes effective use of antibiotics.

Gabriella graduated from California Polytechnic State University with a major in Agricultural Business, with a minor in Global Politics. Following her undergraduate coursework, she pursued a master’s in international agriculture at Oklahoma State University (OSU). While at OSU, Gabriella conducted comprehensive qualitative interviews with participants in the OSU African Entrepreneurs Fellowship program from Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda, representing various agricultural initiatives, women and youth empowerment organizations, and extension and education efforts. Gabriella’s research resulted in the completion of her master’s degree and thesis: ‘Post-Fellowship Experiences of African Entrepreneurs: Interpreting Impact a Year Later’.  In addition to her graduate coursework and research, Gabriella served as a Noble-Watoto Fellow in Uganda. Gabriella is passionate about agriculture and its impacts on communities around the world. She is thrilled to be a member of the PiAf community!

Caroline received her BA in International Studies from American University’s School of International Service, concentrating in peace and conflict resolution in Sub-Saharan Africa. While in school, Caroline interned with the international NGO, Search for Common Ground, the Department of State, and she spent time volunteering with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Before leaving Washington, DC, she will finish a fellowship with The Nexus Fund, an organization dedicated to supporting the global community to end mass atrocities. Caroline has traveled to Rwanda to study healing and justice after genocide, and she has studied Swahili in Zanzibar, Tanzania as a 2013 Boren Scholar. In 2014, Caroline was named a Harry S. Truman Scholar, and she hopes to dedicate her public service career to promoting transitional justice and reconciliation programming in the Great Lakes Region. Caroline is thrilled to have the opportunity to return to East Africa, and she looks forward to navigating the city of Nairobi and supporting the International Rescue Committee’s mission of helping those whose lives have been shattered by conflict or disaster to gain control of their futures.

Alumni Update:

After six transformative years at One Acre Fund, Allie has transitioned to human capital consulting at Ernst & Young. She’s gaining experiences at a wide variety of companies and is learning a lot about leading human resource practices. When not on the road with clients, she is based in Brooklyn.

Fellow Bio:

Allie (Northwestern ’10) is a Social Policy and Gender Studies major from Martinsville, NJ. At Northwestern, she co-directed the Global Engagement Summit, a capacity- building conference for young change-makers from around the world. She has completed a community development project in Gulu, Uganda and researched public housing in Muscat, Oman. Allie has worked at the Clinton Global Initiative University and World Relief. Allie is thrilled to be working in Ethiopia next year and looks forward to learning how to cook Ethiopian food and getting to know the other fellows.

Riley is from Roxbury, Connecticut, and graduated with a degree in Anthropology from Davidson College. She has a strong interest in international studies and has spent significant time studying abroad in Spain, Nepal, and Tanzania. Her studies focused on the Spanish language, the Tibetan education system in exile, and on conflict resolution and international development in Africa. While at Davidson she was a fellow in the Chidsey Leadership Development Program, a member of the Women’s Leadership Committee, and served as a tutor to first and second grade students at an after-school program. Over the summer she worked at the International Institute of Los Angeles in the Child Development Division to help provide free childcare to immigrants, refugees, and families of low socioeconomic status. Riley is looking forward to exploring the Botswana culture through the local community and learning from the students.