Alumni Directory Display

she/her/hers

Mahilet Mesfin graduated from the University of Washington in 2021, completing an honours Bachelor’s in International Economic Development with a minor in Human Rights–and received a Henry Jackson School fellowship for her achievements. Additionally, Mahilet has recently finished her Master’s in Science at the London School of Economics (LSE), finalising a degree in International Social and Public Policy. Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, she is deeply committed to catalysing and unlocking transformative economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, seeking to redefine the continent’s narrative. Whilst studying for her undergraduate degree, Mahilet was elected President of the Black Student’s Union, leading and facilitating discourse on equity programs for its Black student body. Continuing her commitment to empowering the diaspora during her Master’s studies, she was elected as the Co-President of PFAL – Programme for African Leadership at the LSE. Within this capacity, she represented the interests of her fellow African leaders. Whilst also acting as a representative for the prestigious Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa.
Additionally, as a Lead Engagement Officer at the Seattle City Council, Mahilet worked to support her district’s elected Councilmember’s office. Undertaking issues concerning economic development, social mobility, and homelessness. Here, she managed and conducted concise research on the correlative effects of displacement and collected reports on community-backed civil service groups, organising engagement initiatives at the Seattle City Council. Organising engagement events with local stakeholders and community members in South Seattle, Seattle’s most economically diverse neighbourhood. During this, Mahilet contributed to over 20-analytically backed policy briefs.

Alumni Update:

Julia is beginning medical school at NYU School of Medicine in New York City. She is excited to be pursuing her passion and looks forward to defining her direction within the practice of healthcare over the next few years.

Fellow Bio:

Julia graduated from Princeton in 2016 with a degree in Molecular Biology and certificates in Quantitative and Computational Biology (QCB) and Neuroscience. Before Princeton, Julia took a gap year in which she worked on a dairy farm in Costa Rica, backpacked in Alaska, and interned for nonprofits and research laboratories. While at Princeton, she sang second soprano in the University Chapel Choir, served on the student board of the Episcopal Church at Princeton and on the Faculty-Student Committee on Discipline, and was a member of the club squash and running teams. She worked for the past two years as an undergraduate researcher on a neuroscience project investigating the connection between the cerebellum and cognitive behavior, and hopes to pursue global medicine after her Princeton in Africa fellowship year in Gaborone, Botswana. She is excited for the challenge and reward of teaching and forming relationships at Maru-a-Pula and for the chance to adventure and explore!

Galeela Michael graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, with a degree in Global Studies. As an undergraduate, Galeela worked as both a Campaign Lead at the Multicultural Center and as a Student Outreach Coordinator at the Office of Development, where she raised thousands of dollars for student initiatives. She was the President of UC Santa Barbara’s Pan-African Student Union, which served to amplify the voice of African students on campus. Galeela also spent a summer in Washington D.C., where she interned at The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and conducted a research study analyzing the success of the Millennium Development Goals in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Nigeria. After graduating, Galeela returned to the San Francisco Bay Area, where she served as Programs & Operations Manager at a non-profit called /dev/color, which strives to maximize the impact of Black software engineers. Galeela was the third full-time hire at /dev/color, and made substantial contributions to the organization’s foundation, leading efforts to expand /dev/color to four cities nationally. Her experience at /dev/color jumpstarted her career at the intersection between tech and social impact, and today Galeela is most passionate about leveraging technology to improve peoples lives.

Fellow Bio:

Marilyn Michelow ‘07 is a molecular biology major from Pittsburgh, PA. For her PiAF fellowship, Marilyn will be working for the United Nations World Food Program in Windhoek, Namibia. Marilyn has long been fascinated by South Africa (her family is South African), but this will be her first time to Africa. At Princeton, Marilyn worked as a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician with the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad, tutored, and was a member of the Tower Club. Through Princeton, she worked in Paris, France, and studied for a semester in Auckland, New Zealand. She is interested in public health and infectious disease, and is deferring medical school to spend a year with PiAF.

she/her/hers

Alexandra (Alex) Middleberg graduated from Kenyon College in 2018 with a B.A. in International Studies. She also holds an M.A. in International Affairs from the George Washington University’s (GWU) Elliott School of International Affairs, where she focused her studies on transnational security, conflict resolution, and peacebuilding in the Middle East and Africa. For her capstone project, Alex designed an agricultural development program that aimed to facilitate the sustainable and peaceful return of Afghan refugees and internally displaced persons in Afghanistan through the expansion of agriculture technical and vocational education and training programs and the country’s agricultural sector. Following her studies, Alex worked on the Central and West Africa team at the National Democratic Institute supporting governance and democracy programs in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia. In her free time, Alex loves to travel, cook, spend time with friends and family, and jam to her favorite songs.

Fellow Bio:

Emily is an anthropology major with a certificate in music (viola) performance. At Princeton, she took part in the Princeton University Orchestra, STAND, and the Student Volunteers Council, and she spent last summer with Princeton in Asia, teaching English in China. When not at school she lives in Springfield, VA, though she has also lived in New York, Pennsylvania, and Maine. She hopes her time on the east coast of the U.S. will prepare her for a year on the east coast of Africa, working in Mozambique with the UN World Food Programme. While in Maputo, she plans to pick up Portuguese (really quickly), to become even more fond of Afro-Portuguese music, and to learn a lot.

Originally from San Diego, California, Kelsey graduated from Harvard with a B.A. in Social Studies, focusing on human rights and humanitarian frameworks in the global south. Her senior honors thesis, “Permanent Impermanence: Identity and Agency in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, Tanzania,” examined Congolese refugees’ experiences with protracted conflict and prolonged humanitarian aid dependency in western Tanzania, where she conducted 5 weeks of ethnographic research. While at Harvard, Kelsey also received a minor in Modern Middle Eastern Studies and a language citation in Swahili. As an undergraduate, she spent two summers working for a small HIV/AIDS education nonprofit based out of Arusha, Tanzania, and returned to East Africa for a third summer to intern with the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission in Kigali, Rwanda, where she edited the first English-language translation of The History of Rwanda, used across Rwandan schools for civic education. Kelsey is thrilled to continue her work with refugees and looks forward to exploring life in Nairobi.

Fellow Bio:

Brad Milligan ’08 is an ecology and evolutionary biology major, with certificate in African Studies and environmental studies. Brad is from Kijabe, Kenya, and enjoys sports and the outdoors. At Princeton, Brad was involved in club soccer and Princeton evangelical fellowship. He also participated in community service projects in Trenton, NJ and Louisiana, and did independent research on human-wildlife interations in Kenya. Brad hopes to spend his life helping others, and looks forward to becoming more involved with international aid and development through his fellowship with Lutheran World Federation in Burundi.

Alumni Update:

Emily signed on to a longer contract with SteamaCo and is now working as their Digital Product Manager in Nairobi. They are using their technology to operate 25 microgrids across East Africa, and are currently raising money to expand internationally.

Fellow Bio:

Emily is a Civil/Environmental Engineering Major from Needham, MA. She also pursued studies in Computer Science and Sustainable Energy. Her favorite class at Princeton was building a hybrid wind/solar power system which could be deployed in a disaster relief setting, and she is excited to continue working in a similar field with access:energy in Kenya. Over the past 4 years, she has also been involved in Princeton’s Engineers Without Borders chapter, recently leading the project to construct a potable water system in Samne, Peru. In her free time, Emily enjoys playing on the club field hockey team and rock climbing.

Victoria Monge graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in health policy and management from the Gillings School of Global Public Health, as well as a degree in global studies. She also holds a certificate in international politics from Sciences Po Grenoble in Grenoble, France. At UNC Chapel Hill, Victoria worked at the local Refugee Support Center, where she served as a French translator and collaborated with various governmental agencies to meet the needs of the Center’s clients. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa as well as the service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega and has also worked in several different research labs throughout college. Victoria recently completed her senior honors thesis on the intergenerational effects of witnessing intimate partner violence on a cohort of young children in South Africa. During a previous corporate strategy internship with the insurance company Humana, Victoria created a business case for investment in the social determinants of health by healthcare payers. More recently, she interned with the Shot@Life team of the United Nations Foundation, where she advocated for increased access to vaccinations for children around the world. Following the Princeton in Africa fellowship, Victoria plans to attend law school and pursue a career in global health law. Originally from Michigan, she enjoys reading, swimming, and learning languages. She is looking forward to working with American Leprosy Missions this coming year.