Alumni Directory Display

Neil Wary was raised in the Chicago suburbs and deeply cares about health equity, mentorship, and service. He recently graduated from Stanford University (2022) with a bachelor’s in Human Biology, a master’s in Epidemiology and Clinical Research, and a minor in Music. During his time at Stanford, Neil was involved with Stanford Medicine’s free clinics, edited Stanford’s Journal of Science, Technology & Society, and was a peer tutor. Neil has extensive research experience in cardiovascular and cardiometabolic diseases and wrote his master’s thesis on predicting insulin sensitivity using blood-based biomarkers. In his free time, Neil plays the violin. Following the Princeton in Africa fellowship, Neil plans to attend music conservatory and then medical school. He is excited to be joining the faculty at USAP Community School in Ruwa, Zimbabwe.

Alumni Update:

Chris finished his fellowship in Malawi last year.

Fellow Bio:

Christopher, a New York native, graduated from Williams College with a degree in Political Science and Economics. While at Williams, he developed a strong interest in African culture and economic development, which he pursued through both his academic studies and internships. He spent one summer working for OPIC, a government institution that helps US private enterprises invest in developing economies. The next summer he worked at Jeremy Academy in Limuru, Kenya teaching a range of subjects including Music, Math, and English to middle school students. He thoroughly enjoyed his time at Jeremy, which further piqued his interest in returning to Africa after college.  After graduation, he worked for two years at Fidelity Investments as an internal consultant, performing strategy work for Fidelity’s business units while learning more about financial services. In his down time, he enjoys playing his French horn and outdoor activities like mountain biking and skiing. Christopher is extremely excited to continue pursuing his interest in economic development while leveraging his financial services knowledge at Foster Lewis in Lilongwe, Malawi this year.

Alumni Update:

Keiana is currently a Justice Fellow at the Equal Justice Initiative where she advances public history work surrounding our nation’s history of racial injustice, facilitates community organizing around the country, and assists with legal intake. 

Fellow Bio:

Keiana graduated from Williams College with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Africana Studies. Throughout her undergraduate experience, she was deeply engaged with community organizing and education research in her hometown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. She co-directed an organization called Converging Worlds focused on combating injustices in the prison system, and this allowed her to develop community programs, organize panels, and create a magazine to facilitate relationships between activism on campus and in the surrounding communities. As an Allison Davis Research Fellow, Keiana received two years of funding to conduct independent, faculty mentored research including the effects of race and gender on perceptions of high school students’ behavior and psychological support for behavioral concerns. She also studied abroad in Durban, South Africa, where she had the opportunity to study social and political transformation in the country and to conduct a mixed-methods evaluation of a diversion program offered by the National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders. The following summer, she completed a research internship at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she analyzed data and co-authored a pending publication on health interventions in Black churches. In the summer leading up to her fellowship, she and a peer were awarded the Davis Projects for Peace Grant to coordinate a social justice mentoring program with middle school students in Pittsfield. She is thrilled to continue her love for applied education research and non-profit work in Johannesburg

Alumni Update:

Claire is a third-year law student at the Washington and Lee University School of Law, where she has been able to further explore the intersections of health, law, and human rights that she saw during her fellowship year in Tanzania.

Fellow Bio:

Claire is from Richmond, VA and graduated from the University of Virginia (UVA) in 2015 with a degree in Foreign Affairs and French. While at UVA, she worked to facilitate dialogue around social, economic, and political issues as a Sustained Dialogue leader and group moderator and to promote interdisciplinary engagement in global public health issues as a student advisor at the UVA Center for Global Health. After graduating, Claire partnered with local agricultural cooperatives in rural, southwestern Rwanda to conduct research on gender equity as a UVA Center for Global Health Scholar. Following her return from Rwanda, she gained program management experience through her position on the Central and West Africa team at the National Democratic Institute, where she enjoyed supporting democracy development programs in Guinea, Niger, the DRC, Nigeria, and Ghana and having the opportunity to collaborate in French and English with her West African colleagues to solve programmatic challenges. Claire is excited to pursue her interest in the intersections of health equity, governance, and development through her position with CCBRT. She loves running, hiking, skiing, and cooking, and can’t wait to further explore East Africa and to work on her Swahili!

Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Madeline Wong graduated from Tufts University with majors in biology and archaeology. Her college research with The Kibale Chimpanzee Project and The Kasiisi Project spanned biology, anthropology, conservation, and education in rural Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Madeline was the undergraduate One Health student contact in collaboration with Tufts Dental, Medical, and Veterinary schools and taught the importance of ancient cultures at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Uplifting her communities, Madeline supported microfinancing for immigrant small businesses in New York and Massachusetts. As a Princeton in Africa fellow with the communications and knowledge management team at the International Livestock Research Institute based in Nairobi, Kenya, Madeline has been reporting on sustainable livelihoods and gender projects that by design highlight South-South cooperation.

Jessica is a Charleston, South Carolina native and graduate of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. She started her career in humanitarian work as an intern at the International Rescue Committee in Atlanta, GA assisting resettlement division caseworkers and aiding newly arrived refugee families. Later, Jes spent the summer in DC with Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service as a refugee/immigrant advocacy intern in the midst of the family separation crisis. There, she drafted written materials for the advocacy team, created digital media content, and engaged in Princeton Office of Religious Life research examining the relationship between the organization’s faith-based foundation and refugee resettlement. As a creative mind, freelance photographer, and global citizen, Jes seeks to combine creative and analytical problem solving in the humanitarian sector. She aims to produce digital media material for humanitarian organizations as a way of promoting awareness for global issues and inspiring engagement from worldwide audiences. Motivated by a deeply rooted love for language, culture, and learning, you’ll find Jes constantly on the move. This year, she’s excited to join Gardens for Health International – camera in hand – as a communications and development fellow in Rwanda.

Songyue Xu graduated from New York University Abu Dhabi with a degree in Social Research & Public Policy. Given her strong interest in economic development, Songyue has gained professional experiences in banking, consulting, consumer products, NGOs, and entrepreneurship. Songyue has interned as a strategy analyst in Dubai with Philip Morris International. Later as an investment banking analyst at Alpha Capital, a boutique financial advisory firm based in New York, she has advanced her skills in financial modeling through facilitating multiple M&A transactions between Chinese investors and American technology firms. As a treasury and trade summer analyst at Citibank in Hong Kong, she has also deepened her understanding in credit risk management. In 2017, Songyue studied in Ghana for a semester, during which she worked part-time at a local consulting firm. She has built a strong bonding with the continent ever since then. Songyue is passionate about community building. She has helped with grant writing for Media Response, a Ghanaian NGO, and has designed national school engagement projects with Special Olympics Summer World Games 2019 to expose secondary school students in the UAE to the spirit of Special Olympics. In daily life, Songyue enjoys dancing, rowing, and rock climbing.

Nishtha graduated from Emerson College with an M.A. in Communication Management with a specialization in Political Communication in 2018. Born and raised in New Delhi, India, she also holds an undergraduate degree in Journalism from Wilson College, University of Mumbai, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism from Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. A former journalist, Nishtha worked with one of the largest English newspapers in India. During this time, she reported on education, politics and LGBTQ+ rights. As she collaborated with activists and community members for news stories, she discovered her passion for social advocacy and community engagement. Since then she has worked with nonprofits and advocacy centers to help further their vision. Most notably, she worked as a program associate with the Elma Lewis Center for Civic Engagement, Learning and Research, where she gained experience in community outreach and building a grassroots movement. She also worked with Boston Partners in Education as their program coordinator for Power Lunch, a reading enrichment program for students in Boston Public Schools. In 2020, she was selected as a Social Entrepreneurship Fellow by ProFellow, a US-based social enterprise, where she learnt about the mechanics of building and sustaining a social enterprise. In the future, she hopes to get an academic understanding of community development and social justice practices, and eventually start her own social enterprise focused around connecting community-based organizations from developing countries. In her free time, Nishtha likes to bake, watch world cinema, and explore museums.

Katie graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a major in English and minor in consumer psychology. At Penn, she was involved in Wharton’s undergraduate marketing club, MUSE, where she led projects for their nonprofit consulting division. During her junior year, Katie spent a semester studying at the University of Cape Town, where her passion for serving marginalized communities grew. Following graduation, Katie developed her marketing and communication skills at Rabin Martin, a global health consulting firm, where she communicated public health programs and corporate social responsibility initiatives. She then moved to Edelman, a global communication firm, where she worked in their Corporate and Public Affairs sector driving communications strategy, executive leadership positioning and media relations for Fortune 500 companies such as eBay, Audible, and the PepsiCo Foundation. Looking for ways to further engage with her passions, Katie joined Amref Health Africa’s Young Professional Board where she works on event planning, fundraising and strategy development to forward their mission. She is excited to return to the African continent to work intimately with those fighting to protect and uplift populations most susceptible to systemic injustices.

Makeda graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Political Science and American Studies. During her time at Columbia, she served as a Research Fellow in the Laboratory of Intergroup Relations and the Social Mind under Professor Valerie Purdie Greenaway, studying intersectionality, stereotyping, and discrimination. A first-generation Ethiopian-American, Makeda has always been motivated by a passion for civil and human rights advocacy both in the United States and abroad. Prior to joining the International Rescue Committee, she worked at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School, where she focused on advancing innovative voting rights and democracy reforms. Before that, Makeda interned for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the Department of State, as well as the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia and for the Office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In addition, throughout college she served as an intern with NBC Nightly News and MSNBC, focusing on both domestic and international breaking news and ongoing deep impact coverage.