Alumni Directory Display

Alumni Update:

Jessica has been living in Nairobi for the past two years, working with the East African NGO Twaweza and studying citizen activism and education for PiAf board member Evan Lieberman. As the research winds down, she is preparing to return to the US for graduate school in the fall of 2014.

Fellow Bio:

Jessica is from West Hartford, CT. She majored in ecology and evolutionary biology with a certificate in environmental studies. At Princeton, Jessica sang with the Princeton Tigerlilies, Princeton’s first female a cappella group, and was a member of Tower Club. During the spring semester of her junior year, she studied abroad in Panama with the EEB department’s semester-in-the-field program. Jessica is looking forward to working with 2iE in Burkina Faso to help bring clean water to rural families, and she is hoping to improve her French as well.

Elaina, a Maryland native graduated from Princeton University with a major in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and a certificate in Global Health and Health Policy. Her interest in science and research began in high school when she was a part of the Science National Honor Society. She continued exploring biology fields the summer after freshman year at the Food and Drug Administration helping to research better ways of blood and platelet transfusions. After her junior year, Elaina spent 6 weeks in South Africa carrying out her Senior thesis research on the effects of African Elephants on ecosystem health. After spending the summer in South Africa she knew she wanted to go back to the continent to attempt to carry out more research in the field of conservation biology. She is excited to gain more experience in the field and continue to explore national parks as well as the African continent. 

Uma Guarnaccia graduated from New York University with a Bachelor’s in Applied Psychology and a minor in Media, Culture, and Communication. At NYU, she made the Dean’s List two years in a row. Her interest in travel and service began with her trip to the Dominican Republic, where she developed curricula and taught English. She also spent a year fundraising for the same project. Uma expanded on this experience while studying in Ghana for four months. In Ghana, she volunteered at City of Refuge, an NGO, where she produced, directed, and developed two documentaries. While there, she also mentored children who were survivors of child slavery. Additionally, she developed curricula, tutored children on reading comprehension and English language skills, and created the school’s yearbook. Uma also has extensive research experience from her time as an intern at the Yale University Child Study Center. While there, she conducted structured assessments on anxiety disorders affecting parents and children. She analyzed data using SPSS to create two research projects. The results were presented at various research fairs and conferences. She also interned with Columbia University’s Global Mental Health Program, where she conducted qualitative interviews for a research project on intimate partner violence and substance abuse in Uganda. In addition, she wrote news content for the Global Clinical Practice Network website and produced a short video to raise awareness for refugee mental health. Subsequently, she also interned at The Quad Manhattan, an after-school program where she taught children with special needs.

Sofia graduated from Yale University in 2018, majoring in Environmental Studies with a concentration in in Urban Environment. Throughout university, she was heavily involved with the Yale Refugee Project. Raised in Mbabane, Sofia attended Waterford Kamhlaba UWC. In university, she maintained strong ties to the African continent, returning to work at the Wonder Workshop arts studio in Dar es Salaam, and later as an international volunteer and backhandler at Cheetah Outreach in Cape Town. During her junior year, Sofia studied as an exchange student at Université Paris IV: La Sorbonne, and was granted fellowship funding to return  to Paris the following year to pursue an independent urban studies research project using GIS and interviewing refugees and asylum seekers about urban green space. Sofia has also worked for MAD/Yale Leadership Summit and for the Louisville city government’s Office of Performance Improvement and Innovation. Sofia is passionate about making cities more accessible to marginalized groups.

Berhan majored in International Comparative Studies (ICS) with a certificate in Global Health and a minor in Cultural Anthropology. At Duke, she explored her interest in public health while working as a translator for the Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research and held leadership positions in Future is Now, a mentoring program for young girls in the Durham community. She was also the union representative for ICS concentrators. In her summers, Berhan interned for the Ethiopian Public Health Association, conducted fieldwork on HIV/AIDS stigma in Ethiopia and worked on human rights and gender education in Tanzania. As her region of concentration in ICS is the Arab World she studied abroad in Turkey and Egypt. Berhan is passionate about learning languages and will continue her study of Arabic in Morocco before moving to Botswana. She is ecstatic about her year in Botswana and is looking forward to exploring Gaborone and learning some Setswana.

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 Sewenet Haile holds a B.A. in Economic and Social History from Barnard College. She is passionate about research, youth development, and cultural exchange. She speaks Amharic and French and has begun studying Kiswahili. For her senior thesis, she researched postcolonial monetary policy in francophone sub-Saharan Africa. In college, she interned at the Council of Economic Advisers at the White House, where she conducted research on a variety of economic topics including health, labor and social insurance. As an intern at the Manhattan Borough President’s Office, she conducted a poll site accessibility survey to ensure that all New Yorkers had access to voting, regardless of ability. At Harlem Grown, an urban farm that provides produce to neighboring communities, Sewenet created and led educational programming for local public-school students and community members to promote health and wellness. As a research assistant at Barnard’s Education Department, she researched the successes and shortcomings of STEM programs at predominantly Black public high schools. Following the Fellowship, she plans to pursue a career in international policy and development. She is excited to join the faculty at the USAP Community School in Ruwa, Zimbabwe. Sewenet is from New York City and is a proud daughter of Ethiopian immigrants.

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Redeit Hailu is an Ethiopian-American from Washington, D.C. passionate about Women’s Empowerment and Economic Development. Growing up in Addis Ababa and DC, this fostered her interest in cultural immersion and deepened her passion for International Development. In 2024, she graduated from William & Mary where she earned her B.A. in International Relations and minored in Economics. At W&M through the Freeman Fellowship in Chiang Mai, Thailand, she served as an English teacher and fundraised to support the higher education of ethnically marginalized women from Myanmar. In Thailand, she recognized the necessity of local voices in shaping her framework of ethical International Development. Additionally, she worked as a Research Assistant with Aiddata to track underreported financial flows to assist policymakers at USAID understand the scope of Chinese commercial finance. Redeit’s diverse set of experiences within International Relations, from nonprofit consulting to advocacy, speaks to her multifaceted skill set and adaptability. She has a strong track record of community involvement, having served as the Undersecretary of Sexual Health, English Teaching Assistant in Prague, and a Representative on the Sexual Misconduct Steering Committee. With a multiregional educational background and a diaspora connection to Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, Redeit brings a distinctive perspective to addressing global challenges. With over three years of enriching experience in International nonprofit work, she consistently demonstrates her expertise in youth mentorship, project management, and fundraising. As a confident individual, Redeit remains eager to make a significant impact within International Development.