Alumni Directory Display

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.

Alumni Update:

After two years in DC working in public sector consulting, Jane finally gave in to the siren call of Nairobi again. She’s now working on the central strategy and research team in One Acre Fund. Outside of the office, it’s incredible to see Nairobi continue to grow as a metropolis, and she’s so glad to be able to enjoy all it has to offer from rock-climbing to picnics in Nairobi National Park to a casual evening of board games with friends. And, of course, the PiAf family — Nairobi is now 14 strong amongst the current Fellows and alumni!

Fellow Bio:

Jane (Princeton ‘11) is a Chemical and Biological Engineering major from Ypsilanti, MI. At Princeton, she was heavily involved with various Pace Center for Civic Engagement projects, Engineers Without Borders, and the Writing Center. Jane has been to Ghana before, where she learned of the wonders of groundnuts and plantains and the agbaja dance. She is looking forward to being in East Africa with the Nairobi, Kenya office of the International Rescue Committee, learning how to cook delicious local foods, picking up some Swahili, and adding more African dances to her repertoire.

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.

Cameron graduated from Princeton University with a BA in Molecular Biology and a certificate in Neuroscience. Her senior thesis research involved conducting stereotaxic neurosurgery on rats to determine a pathway possibly involved in decision making. She volunteered as an EMT at Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad and has been a member of the squad since 2012. Her other primary activity on campus is the Student Global AIDS Campaign, a club that focuses on raising funds and awareness about HIV/AIDS in the student population and the surrounding community. She has also had the opportunity to take her interest in HIV/AIDS abroad through her internship at UNESCO’s Health Promotion Unit in Bangkok, Thailand where she analyzed national action plans and epidemiological data from countries in the Asia Pacific. In the summer of 2012, she interned as a clinical research assistant at UChicago Medical Center for CPR research where she aided in planning initial testing of an application measuring mental awareness in cardiac arrest patients. She has also had the opportunity to view the medical field from a biotechnology perspective through her internship in 2011 at Philips Medical Systems in their AED development unit.

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.

Carla is originally from Korea and grew up in Bahrain and England. She graduated from Dartmouth College in 2015 with a degree in Government, focusing on International Relations. At Dartmouth, Carla was an active member in the Student and Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault and worked as student coordinator for the Center for Gender and Student Engagement, during which she helped organize two campaigns for women’s empowerment. During college, Carla also interned with the Future of Peace Operations program at the Stimson Center in D.C; as research intern, she conducted research on IDP camps in South Sudan and on best practices of monitoring and evaluating civilian protection interventions. She also briefly volunteered at the non-profit Refuge PNan in Korea, assisting refugees with legal and livelihood aid. Upon graduation, Carla worked in the Refugee Legal Aid Program at the non-profit St. Andrews Refugee Services in Cairo. As legal fellow, she helped resettle refugees from Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, and Syria in safer countries. Carla speaks English and Korean fluently and is learning French and Arabic. She looks forward to working with refugees in Adjumani, learning about Ugandan people and their culture, and traveling to new places.

Alumni Update:

Jessica is currently the Development and Community Relations Coordinator at New Door Ventures based in San Francisco where her work focuses on leading individual giving development and New Door’s volunteerism program. She resides in San Francisco. 

Fellow Bio:

Jessica, a native of Hartland, Wisconsin, graduated from Macalester College with a B.A. in International Studies, minors in Anthropology and Political Science, and concentrations in African Studies and Human Rights and Humanitarianism. Jessica’s interest in Africa began when she volunteered at a children’s home in South Africa when she was 13 years old. She has worked with the home for over 8 years. That inspired her to create her own non-profit organization, 15:30 Project, providing the children she works with opportunities for higher education. Her work has been highlighted in local media outlets and earned her several nationally recognized awards. At Macalester, Jessica interned with the U.S. State Department at the embassy in Mozambique where she helped draft the 2016 Human Rights Report. Then, Jessica interned with Kakenya’s Dream in Washington, D.C., advocating for girls’ education and against female genital mutilation in Kenya and assisting with advocacy initiatives. She studied abroad in Gaborone, Botswana where her semester focused on urban development. In Botswana, she conducted human rights research about discrimination against people with albinism. Jessica is interested in the intersection of education, human rights, and diplomacy particularly in the Southern African context. 

Jasmin recently graduated in May 2015 from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) with a Master’s degree in International Development and International Economics, and a specialization in Management for Development. She received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in Sociology and Art History. Upon graduating from UCLA, Jasmin worked for a relief and development NGO as a Program Development Officer, designing, implementing and evaluating global multi-sectoral development programs. Most recently, Jasmin spent a summer interning with the UN in Myanmar, completed a Practicum consulting for the World Resources Institute’s Sustainable Finance Department, and interned with a USAID contractor to conduct impact evaluations of various USAID E3 projects. Jasmin speaks French, Italian and Japanese and is looking forward to learning Chichewa and spending time in the “Warm Heart of Africa.”

Tesay, born and raised in the D.C. area, graduated from Stanford with a degree in International Relations and a minor in African and African American Studies. She is the proud child of Ethiopian immigrants and speaks Harari and Amharic and loves music and travel. While at Stanford, Tesay worked at the Center for African Studies as a Program Assistant where she coordinated events ranging from academic discussions to community events. While studying abroad in Cape Town, South Africa, she interned at the Iziko Social History Centre where she supported community research initiatives and forums working to shift the gaze of museums away from a colonial lens. Tesay also has experience in civil advocacy and spent a summer as a Communications Intern at the Council on American-Islamic Relations. She spent the last year working at Google coordinating candidate experience and supporting hiring efforts across Google and did significant work developing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs on her team. Tesay is extremely passionate about the intersection of digital media and social impact and hopes to pursue a master’s in International/Public Policy and/or an MBA.