Kristin graduated in 2012 with a degree in Urban Studies and a minor in African Studies. While at Stanford, Kristin interned for a legal aid organization where she designed a court-monitoring project to track trends of bias and legal mistakes in restraining order proceedings.  In South Africa, she studied, interned at gender-based violence and urban development organizations, worked at a rape crisis center, and performed research on behalf of three NGOs. In this research, Kristin analyzed township residents’ conceptions of justice and pathways towards finding formal and informal justice and health services. While in Ethiopia, Kristin looks forward to travelling, learning Amharic, and immersing herself in the local culture.

Alumni Update:

Kelsey is working in the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center as an Assistant Director, where she had the privilege of welcoming four African heads of state to their offices as part of the first-ever US-Africa Leaders Summit in August 2014. She’s also continued her quest to find the best Ethiopian restaurant in Washington, DC!

Fellow Bio:

Kelsey is from Williamsburg, VA. She graduated with a BA in Political Science from Davidson College, where she was involved in the student newspaper, political organizations, and a women’s eating house. While at Davidson, she spent a semester abroad in Geneva, Switzerland, and traveled to Bogotá, Colombia. She also spent a summer in Washington, DC through the Davidson in Washington program, where she interned at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. While in Ethiopia next year, Kelsey looks forward to meeting new people, trying to pick up the local languages, and documenting her year in photographs.

Alumni Update:

After working in The Gambia for three and a half years for Peace Corps as the Country Director (2014-2017), Jennifer transferred to Indonesia where she is currently the Peace Corps Country Director.

Alumni Update:

After ending her fellowship in Ethiopia, Jasmine moved to Haiti, where she was involved in post-earthquake recovery efforts. She then attended Columbia University, graduating with an MPA in Economic and Political Development. Serendipity led her back to Sierra Leone in 2013, where she is now the head of Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy for Sierra Rutile Limited, the mining company she worked with in partnership with Africare during her fellowship year to establish a technical vocational training institute for youth living in the mining community.

Fellow Bio:

After leaving Princeton, where she was a politics major with a certificate in African American studies, Jasmine spent several years working in the field of healthcare administration. Though born and raised on Long Island, NY, she has maintained a strong connection to her family’s country of origin— Haiti. Jasmine has been actively involved in the development of a rural medical clinic in southern Haiti, volunteering onsite as well as raising funds back in the U.S. to support the clinic’s growth. Jasmine has worked in the Foreign Policy division of The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank based in New York City, and spent last year in Sierra Leone working with Africare and Sierra Rutile through PiAf.

James graduated with a degree in Government and Legal Studies and is originally from Little Rock, Arkansas. He enjoys traveling, learning other languages, and outdoor activities like hiking and whitewater kayaking. At Bowdoin, he was on the rowing team and led a group of volunteer tutors who staff a study center at the Portland Housing Authority. He also had several major opportunities to travel and volunteer abroad, spending a summer teaching English and volunteering at a health clinic in Rwanda, 6 weeks spent as a kindergarten classroom assistant at Safe Passage in Guatemala City, and a semester in Lima, Peru studying and volunteering as a math tutor and leading a leadership workshop with disadvantaged urban youth at Building Dignity. While in Ethiopia next year, James looks forward to teaching Chemistry, learning Amharic, and getting involved with the health clinic at Project Mercy.

Alumni Update:

After her fellowship, Ida stayed in Ethiopia to work with a microfinance institution called the Amhara Credit and Savings Institution, which provides financial services to over one million productive poor in the Amhara region. She wrote the institution’s gender policy, including provisions for gender-responsive budgeting, gender mainstreaming in the provision of microfinance services, gender equitable staff recruitment and development, parental leave, and sexual harassment protocols. She also conducted an evaluation of the institution’s Youth Savings Program, primarily using surveys and client interviews. Upon returning to the U.S., she worked at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Division of Epidemiology, where she worked on a randomized controlled trial testing the effect of the timing of postpartum clinical visits on various postpartum health outcomes. Since June 2014, she has worked at Arabella Advisors, a philanthropy consulting firm, where she provides strategy, evaluation, and implementation consulting services to a wide range of institutional, family, and corporate clients, and specializes in the firm’s global philanthropy practice.

Fellow Bio:

Ida graduated with a major in Comparative Literature and Society and a concentration in Political Science. She is from Richmond, VA, and studied in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Peru during her undergraduate career. At Columbia, Ida provided consultations to assist low-income Harlem residents navigate government benefits systems as a volunteer with the Advocacy Coalition, and sang as a member of the Chamber Singers. She is an avid music lover, enjoys writing, and intends to be an advocate for social justice throughout her life. She looks forward to learning her heritage language, visiting relatives, making new friends, and eating delicious injera while in Ethiopia!

Alumni Update:

Elly is currently working for Mercy Corps as part of USAID’s Implementer-led Design, Evidence, Analysis and Learning (IDEAL) consortium as their Food Security Technical Officer. She is based in Washington, DC.

Fellow Bio:

Elly (Iowa State ‘08) graduated with a double major in Public Service and Administration in Agriculture and International Agriculture. A native of Sheffield, Iowa, Elly previously worked for the World Food Programme in Ghana as a 2010-2011 Princeton in Africa Fellow.  After such a positive experience the first time around, she was thrilled to receive the opportunity to do it all over again!  Prior to her year in Ghana, Elly worked for the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods and a small NGO in Liberia.  While she loved her time in Ghana, Elly is looking forward to experiencing a new culture, eating lots of Ethiopian food, learning a new side of WFP’s work (in Ghana she worked as a Programme Officer, in Ethiopia she will work in Public Information), and, of course, drinking lots and lots of Ethiopian coffee.

Elise is from Brookfield, VT and majored in International Politics with a concentration in International Security and a Certificate in African Studies while she attended Georgetown University. During her time at Georgetown, Elise had the opportunity to study abroad in Paris, France and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She loved both experiences, especially exploring new cultures and getting to use French and Swahili. In Tanzania, she interned for Chipua Institute for Social Transformation, and when she returned to the U.S. she worked at the Woodrow Wilson Center in their Africa Program and Project on Leadership and Building State Capacity. In her free time, Elise likes listening to music, hiking, laughing, learning new languages, and adventuring. She cannot wait for the opportunity to explore a new culture in Ethiopia, eat delicious food, learn Amharic, and meet amazing new people.

David is a History and French major from Delray Beach, FL. At Duke, he served as a coordinator for Camp Kesem North Carolina, a non-profit summer camp for kids with a parent affected by cancer, and volunteered as a counselor. David also participated in Mock Trial and the Duke Microfinance Leadership Initiative, though which he worked for a rural lending co-operative in Nkokonjeru, Uganda. After studying abroad in Paris, David interned in Cape Town, South Africa where he researched peer-education HIV/AIDS and health programs in prisons. In Ethiopia, David is looking forward to learning a bit of Amharic, trekking on the highlands, and drinking far too much coffee.

Fellow Bio:

Ciarra (University of Montana ‘11) was a member of the Betterside Rugby Club, promoted diversity and understanding with UM allies, was a member of Students for Economic and Social Justice, volunteered at the Cancer Resource Center, and helped incoming students integrate into campus life as a resident assistant. In her free time she completed the pre-med curriculum, obtained a bachelors degree in Anthropology, and minored in Biology and International Development Studies. An avid outdoor enthusiast from Salmon, Idaho, Ciarra enjoys snowboarding, rock climbing, white water rafting, and has worked as a wildland firefighter and helirappeller for the past four summers. In Ethiopia next year, she looks forward to delving deep into the cuisine, exploring Lalibela and other historic sites, and learning to speak Amharic.