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Humanity in Action is pleased to announce the 2014 Humanity in Action Diplomacy and Diversity Fellows. Humanity in Action Fellows are young professionals and future leaders who are dynamic, entrepreneurial and passionate about changing the world.
The Diplomacy and Diversity Fellowship was a transatlantic Humanity in Action program about the changing international dynamics of diplomacy and diversity. The program served to increase awareness of the importance of diversity in diplomacy and other international fields and to encourage the careers of professionals from minority backgrounds in foreign affairs. The program was offered in the summer, 2014 – 2016.
Humanity in Action is an international educational organization. We educate, inspire and connect a global network of students, young professionals and established leaders committed to promoting human rights, diversity and active citizenship—in their own communities and around the world.
Humanity in Action supports all Fellows financially for the duration of their programs, allowing for the merit-based selection of diverse applicants.
The 2014 Diplomacy and Diversity Fellows
Wendell Adjetey
Yale University
An apprenticing historian, Wendell Adjetey is a Joint PhD student in the Department of History and the Department of African American Studies at Yale University. His doctoral research examines inter- and post-war civil rights activism and industrial relations in North America. Prior to starting his doctorate, Wendell spent three years working as a case manager in a youth gang intervention program in north Toronto. Before this work, he founded and successfully led an award-winning non-profit organization for marginalized youth, in addition to several years of experience consulting on education, health care, and child welfare policy. He maintains a strong interest in human rights and international relations: Wendell has conducted in-depth research on child soldiering in Sierra Leone, nuclear proliferation, and US-Israeli strategic relations. Wendell earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Toronto. He speaks Gã, his native tongue, fluently.
Najma Ahmed Hussein
Sciences Po Toulouse
Najma Ahmed Hussein is a French-Somali student studying for an MPA at Sciences Po Toulouse and an LL.M in public law at the Université Toulouse 1 Capitole. She worked previously as an administrative assistant at the Legislation and Quality of Law Department of the Office of the French Secretary of Government. Prior to that, she interned at the Office of the Prosecutor of the Djibouti Court of First Instance where she worked on a legal assistance project. She also conducted research for the Office of the Prosecutor’s legal team, drafting Djibouti’s Child Protection Code. Najma was born in Kenya and raised in Germany and France.
Grazyna Baranowska
Polish Academy of Sciences
Grazyna Baranowska is a researcher in the Poznan Human Rights Centre of the Institute of Legal Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences, where she also works on her doctorate about enforced disappearances in Europe. She received her MSc in European studies (2009) and Turkish Philology (2011) from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan. Her main fields of research are the universal system of human rights protection, enforced disappearances and human rights in Turkey. Grazyna completed a five-month fellowship program at the Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid in the German Parliament. Grazyna was born in Poland and raised in Berlin.
Bastiaan Bouwman
University of Amsterdam
Bastiaan Bouwman recently finished an internship at Justice and Peace Netherlands, an international human rights NGO. He worked on the Shelter City program, through which he supported a threatened Rwandese lawyer and human rights defender, who had been given temporary shelter in The Hague. Previously, Bastiaan was a junior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, where he conducted research on the Cold War history of nuclear weapons and of human rights. Bastiaan received his research MA in history at the University of Amsterdam, as well as his BA in Philosophy. Bastiaan was born and raised in Amsterdam.
Miya Cain
Harvard University
Miya Cain is a first year MPP student at the Harvard Kennedy School. Previously, she worked in Washington, D.C. as a political appointee for the Obama Administration at the Department of Health and Human Services and as a White House Associate in the Office of the Vice President. Miya also worked as a Supply Chain Analyst for Partners in Health in rural Rwanda, where she helped improve the management and distribution of essential medicines and medical supplies. In addition, she worked to improve care for premature babies and streamline services at an HIV clinic for youth. Miya received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology-Behavioral Neuroscience from Yale University. She was born and raised in Miami, Florida.
K. Melchor Quick Hall
American University
Kia Hall is a Ph.D. candidate in international relations at American University in Washington, DC with an anticipated graduation date of May 2014. Her research in international development, funded by a Fulbright research grant, took her into the Afro-indigenous Garifuna community of Honduras, where she studied grassroots development. As an extension of this research, Kia launched a fund- and awareness- raising web campaign about the makers of ereba (or cassava bread in English) in the Iriona region of Honduras. Previously, she studied computer and information science (M.S., Temple University) and mathematics (B.A., Sarah Lawrence College). After graduation, Kia plans to continue researching development challenges for marginalized populations and advocating for social justice.
Terrol Graham
Yale University
Terrol immigrated to Florida from Jamaica in 2002. He graduated from Wake Forest University in 2011. Terrol is now a graduate student at the Yale School of Public Health with a focus on health policy administration and global health. In his first year, he was a Yale World Fellows graduate student affiliate for the World Health Organization’s team leader on tuberculosis in China. He has worked on health initiatives in Jamaica with the United Nations Development Programme and the Harvard School of Public Health. In 2012 and 2013, he studied at the University of Copenhagen Centre for African Studies as a Rotary Ambassadorial scholar.
Jasmin Hasic
Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli di Roma
Jasmin Hasić is a current Ph.D. candidate focusing on political theory at the Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli di Roma in Rome. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in law from the University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He also holds a BA in European studies and international relations from Masaryk University and a MA in political science from the Central European University in Hungary. He has previously worked as a trainee at the European Parliament in Brussels and as research analyst at the Centre for Security Studies in Sarajevo. His research interests include diaspora studies, transitional justice and constitutional law and comparative political systems. Jasmin is a Humanity in Action Senior Fellow (2009).
Michael Hayes
Columbia University
Michael Hayes is a graduate student pursuing dual degrees at Columbia University and the London School of Economics. Prior to graduate school, he worked as an analyst at the strategy and consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. Michael received his undergraduate degree from Clark Atlanta University in speech communication where he was awarded the Graduate Rangel Fellowship. He was born and raised in Antioch, California.
Audrey Hsieh
Georgetown University
Audrey Hsieh is a current graduate student at Georgetown University’s security studies program. Previously, she served in the US Army as a Psychological Operations officer. While in the military she deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen. Since leaving the uniformed service, she has continued to seek opportunities for public service by interning with the Office of Under Secretary of Defense – Acquisitions, Technology and Logistics and the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. She received her undergraduate degree in international studies with a minor in women and gender studies from The College of New Jersey. In her free time, she enjoys competitive karaoke and running. Audrey grew up in Ramsey, New Jersey.
Daphné Joseph-Gabriel
EMLYON Business School
A French-Caribbean student, Daphné Joseph-Gabriel was born and raised in the Netherlands. She is currently pursing a Master’s degree in economics, corporate strategy, and corporate social responsibility at EMLYON Business School in Écully, France. Her thesis focuses on conflict minerals (e.g. Coltan) in the digital age, fragile states, and the roles of multinational corporations. She has worked with the European External Action Service in Brussels, the European Urban Development Program in Paris, and the European Space Agency and Aerospace Consultancy in Washington, DC. Recently, she assisted the Trade Department of the U.S Embassy in Paris. She is fluent in English and French.
Jessie Landerman
Harvard University
Jessica Landerman is a master in public policy candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She is currently the Chair of Campus Climate for the Student Diversity Committee and the Chair of Media Advocacy for the Human Rights Professional Interest Council. Before pursuing graduate school, Jessie worked as a documentary filmmaker and a human rights advocate in Argentina, Nicaragua and the United States. She is passionate about using technology and communications to promote civic and political participation and empowerment, particularly among women and marginalized populations. Jessie was born and raised in Durham, North Carolina, and received her Bachelor’s Degree in cultural anthropology from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.
Giselle Lopez
American University
Giselle Lopez is pursuing a master’s degree in international peace and conflict resolution at American University’s School of International Service. At American, she serves as President of Creative Peace Initiatives, a graduate student organization, and received the El Hibri Foundation Peace Education Scholarship for her work in promoting awareness of nonviolent struggle in Bahrain. Through her studies and work as a research associate with the Public International Law and Policy Group, Giselle has gained experience working on issues of transitional justice and rule of law issues in Arab states. Giselle received her undergraduate degree in international studies with a focus in human rights and law from the University of Washington. She was born and raised in California and Texas.
Johannes Lukas Gartner
Humboldt University and Johns Hopkins University
Johannes Lukas Gartner is a graduate student in in law at Humboldt University Berlin and in international relations at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Previously, Johannes worked at the Centro Nacional de Comunicación Social in Mexico City, where he was involved in the preparation, launch and monitoring of a large-scale federal press freedom campaign. He has also worked at the United Nations Development Programme, the European Union Fundamental Rights Agency and multinational law firms in Istanbul and London. Johannes received his undergraduate education in law from King’s College, London. Born and raised in Vienna, Austria, he spent a year at the age of 15 as an American Field Service exchange student in the rural countryside of Panama.
Etienne Mashuli
Yale University
Born and raised in Rwanda, Etienne Mashuli has lived in Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Etienne is an MA student in African studies at Yale University. A life-long advocate for education, he is the co-founder of Ubuntu in Action, an organization that promotes peace through education in the Great Lakes region of Africa. Etienne is a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow and a Humanity in Action Senior Fellow (2012).
Ava Morgenstern
University of Michigan
Ava Morgenstern is a doctoral student and Graduate Student Instructor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her research interests include comparative immigration policy and social movements, human rights, and the Americas. She received her BA in sociology from Brandeis University. Ava has lived in New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Michigan, and has also volunteered or researched in California, Peru, and Northern Ireland. Ava is a Humanity in Action Senior Fellow (2008).
Jake Nelson
Yale University
Jake Nelson is a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State, originally from Williamsburg, Virginia. He recently received his MA in European and Russian studies from Yale University, where he worked as a teaching fellow in the history department and wrote a thesis on François Hollande’s counterterrorism rhetoric. Prior to graduate school, he worked at the Department of State as a specialist on European human rights and multilateral diplomacy. He received a BA in music and French and Francophone studies from the College of William & Mary. Jake grew up in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Fabiana Perera
The George Washington University
Fabiana Perera is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science at The George Washington University. Fabiana is also an Honorary Teaching Fellow and Teaching Coach at The Global Language Network and served on the board of the alumni association of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities for six years. Fabiana has an MA in Latin American studies from Georgetown University where she was a fellow in languages and area studies. Fabiana was born in New Jersey and raised in Caracas, Venezuela.
Kyle Rohrich
Tufts University
Kyle Rohrich is a master’s student at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University focusing on international conflict resolution and public international law. Kyle’s interests include diplomatic studies, EU diplomacy, human rights, and the Europe/Eurasia region. Kyle was a Boren Scholar in the Kyrgyz Republic. While studying the Kyrgyz and Russian languages, he volunteered for local LGBT human rights organizations as well as Freedom House. Kyle has also worked at the US State Department and has conducted his own field research assessing the conflict dynamics of the Basque Country in Spain. He received his BA in political science and Spanish from Nebraska Wesleyan University. He speaks Spanish, Kyrgyz, Russian, and French. Kyle was born and raised in Pierce, Nebraska.
Goleen Samari
University of California, Los Angeles
Goleen Samari is a Ph.D. candidate in community health sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Fielding School of Public Health. Her dissertation focuses on determinants of women’s autonomy over the last 15 years in Egypt and the subsequent impact on fertility. She also holds a master of public health and an MA in Islamic studies from UCLA and completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a Bixby Doctoral Fellow in Population and a pre-doctoral trainee with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Recently, she worked with the International Organization on Migration in South Africa. Goleen serves as a National level judge for US Figure Skating. She grew up in Austin, Texas.
Herve Thomas
Princeton University
Hervé is pursuing a master’s in public affairs at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School where he focuses on economics and environmental policy. Previously, he worked for the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Germany. He spent nearly three years in Afghanistan with USAID, serving as Acting Water Team Leader, Agriculture Development Officer, and Team Lead for the Paktya province. Hervé worked in Iraq with the US State Department, the National Democratic Institute, the International Medical Corps and RTI International. Born in Orange, New Jersey, he grew up in Port-au- Prince, Haiti. He holds a BA (honors) in Arabic and a BA (honors and distinction) in development studies from The Ohio State University. As a Boren Scholar, he studied at The American University in Cairo from 2002-2003. Hervé was also a John Glenn Fellow and is currently one of three inaugural USAID Donald M. Payne International Development Fellows.
Jessica Wamala
Villanova University
Jessica Wamala graduated from Villanova University in May with majors in political science, Arab and Islamic studies, and global interdisciplinary studies. She is a Truman Scholar, a Rangel Scholar and a Gates Millennium Scholar. She is now pursuing an MA in political science at Villanova. In the fall, Jessica will read for the MPhil in modern Middle East studies at the University of Oxford as a 2014 Rhodes Scholar. Jessica has interned at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade and at the State Department office of Near Eastern Affairs. A sophomore walk-on, Jessica was co-captain of Villanova’s 2013-2014 Division I varsity basketball team. She has done extensive volunteer work with Philadelphia’s homeless. Ultimately, she plans to pursue a career in the Foreign Service. Jessica grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts.
Tsione Wolde-Michael
Harvard University
Tsione Wolde-Michael is a Ph.D. candidate in history at Harvard University with a secondary field concentration in African and African American studies. Her academic interests have intersected with public history and policy to highlight the histories of marginalized groups and provide critical policy recommendations on issues ranging from economic diplomacy in east Africa to gender and security in Eastern Europe. She has won fellowships and awards for her research from the Ford Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, and the US Department of Education among others. Her professional experience includes working in curatorial at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, and conducting policy analysis at the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She holds a B.A. in women and gender studies from Macalester College where she was a Mellon-Mays Undergraduate Fellow. Tsione grew up in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She is a Humanity in Action Senior Fellow (2008).
Sørine Vesth Rasmussen
London School of Economics
Born in Denmark, Sørine Vesth Rasmussen has spent nearly half of her life abroad. She holds a bachelor’s in psychology and human rights from Kingston University and a MS in politics and conflict studies from the London School of Economics. She has experience working within the political and business realm of grassroots organizations in Denmark, El Salvador, India, the United Kingdom and the United States. Sørine continues to study the subjects of economies during conflict, human trafficking, and minority and women’s rights. She currently works as a consultant for the Consortium for Global Talent as well as serving as the Head of Danish Students Abroad. Sørine is a Humanity in Action Senior Fellow (2011) and completed the Lantos- Humanity in Action Fellowship in the US Congress.