Alumni Directory Display

Ben graduated with honors from Claremont McKenna College in 2017 with a degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE). At CMC, Ben worked as a Research Assistant at the Rose Institute of State and Local Government where he led a number of fiscal analysis projects, as well as for SOURCE, a student-run nonprofit consulting organization. In 2014, Ben traveled to Rwanda where he lived in a rural village and co-founded a crop storage and distribution enterprise—a transformative experience that inspired him to return to the continent and continue exploring how market-based solutions can be used to alleviate poverty. The following summer, Ben worked for Asia Pacific Investment Partners, an investment group in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia where he worked on a variety of projects. Most recently, Ben spent the summer as a Talent Consulting Intern at Mercer where he honed his analytical and quantitative skills. Growing up in Eugene, Oregon, Ben enjoys all things outdoors, particularly skiing, rock climbing, and hiking. He is incredibly honored for this opportunity in Malawi and looks forward to working towards enhancing the business environment in the region and also exploring the continent with other Fellows!

Alumni Update:

Maya completed her MA in International Development from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in May 2019. She is starting work as a Senior Consultant at Athena Infonomics, a development consulting firm that focuses mainly on water and sanitation and urban development in Africa and South Asia.

Fellow Bio:

Maya is a Politics major with a certificate in African Studies, from Seattle, WA. At Princeton, she enjoyed playing rugby, leading Outdoor Action backpacking trips, and cooking with the International Food Co-op. She loves to travel, and studied abroad in Ghana and South Africa. Her summers have been spent planning a school-based deworming program with Deworm the World in New Delhi, and interning in the data department of Obama for America. Maya wrote her senior thesis on refugee voting rights, and looks forward to learning more about refugee issues at the International Rescue Committee. She is also excited to explore Kenya, learn Swahili and meet new friends in Nairobi.

As a daughter of Eritrean immigrants, Rawan was motivated to alleviate some of the harsh realities facing African communities.  To exercise this passion of serving Africa, she started The Ubuntu Project (www.theubuntuproj.com), a mission driven organization dedicated to bridging the gap between creativity and compassion. The Ubuntu Project utilizes the One-for-One model: for every purchase made, a social cause in Africa is supported. All products are African themed, thus allowing Africans to represent their roots locally while empowering African communities globally. Through The Ubuntu Project, Rawan aims to foster hope and encouragement from within by supporting effective causes in Africa and inspiring young Africans to take an active role towards the betterment of their communities. Rawan is a management consultant by day and a social entrepreneur by night. Aside from The Ubuntu Project, her management consulting career has allowed her to work in a variety of enterprise-wide initiatives, for Fortune 500 clients – including Toyota, Cisco, DirecTV, ATT, and BP – in a variety of industries and roles. Rawan graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles as Magna Cum Lade. In addition, Rawan participated in business programs at UCLA Anderson, UC Berkeley Haas Business School, and Yale School of Management.

Alumni Update:

Since making her way back to the US from Uganda, Flannery has done some Monitoring and Evaluation consulting work for PiAf and worked in investigations of police misconduct in NYC. She is now pursuing a joint degree in Law and Public Health at Vanderbilt and Johns Hopkins respectively, but is pining for a trip back to Uganda. She will leave Nashville for a year this June to complete the public health portion of her program. If anyone is in Nashville or Baltimore, please look her up!

Fellow Bio:

Flannery (Columbia ‘11) is an Urban Studies major from Baltimore, Maryland. While at Columbia, she was co-captain of the varsity lacrosse team, served as an editor of an urban affairs magazine, and spent some time teaching conflict resolution skills in a New York City middle school. In her free time she enjoys exploring cities, reading, and doing spin classes. She is excited to return to Africa for the first time since studying abroad at the University of Cape Town in 2009. In Uganda, Flannery is looking forward to learning more about the work at Invisible Children, becoming familiar with the culture of Gulu, and taking lots of pictures.

Kwame is from Mandeville, Jamaica and studied anthropology with a minor in American studies and a concentration in African studies at Macalester College. He graduated in 2011. He is passionate about the performing arts and contributed to many theater, dance and music productions at Macalester. In his junior year, Kwame studied abroad in Johannesburg, South Africa. Since graduation, he has been an Assistant Language teacher of English in Japan. Kwame is looking forward to being back in Southern Africa, reconnecting with old friends and making new ones, being a part of the Maru-A-Pula family, immersing himself in the performing arts, learning a new language and creating more life-long memories.

Sophia studied Public Policy Analysis and Global Health at Pomona College. While at Pomona, she worked as an HIV testing counselor for a local, free clinic and served as a peer health educator on campus. During her junior year, Sophia spent a semester studying community health in Botswana. After graduating in 2013, Sophia interned with UNAIDS in Kenya, supporting the Pan-African Positive Women’s Coalition in the finalization of their strategic framework and constitution. After returning from Kenya, Sophia worked in HIV vaccine development while volunteering with Partners in Health and Amigos de las Americas. In Tanzania this year, Sophia is looking forward to improving her Swahili, eating lots of fish from Lake Victoria, and learning from inspiring coworkers and patients at BIPAI!

Alumni Update:

Yash now works as Deputy Country Director at One Acre Fund’s Malawi program. He spends most of his time fiddling with their back-end systems (logistics, client services) and operations strategy to ensure improved client experience. He lives in (and continues to love!) Zomba, Malawi.

Fellow Bio:

Yash is originally from Mumbai, India. For some crazy reason, he decided to leave the warm coastal locales of Mumbai and ended up in frigid Ithaca, studying Natural Resources at Cornell University. While at Cornell, he was part of the Big Red Raas team (a western Indian dance form) and a founding member of Cornell Tarana, a South Asian a capella group. Yash studied abroad in Kenya and Tanzania in fall 2011, where he wrestled (read as “observed from a safe distance”) with elephants, hunted (with cameras) lions and conducted (backbreaking) research on land use change on the northern slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro. As an avid birdwatcher, Yash hopes to add a couple hundred more central and southern African bird species to his bird list while in Zambia, in addition to learning the local language, listening to psychedelic Zambian rock from the 70s, driving a safari vehicle at least once (I don’t speed, no worries) and engaging with the world of corporate responsibility and sustainability.

Although she was born and raised in Los Angeles, Melissa braved the arctic tundra of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she graduated with honors in 2015. She majored in International Studies, with an emphasis on global environment/health, and held dual minors in Science, Technology, and Society and African Studies. While in school, she was an intern for the Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation, served as an Employment Specialist Intern with the International Rescue Committee, and was an intern with USAID’s Office of HIV/AIDS communications team. As part of a class on South African history, Melissa traveled to the country where she spent three weeks doing research on HIV treatment/prevention programs. She also spent half of her junior year abroad in Barcelona in a Spanish culture and immersion program. (Melissa is fluent in Spanish and has working proficiency in French.) Melissa has a long-standing concern with issues relating to global health, disaster/emergency aid, and hunger relief. She is excited to apply all she has learned to her work with the World Food Programme. In her spare time, she enjoys soccer – a game she hopes to continue playing while in South Africa. Before she comes back to the U.S., Melissa hopes to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.