Isis Blanco Vera

Isis Vera is a Program Analyst for the Africa Bureau’s Office of Sustainable Development in the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). She holds a Master’s Degree in Agricultural and Environmental Education from the University of Georgia with a certificate in International Agriculture. She served as the Congressional Hispanic … Read more

Host Organization: Foundation for Ecological Security & International Food Policy Research Institute First Year Placement Anand, Gujarat, India Isis is currently in Anand, India, working with the Foundation for Ecological Security as a Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist. As part of … Read more

Michael Wang

Michael Wang, originally from Wisconsin, graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2019 with an MPhil in Public Health. His Master’s research ranged from examining the social determinants of diarrheal disease and infant undernutrition in Myanmar to evaluating the impact of digital health interventions in managing non-communicable diseases. Prior to … Read more

Host Organization: International Food Policy Research Institute First Year Placement Yangon, Myanmar Based in Yangon, Myanmar, Michael worked with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) to support the development and implementation of a nationally representative integrated household survey on … Read more

Robert Zager

Bob graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 2003 with a double major in Mechanical Engineering and Political Economy. He led a student service trip to Guatemala and participated in service trips to Ghana and New Mexico. Bob spent a summer in Ghana as an intern for the Missouri … Read more

Elizabeth Whelan

Elizabeth studied Poetry Writing and Religion at the University of Virginia. The summer after her first year of college, she returned to Zambia (where her family had lived for five years) to volunteer at an orphanage while compiling a photo-essay. Upon her return, she created a website to raise funds … Read more

Bi Vuong

Bi is originally from Hawaii and she graduated from Kenyon College in Ohio with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. She has been involved in programs for inner-city children and teenagers from large, low-income families in both the District of Columbia and Scotland. While at Kenyon, she also served as … Read more

Jeanine LaFratta

Jeanine, a native of southern California, graduated magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame in 2003 with a joint degree in Political Science and Theology and a concentration in Public Service. She was elected to Student Senate, worked at the Center for Social Concerns for three years, spent … Read more

Wick Ruehling

Wick graduated from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia where he majored in Public Policy.  At W&L he served as vice president of the Student Activities Board and played varsity soccer.  Wick interned with Total Action Against Poverty in Roanoke, Virginia where he worked with Head Start and the … Read more

Bridget Purdue

Bridget is from Lexington, Kentucky, and is a 2003 graduate of the University of Notre Dame, where she majored in Economics with a minor in Philosophy and Politics.  At Notre Dame, Bridget worked as a court watch volunteer for a local YWCA Domestic Violence shelter, helped to research and develop … Read more

Rebekah Park

Rebekah graduated cum laude and with honors from Northwestern University in 2002, where she received the Jane S. Mansbridge Scholar Activist Award by the NU Women Faculty for her leadership in activist organizations and academic research grants.  Rebekah worked extensively on intersecting issues related to drug users, HIV/AIDS, and women.  … Read more

Amaliya Morgan-Brown

Amaliya graduated from Lewis and Clark College in Oregon with a degree in International Affairs and a senior thesis titled The Agreement on Agriculture: Food Security in Developing Countries.  As a 2002-2003 AmeriCorps* VISTA volunteer working with Just Food of New York City she helped organize a Community Supported Agriculture … Read more

Shana McDavis-Conway

Shana is a graduate of the University of Delaware, where she majored in Anthropology and Women’s Studies and minored in Theater and History.  She also spent a semester researching domestic partner benefits at the National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality in Johannesburg, South Africa.  Shana then served as an … Read more

Rajiv Magge

Rajiv is a 2003 graduate of Dartmouth College where he was pre-med and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology Modified with Psychology. Rajiv has served as a Research Assistant in Psychological and Brain Sciences, Biological Sciences, and Physiology, and as an Executive Board Member and volunteer with VISIONS … Read more