Originally from Denver, Colorado, Aliyah Fard recently graduated with a B.A. in environmental politics from Whitman College. Aliyah has always been interested in the overlap between environmental issues and racial injustices and her interest particularly in food justice and equity was ignited by working with organizations that collaborate with multiple … Read more
Lauren Drumgold
Lauren is a native of Harlem, New York City, where she grew up observing economic, social and health inequities in her neighborhood compared to the more affluent communities across the city. She graduated from Bates College in 2019 where she received her B.S. in Biology with a minor in African … Read more
Isabella Dresser
Isabella is a first-generation American from Hartford, Connecticut. She recently graduated summa cum laude from Trinity College in May 2022, double-majoring with honors in Political Science and Human Rights Studies. During undergrad, Isabella interned and participated in various organizations and programs in the field of public interest including the Connecticut … Read more
Allison Bunyan
Allison is from Los Angeles, California where she graduated from CSU Northridge with a BS in Global Supply Chain Management and a minor in Economics. While in school, she worked in many fields such as transportation planning, international affairs, economic development, and public policy. During her 2019-2020 service as a … Read more
Jazmyne Brooks
Jazmyne is originally from West Texas, where her lived experience with issues such as industrial agriculture and community disinvestment cultivated her passion for developing systems that center and nurture community, health, and the environment. Jazmyne has been a community organizer and nonprofit professional for five years advocating for reproductive justice … Read more
Natalie Petrulla
Prior to becoming a Leland Fellow, Natalie worked as a Gender Integration Associate with EnCompass on the USAID Feed the Future Advancing Women’s Empowerment program, providing technical assistance for gender integration in agriculture and market systems programs. She conducted qualitative research and developed practical tools focused on increasing women’s decision-making … Read more
Host Organization: NCBA CLUSA First Year Placement Dakar, Senegal Natalie worked as a Gender and Research Fellow with NCBA CLUSA, supporting the USAID Feed the Future Kawolor program in Dakar, Senegal. The aim of this program was to improve nutrition … Read more
Mary Kate Cartmill
Mary Kate holds an MPH from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis with a concentration in Global Health. Her thesis, completed in partnership with USAID’s Feed the Future Fish Innovation Lab, utilized qualitative methods to understand the barriers to fish consumption during the complementary feeding period in … Read more
Host Organization: Tanager First Year Placement Nairobi, Kenya Based in Nairobi, Kenya, Mary Kate worked as a Research and Nutrition Specialist providing nutrition-sensitive and gender mainstreaming support to the Impacting Gender & Nutrition through Innovative Technical Exchange in Agriculture (IGNITE) … Read more
Liz Margolis
Elizabeth is an experienced policy and data analyst in the field of food and gender, with strong communications skills and a passion for humanitarian response and social development. Her research has focused on Food Systems, Security, Sovereignty, and Anthropologies, Social Development and Protection, Sexuality and Gender, Latin America and Guatemala, … Read more
Host Organization: World Vision International First Year Placement Denver, Colorado (remote) As a recipient of the Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellowship (’21-’23), Liz worked in humanitarian advocacy and food security policy with World Vision International. She was responsible for food … Read more
Lexi Kirton
After working in international trade and public procurement for several years, Alexandra Kirton made a career transition to focus on food systems and emergency management. She began this transition at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service where she earned her Master of Public Administration with a … Read more
Host Organization: Mercy Corps First Year Placement Washington, D.C. (remote) During her first year, Lexi worked with Mercy Corps as a Program Specialist for Resilience, Sustainability & Integration. In this role, Lexi contributed to Mercy Corps’ work on the USAID … Read more
Felipe Cook
Felipe Cook was born in Fairbanks, Alaska, at 30 below. He later graduated from the University of New Mexico with a BA in Political Science and included a year of international policy studies at the University of Leeds, U.K. Felipe worked in education in the Teach For America Phoenix Cohort … Read more
Host Organization: ACDI/VOCA First Year Placement Phonsavan, Laos Felipe was based in the Philippines, working primarily on the Cooperative Development Program Philippines at ACDI/VOCA as a cooperative development specialist. Felipe concentrated on improving the cooperative’s business performances by delivering market … Read more
Farah Ahmad
Farah Ahmad graduated from The Friedman School at Tufts University and Tufts University School of Medicine in 2020 with an MS/ MPH in Public Health Nutrition. For her Master’s of Science Internship, Farah joined the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) as a Tisch International Nutrition Fellow. While at the USDA … Read more
Host Organization: Mercy Corps First Year Placement Washington, D.C. For her first year, Farah supported Mercy Corps’ US Policy and Advocacy team in bringing education, technical program understanding, and policy awareness to internal and external audiences in the food security … Read more
Doug Nagie
Doug holds a dual BA in History and in International Studies from the University of Utah. He studied international development in Dakar, Senegal, and with RECODEF, a Senegalese NGO which promotes economic development, sustainable agriculture, and women’s equality in the rural community of Fissel. He has experience working in communities … Read more
Host Organization: ACDI/VOCA First Year Placement Siguiri, Guinea Doug worked at SADA and CDP, programs by ACDI/VOCA to strengthen cashew and other agricultural value chains in northern Guinea. He worked with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) team to track … Read more