Catherine has over five years of experience in the nonprofit sector and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the University of Nairobi in Kenya. While working as a refugee status determination assistant with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), she determined whether people seeking international protection could be considered refugees under international, regional, or national law. She also worked as a resettlement intern at UNHCR, supporting the transfer of refugees seeking asylum in Kenya to third states willing to admit and ultimately grant them permanent settlement. Previously, she was founder and CEO of the nonprofit Pitch a Dream Organization, where she cultivated a reading culture by running reading and writing workshops in rural, underprivileged schools. Before this, Catherine gained one-and-a-half years of legal working experience for two law firms. In addition, Catherine volunteered for one year with the Arts in Medicine program at Mater Hospital in Nairobi, where she gained experience on using an artistic approach to working with children. She also volunteered for a year with a USAID- and PEPFAR-funded local nonprofit, Lifeskills Promoters, where she trained primary-school students on life skills and educated them on HIV, AIDS, and children’s rights. Catherine has participated in leadership training, including the USAID-funded Young African Leadership Initiative in 2015 to hone her leadership and management skills. Through these experiences, she has developed strong project planning, coordination, implementation, and monitoring skills on the grass-roots and policy levels. Catherine enjoys focusing on the topics of education, development, and international humanitarian affairs, and she has a strong passion for working with vulnerable people.
Host Organization: Northwestern University Buffett Institute for Global Studies
Role at Host Organization: Catherine will manage specific undergraduate initiatives across our global engagement programming, including the Buffett Award for Emerging Global Leaders, the undergraduate Fellows program, and project and research grant opportunities. She will contribute to partnership management, development, assessment work, and student preparation/orientation in the Global Engagement Studies Institute and Community-Based Research programs, especially with sites in East Africa. Catherine also will help to manage the transition of the Books & Breakfast program to new university partner.