Class 3

Sam Hedlund is an international development specialist and blogger with extensive experience in the administration of USAID-funded projects. He has a particular background in the public health, education, and governance sectors. Sam comes to Atlas Corps after serving as a Senior Program Assistant at the A2Z Micronutrient and Child Blindness Project at the Academy for Educational Development in Washington, DC. During his time at A2Z, he supported multiple large activities, including the logistics for a conference in Beijing, China with over 600 participants. Previously, at Management Systems International, Sam worked on numerous proposals and projects, including the Paraguay MCC Threshold anti-corruption project, the Mexico ProDerecho judicial reform project, and the 2006 NGO Sustainability Index for Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia. His experience also includes internships at World Vision, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, El Rescate, and the Argentinean nonprofit Asociación Conciencia. An avid writer and communicator, Sam has written a variety of newspaper articles and online content. From 2007 to 2008, he wrote a blog on the role of climate and energy policy in the U.S. presidential campaign, and currently is focusing his writing projects on new approaches to personal and organizational development. Sam belongs to Young Professionals in Foreign Policy and the Society for International Development. A native of Northern California, Sam holds a dual B.A. in International Studies and Spanish from Pepperdine University.

Host Organization: Global Humanitaria

Pinky has nearly eight years of experience of non-profit as well as corporate sector. Her core skills are development communication, networking and partnership building, advocacy and project management. She is actively engaged with human rights issues related to drug use, anti human trafficking and empowerment of women and children. Since 2007, Pinky has been working with United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Regional Office for South Asia. During her term, Pinky assisted the Office in mainstreaming and addressing its mandates. She has also closely worked with the South Asian media, parliamentarians, corporates, civil society and advocacy groups. Along with a media advocacy group, she helped set up the National coalition of Nepali journalists and artistes to combat human trafficking in Nepal. She has also been involved in sensitizing journalists from the South Asian (SA) region on rights based reporting. She played a critical role in mobilizing and building the capacity of 140 grassroots level NGOs on drugs and HIV/AIDS prevention. Pinky has closely worked with the marginalized communities and women groups of backward states of India such as Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram, Bihar, UttarPradesh, and Orissa among others. Her previous assignments have been with WWF-India, NERCRMP-IFAD and E, lexicon. Pinky is voluntarily associated with Development Consortium, an NGO that works on development issues, National Media Coalition against Gender Violence, Human Trafficking and HIV/AIDS (media group which promotes rights based reporting in the SA region) and Dishoooom.com, which provides a platform for citizen voice, action and journalism. Pinky holds a B.A. from Cotton College, Assam, India, and a postgraduate degree in advertising and public relations from the Indian Institute of Mass Communications in New Delhi. Pinky is also an active blogger and uses her blog http://solidarityfordevelopment.wordpress.com/ to highlight the development issues of her country and the region. Most recently, until August 2009, she was a communication and advocacy officer at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Regional Office for South Asia. She has also closely worked with the various advocacy media groups and has helped set up the National coalition of Nepali journalists and artistes from film and music industry against human trafficking in Nepal. She has also been involved in sensitizing journalists from the South Asian region on rights based reporting.”

Host Organization: Population Action International (PAI)

Paola has four years of experience in the nonprofit sector. Her previous experience includes working with AIESEC, an international organization that promotes leadership in young people with the goal to create change agents for a positive impact on society, and in the field of corporate social responsibility. Her experience also includes working with the tannery industry of Bogotá and the social and environmental problems related to the sector. Paola has also worked in Mexico as a marketing assistant at McGraw Hill Companies where she conducted online research, created presentations, and worked to promote the leadership of women in the company. Most recently, as the junior marketing coordinator and studies advisor for International House Bogotá, a network of language schools throughout the Bogotá area, Paola recruited students, organized social and cultural activities, and created advertising proposals to increase the number of students and promote activities. She is also starting a project with the Minci Foundation which will benefit young entrepreneurs from high school who want to create their own companies. Paola earned her B.A. in business administration from La Salle University in Bogotá.

Host Organization: CentroNia

Masoora has four years of nonprofit experience. Most recently, she was a program development officer in education for Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) where she played a key role in improving the quality of education in different areas of Pakistan. Previous jobs have included working at a nonprofit dedicated to ending child sexual abuse and as a volunteer in a global exchange program, both in a rural Pakistani village and in the UK. Masoora has conducted many sessions voluntarily to promote volunteerism in Pakistan and aims to bring a positive reputation of her country through mobilizing the youth leadership in Pakistan. Through these experiences, she has developed managerial and analytical skills, along with strong aptitude for planning, implementing and coordinating various projects. She has broad knowledge of community development, child rights, volunteer management and youth issues in Pakistan. Masoora holds a postgraduate degree in defense and strategic studies from Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan.

Host Organization: Asian American LEAD

Katia has four years of professional experience. She has worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Brazil as a health program assistant where she was responsible for monitoring grantees’ financial reporting. She also assisted other programs such as the At-Risk Program and participated in the design process of the USAID strategy against Trafficking in Persons in Brazil. Katia received a B.A. in political science and a graduate level certificate in state and civil society from the Universidade de Brasília, and was awarded highest honor for her dissertation on the role of nonprofit organizations in the fight against HIV/AIDS. She earned a master’s degree in international development policy from Duke University, where she was a Rotary World Peace Fellow. As part of her master’s program, Katia was selected by the Duke-Geneva Program on Global Policy and Governance, to intern for the migration and health department of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), where her knowledge on HIV/AIDS was critical to further her knowledge on emergencies and the several implications of international cross-border movements.

Host Organization: International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children

Jennifer brings five years of experience in the nonprofit and media sectors. Currently she serves as a media coordinator and an executive council member with the One World Youth Project, a youth led organization committed to working towards the achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals while empowering young people all over the world. She is also an active voice in her home country of Nigeria. Jennifer works as a journalist while also volunteering for various youth development projects. She served as a youth intern at Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS) and was also one of nine Nigerian and nine British youths who took part in a six-month Jos-Birmingham Global Xchange programme sponsored by the British Council and Voluntary Service Overseas in 2005. Jennifer writes a weekly youth column called “Dis generation” (www.youthmakingchange.blogspot.com) for The Nation, one of Nigeria’s national newspapers. Her first book In Days to Come was published by the Young Poet Society UK in 2004. Jennifer is very passionate about the media and youth development issues. She is a vivacious volunteer who encourages young people to engage themselves and build their skills through active volunteering. Jennifer received a National Diploma in mass communication from the Nigerian Institute of Journalism in Ogba Ikeja Lagos.

Host Organization: One World Youth Project

Becky brings over eight years of nonprofit experience working with numerous grassroots organizations in Kenya; implementing and coordinating community projects and programs; and serving in various leadership capacities as a researcher, educator, consultant and entrepreneur. After graduating from college, Becky worked with the Africa Medical Research Foundation (AMREF) promoting health awareness while mobilizing the community through training and income generating programs. Becky was also appointed to head a project in Korogocho, a shantytown in Nairobi, which focused on building a sustainable community venture. In 2004, having seen the enormous challenges faced by a growing nonprofit organizations, Becky positioned herself as an entrepreneurial management consultant, one of the few present in East Africa. Becky focuses on working with small and medium community organizations and enterprises to think creatively, to utilize innovative approaches in achieving their social mission, and to bring development solutions to the communities. Most recently, she was a research fellow at the Johns Hopkins Institute of Policy Studies, where she conducted research on new and innovative approaches the nonprofit sector was adopting in building sustainable funding mechanisms and the challenges faced. Becky earned her B.A. in community development from Daystar University, Nairobi, Kenya.

Host Organization: Service for Peace

Asmita has been actively involved in the nonprofit sector, particularly in the fight against child slavery, since childhood. Before coming on the Atlas Corps Fellowship, she was a research assistant with CORD (Collaborative Research and Dissemination), a social research group that fights for the rights of the disadvantaged through meaningful, field-based research. At the age of 10, Asmita gave a speech in a U.S. Congressional hearing and addressed a Canadian Labor Congress convention against child labor; she has continued her work for human rights and social justice throughout her education. In college, Asmita worked as a student intern at the University of Iowa’s Center for Human Rights. She has been a proponent of grassroots activism in India, starting a student movement against child labor, and also has experience working with the U.S. Senate and the ILO (International Labor Organization) in Geneva. Asmita holds a B.S. in economics from the University of Iowa.

Host Organization: International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children

Anuradha has been working in the international nonprofit sector as a human rights practitioner for over five years. Her interest in human rights began in college when she got involved in a project which provided legal aid to slum dwellers. She then interned with a criminal lawyer where she was required to work with victims of violence and abuse. This job encouraged her to join HRLN (Human Rights Law Network), a leading human rights organization of lawyers and social activists where she worked for three and a half years on issues such as rights of the children, refugees, women, disabled, prisoners, and trafficked persons. Her work included litigation as well as conducting trainings, workshops, advocacy campaigns, and other capacity building programs and policy interventions. She later joined STOP (STOP Trafficking and Oppression of children and women), a grassroots organization working on anti-human trafficking initiatives. Anuradha has traveled extensively, including to Sweden, Iran, Nepal, England and the Netherlands, attending international conferences on issues such as child protection policy, disability, and trafficking in persons. Anuradha received her LLB in 2002 from University of Bangalore, India, and was awarded the William Ross Murray scholarship in 2008 to pursue her LLM in international human rights law at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Host Organization: Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services

Ana has seven years of experience in the health sector with nonprofit and international organizations. She started as a volunteer in the AIDS Support and Prevention Group (GAPA) in Brasília, where she worked with fundraising, research, project management, volunteer recruitment and training, program development, and communication. Her three years of experience in this organization include roles as vice director of staff, project coordinator, and communication advisor. She also worked for the Ministry of Health and was responsible for the Brazilian STD and AIDS Program website of the Ministry of Health under an international technical cooperation agreement between Brazil and the World Bank. Most recently she worked as a consultant for the UNDP, where she was in charge of organizing, writing, and editing the content for the web site Rights of Health System Users in Brazil. Ana earned her M.A. in international cooperation from the Complutense University of Madrid-Spain, where she wrote her dissertation on Brazil-Africa cooperation. She also has a post-graduate diploma in politics and management of nonprofit organizations from the University of Brasília-Brazil and has completed extension courses in international affairs, diplomacy and communication and for human rights managers.

Host Organization: Population Action International (PAI)

Danielle Goldberg is a program director, trainer/facilitator, and specialist on children’s rights and on Women, Peace & Security. She brings to the field over 15 years of domestic and global experience partnering with diverse stakeholders to design, manage and evaluate engaging programs and advocacy initiatives that promote children’s rights, gender equality, inclusive development, international peace-building and global citizenship. She is a proud alumna of Atlas Corps, Class 2, having served with Give2Colombia in Bogota Colombia, and is a former Executive Board Member of Atlas Corps (2011-2017). Currently, as Director of Advocacy and Engagement at UNICEF USA, she oversees the organization’s grassroots legislative advocacy strategy, mobilizing people across the United States to support the survival, protection and development of children everywhere.

Host Organization: Give2Colombia

Role at Host Organization : As an Atlas Corps Fellow (2009-2010) with Give2Colombia in Bogota, Colombia, Ms. Goldberg coordinated with private, public and social sector allies and international donors to secure grant funding for innovative projects in health, education and socio-economic development in alliance with Colombian NGOS. In this role, she also provided training and consultation to over 80 Colombian non-profit leaders in Fundraising Strategy Development and Grant Writing Skills.

Meher has ten years of experience in the citizen sector, both in India and South Asia. Documentation, evaluation and research are the core areas of her experience. Her experience also includes management of projects on issues such as women’s empowerment, gender and governance, child labor, disability, youth development and NGO capacity building. Her most recent experience was working at JAGORI (‘Awaken, Women’), a feminist group raising consciousness on violence, health, education and other issues critical to women. There, she researched and developed resource material to support the organization’s advocacy work on legal rights, food security rights and the health of women. Prior to this, Meher conceptualized and initiated a development program for youth called YES (Youth Enrichment Services) for a corporate body in Delhi. From 1999-2006, Meher worked at Association for Stimulating Know How where she coordinated the Evaluation, Research & Documentation Unit. She was primarily involved in planning, conducting, supervising and documenting evaluations and studies for national and international agencies. During that time she also managed projects on gender and governance in Rajasthan and economic empowerment of Muslim women in Uttar Pradesh. She organized women into groups and coordinated and facilitated trainings and other capacity building inputs to help women meet their development objectives. Meher also coordinated the advocacy component of a project providing developmental opportunities to children working in household brassware units in Uttar Pradesh. From 2004-2005 Meher was with Saarthak where she coordinated a UNIFEM project in tsunami affected communities of Sri Lanka. She was involved in the process of gendering the reconstruction work and addressing psychosocial impacts on women and children. She also worked closely with local organizations and the government, enhancing their capacities to identify and address gender related vulnerabilities after a disaster. Meher holds a B.S. in sciences from Delhi University and a M.A. in social work from Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi.

Host Organization: Population Action International (PAI)