Fellows

Angela Betancur has three years of experience in the nonprofit sector working with different social and development projects to support disadvantaged youth and women’s groups. Angela earned a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from the University of Antioquia in Medellin, Colombia and received formal training in Art Therapy to work with communities in University of Saint Buenaventura. She is currently working with the at-risk youth population in areas of drug abuse, crime, prostitution, and teen pregnancy. Through prevention campaigns and group interventions she works to restore youth rights. She also worked at an organization for rehabilitating people with physical disabilities and youths with cognitive and mental disabilities. Her work there also included supporting the families of the youths. After graduating from college, Angela worked as a Toy Librarian planning activities for children, teenagers, and their families while addressing possible abuses and rights’ violations. She also worked as a research assistant for two projects concerning migration and transnational families. She is especially interested in youth rights and women’s empowerment. Angela’s focus in college dealt with verbal and gestural expressions concerning gender-based violence in the school setting.

Host Organization: Latin America Youth Center (LAYC)

Role at Host Organization: Angela will provide individual, family and group counseling services, diagnoses, treatment planning, and community support to approximately twenty-two youths and their families. She will work to create individual plans of care for her clients while consulting with qualified practitioners in the field.

Grace has over 4 years of experience working in the nonprofit area with focus on social development. She has completed her Postgraduate Diploma in Monitor and Evaluation at Cavendish University in Zambia. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Social Science from University of Malawi, Chancellor College. In 2010, Grace joined, Theatre For a Change as a volunteer, a nonprofit working in Malawi to promote behavioral change amongst groups of people that are at high risk of HIV&AIDS. Later on, she was hired to support with the monitoring and evaluation of the sex workers behavior change program where she conducted baseline and end line studies, needs assessments, and routine monitoring to help the program team make informed decisions regarding impact of the program. In 2012, Grace successfully joined Global Health Corps as an M&E Fellow at Dignitas International in Malawi for a year. Prior to becoming an Atlas Corps Fellow Grace was working with Riders for Health, an NGO working with the Ministry of Health in Malawi. Grace’s role was taking lead in managing the monitoring and evaluation framework of Riders Malawi to ensure outcomes, indicators, and donor requirements are met. In general, Grace has experience in monitoring and evaluation, project management, facilitation through experiential learning, training and planning logistics. Grace considers herself a student of life; looking out to learn from all her experiences and using them to improve herself, and where possible, help others learn and grow as well.

Host Organization: Population Action International (PAI)

Role at Host Organization: Grace will serve at Population Action International and work in the fields of subject expertise, research, strategic planning, and external representation. She will participate in producing written reports and analysis based on PAI’s strategic initiatives and make recommendations for leveraging PAI research and analysis products for the organization’s advocacy and funding purposes.

John has eight years of experience in the nonprofit sector. He earned a Post Graduate Diploma in Land Management and Informal Settlement Regularization from IHS of Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands. He has previously worked with Oxfam GB and Uganda land Alliance as an Advocacy Officer and Project Manager respectively advocating for the Land rights of the poor and vulnerable communities. John has been involved in extensive research on land rights and land use to inform policy development processes in Uganda and has engaged policy makers in the development of the National Land Policy and Amendment of the Land Act. He is actively involved in building the capacity of communities, local leaders and policy makers in land rights advocacy and has participated in the development of tools for regularization of tenure for informal settlements and the documentation of land transactions within the rangelands. In his line of work he has developed leadership, research, communication, and facilitation skills that have aided his participation in forums that address natural resource governance. He attended the Human Rights Advocates Program at Columbia University in New York, which empowered him to effectively advocate for human rights at national and international fronts. He has participated in initiatives for peace and reconciliation most notably, ‘A case for justice,’ a documentary by International Centre for Transitional Justice in New York. John is driven by the desire to see communities actively engage in resource management using every opportunity to promote their participation.

Host Organization: International Accountability Project

Role at Host Organization: John will work with IAP to develop and provide information to communities that have been affected, and those yet to be affected by large-scale investments on land. He will participate in Global Land initiatives led by IAP that promote international level engagement with community activists and civil society organizations.

Lucy has over seven years of nonprofit experience focusing on elections, public health, and youth development. She earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in Human Resource Management from Kenya Methodist University. She also earned a Diploma in Community Development and Social Work, and a Certificate in Peace Building and Conflict Resolution in Kenya. Currently, Lucy works as a stringer for the Voice of America’s South Sudan Program where she reports on a variety of political, humanitarian, and social issues affecting South Sudanese in their day-to-day lives. In 2012-2013 Lucy worked as a Producer for the Institute of War and Peace Reporting project in South Sudan, training young women journalists and empowering them through training in gender sensitive radio reporting skills, and outreach strategies by raising fundamental rights issues at local, regional, and national levels. Lucy successfully coordinated the production of more than 50 half an hour women magazine programs. Previously, Lucy worked as a News Editor for one of South Sudan’s most trusted radio stations, Eye Radio, formerly Sudan Radio Service, a USAID funded radio where she spearheaded the coverage of some of the most important historical events in the country. As the news team leader she focused newsgathering efforts primarily on stories of national interest including political stories from Khartoum and northern Sudan, and reviewed news coverage patterns to ensure a balanced coverage of all the states of South Sudan. Through these experiences Lucy has cultivated a range of contacts and has developed an understanding of how media operates, and some basic understanding of the role a nonprofit has in its community. Lucy is passionate about educating the vast majority of South Sudanese population that is illiterate on their political, human and social rights to improve their living standards through radio.

Host Organization: Voice of America

Role at Host Organization: Lucy will serve with VOA staff to identify and research stories in Sudan and South Sudan that are of interest to the audience, and conduct interviews. She will expand her skills in journalism and put together her own radio segment. Also, Lucy will support the editorial process for a daily radio program, and potentially host live programs.

Medha has eight years of experience in the nonprofit sector, and earned a Master’s in Public Health from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Women’s Studies from Tribhuvan University in Nepal. She is currently working as Capacity Development Specialist for a USAID funded program ‘Health for Life Logistics’ in Nepal. She is also the Vice President of a youth-run and led organization named YUWA in Nepal. She has worked as Program Coordinator of YUWA in the field of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of young people and women, where she led a team of young people to advocate for comprehensive sexuality education, capacity building of young girls to combat sexual violence, and capacity building of young key population of HIV and AIDS. She represented Asia and the Pacific in the New Generation Leadership Strategy of UNAIDS. Medha worked as an intern in the Monitoring and Evaluation unit of Nepal government’s National Centre for AIDS and STD Control where she specialized on data management and reporting. Medha has developed strong skills on grant development, program implementation, team management, and advocacy. She has published several articles and blogs on national newspapers on women and gender issues, youth issues, and sexual reproductive health issues. Her college gave Medha the titles of ‘Miss Fresher’, ‘Miss Nobel’, and ‘Leadership Award’ for her excellent academics and extra curricular performance at college. She aims to emerge as a professional on the issue of women and adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Host Organization: Nike Foundation

Role at Host Organization: Medha will help the Nike Foundation use its Investment Fund intelligently to take the Girl Effect to scale. She will help manage a portfolio of grant relationships that deliver maximize return on investment, capture and distill learning, and inspire large-scale initiatives for girls

Sarahzin has eight years of experience in the nonprofit sector, and earned a Master’s of Social Science in International Relations from the University of Dhaka. She earned a Post Graduation Diploma in Journalism from the Bangladesh Press Institute under the National University. Currently she is working at Plan International Bangladesh for more than 2 years as Communications Coordinator. Her focus is in Mass Communications, and thus, is developing communications strategy, yearly implementation planning with budget, and writing reports for the Donor like Netherlands Foreign Ministry. While working in Save the Children for 17 months, she was the team member of translating United Nations Concluding Observations from English to Bengali. She has also contributed her expertise in formulating National Child Policy. Besides participating in a Training of Trainers (ToT), Project Cycle Management, and Executive Certificate Course on Understanding Developments, she also conducted trainings for journalists and Fellows of American Center, Dhaka on child rights and protection. Through these experiences, she developed qualities of strong project coordination, making large campaign program and capacity building. Sarahzin finds interests in developing diversified communications materials for different types of stakeholders. She wishes to develop more knowledge and skills on child rights and protection issues, and to work for the common good.

Host Organization: Save the Children

Role at Host Organization: Sarahzin will join Save the Children in Washington, D.C. She will work with the child protection team and represent Save the Children on the community level. She will also work to provide assistance to field based projects. Sarahzin will develop skills in program development and research through her experiences working with project leaders and stakeholder groups.