Bethany Gerstein completed her B.A. at Brown University in 2007 with honors in International Relations. While in school, she studied abroad in France and wrote her senior thesis on political change preceding the Rwandan genocide. She spent the past 3 years working in the People Operations department at Google Inc., where she focused on data analysis and research to inform both system design and decision-making in human resources. Originally from the Boston area, Bethany has very happily called San Francisco home since graduating from school. In her spare time, she loves to read, cook, and spend time with friends and family.

Catherine Vaughan comes to the Global Health Corps from the Bridgespan Group, a nonprofit consulting firm, where she advised nonprofit leaders on management and strategy issues. At Bridgespan, Catherine played a role in designing an international program supporting social entrepreneurs and produced research and diagnostic tools related to nonprofit performance management, organizational capacity, and scalability. Prior to Bridgespan, Catherine graduated with honors from Harvard College with a BA in History and Literature. Her Russian language and literature studies took her to St. Petersburg for a summer, where her experience working at a children’s rights agency and center for street children first sparked her interest in global health equity. While at Harvard, Catherine also directed a music education program for Cambridge youth and led the Harvard College Marathon Challenge. In her spare time, Catherine enjoys singing and teaching music, running, and cooking.

Prerna was born in her grandfather’s clinic in Patna, India, and spent her early childhood in the bustling city of Bombay. As a graduate student in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), Prerna focused on the application of mobile health technology as means of improving access to health in resource poor settings. To this end, she worked on projects ranging from developing a maternal and child health risk assessment mobile application for a community health organization in rural India, to analyzing the impact of community health worker (CHW) literacy on information flow and data accuracy in Rwanda. As an educator, trainer, and facilitator, Prerna believes that the potential community health workers (CHWs) hold as health activists can only be harnessed when they are trained to be leaders and changemakers within their communities, and hopes to return to India for this purpose. Prior to HKS, Prerna wore many hats, ranging from operational management at an industrial supply distribution company in New Jersey, to life skills development and self help group formation for tribal women in rural Gujarat, India. In her spare time, Prerna enjoys beating her mother at Scrabble, blogging for www.thinkchangeindia.org, and cooking for family and friends.

Alain Ntwali is Rwandese and currently lives in Kigali, Rwanda. He is one of four children. He recently graduated from the National University of Rwanda with a degree in Agriculture, and an emphasis in Agriculture Economics and Agribusiness. He takes great pride in his country and culture, and is a devout Christian. He strives to obtain equityty and harmony in society.

Stephen Lee grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania but has most recently made his home in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. He received a BS in Biology from MIT and an MS in Bioengineering from Stanford University. Following graduation, he has worked as a global health consultant for Applied Strategies, with projects including HIV vaccine market forecasting, demand forecasting for malaria and tuberculosis interventions, and dengue vaccine financing. Stephen has enjoyed traveling through sub-Saharan Africa, most notably to South Africa, where he has participated in musical exchange programs with township youth in Cape Town and Johannesburg. When not traveling, Stephen enjoys exploring new foods and learning languages.

Branden was born in Denver, Colorado and spent his youth in Vermont and Ohio. He graduated from Hampshire College with a concentration in Sculpture and Digital Animation in 2003. As a New York City Teaching Fellow, he brought his passion for inquiry and computer technology to his science and computer students in Brooklyn, New York. In an effort to extend his influence into the built environment, he earned a Master of Architecture degree from Cornell University in 2009. Here he participated in the design and construction of two Solar Decathlon houses on the National Mall in Washington D.C. In addition to his commitment to sustainable practices in building, he has a keen interest in the intersection of computational optimization and affordable architecture.

Cher-Wen DeWitt graduated from Oberlin College in 2010 with a degree in Neuroscience. During her undergraduate studies, she spent time volunteering as a community HIV educator in Northwestern Kenya and with the nonprofit One Heartland, which provides support services to children and families affected by HIV in the United States. During her time at Oberlin, she served as Class President and President of HIV Educators. In 2008, Cher-Wen took a year off from school to return to Kenya as an intern for the Foundation for Sustainable Development, working with the Mtongwe Community Initiative, outside of Mombasa. While there, she worked as a tuberculosis and HIV counselor and began a cloth sanitary pad initiative with young girls to improve their school attendance and reduce dropout rates. Cher-Wen currently calls the Big Island of Hawaii home and enjoys painting, good food, and the seaside.

Maburuki Fidèle Pacifique is a Burundian National; holder of a BA in Business Administration and Economics; Finance and Banking option obtained in September 2004 from Hope Africa University in Bujumbura; which he joined after high school in Kenya. It is his work with World Vision international Burundi together with the history of his country that made him fall in love with Humanitarian work as he felt a strong call to impact others lives positively. On top of different position in the areas finance; administration and supply chain; he was active in the area of rapid response. He left world vision in March 2009 to join a construction company and later on the Embassy of Uganda in Bujumbura but it is his love for humanitarian work and long time interest in research that excites him about this fellowship.

Eva received her Master’s in Public Health from Boston University and her BA in International Relations from the University of Delaware. She most recently worked in the HIV/AIDS Services Division at the Boston Public Health Commission. She has also worked as an assistant to the Health Action AIDS Campaign at Physicians for Human Rights, as a research assistant at Boston University and Massachusetts General Hospital, and as the James R. Soles Fellow at the Center for Public Integrity. In addition she has been an active student leader and volunteer, including traveling to Winterveldt, South Africa in 2003 and 2004 to volunteer with Tumelong Mission’s programs supporting individuals and families coping with HIV/AIDS.

Gerard was born in Rumonge, Burundi but did his Undergraduate Course at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) in Tanzania where in 2004, a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agronomy was conferred upon him. In 2005, he worked for a community based organization in very local area as a district Chief Accountant before resigning and joining the central government employment as a secondary school teacher of Agricultural related, Chemistry, Physics and Biology subjects. From 2008, he has a master degree holder in Physical Land Resources, Soil Science Option from Ghent University, Belgium. Early 2009, he joined the Burundi National Agricultural Research Institute (ISABU) where he’s currently working as a soil scientist researcher. During his master research, he succeeded to develop a land quality evaluation model for macadamia cultivation in Burundi. The model confronts physical land conditions like climatic, soil and landscape data with the crop land requirements in order to predict how much a given area of the country is actually and potentially suitable for the crop performance to an acceptable commercial level. At ISABU, he is currently working on two main projects, namely Digitization of the existing soil map of Burundi at a scale of 1:50,000 and Development of a Digital Soil Fertility Map of Burundi at a scale of 1:50,000 and Construction of an integrated Natural Resource Database for rational and sustainable use and management of Burundi Natural Resources. His greatest concern in life is to participate in the design and implementation of rural community development strategies and work with these communities. He is getting married to a wonderful wife, Olive, in October 2010.

Simone Akkari is a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a BSPH in Health Policy and Management and an unofficial second major in International Studies. For her Senior Honors Thesis, she studied Sierra Leone’s efforts to improve Maternal and Child Health by analyzing national MCH strategies, policis, and programs. She grew up in Durham, North Carolina and is half Sierra Leonean, a quarter Lebanese, and a quarter Chinese-Jamaican. Simone has worked in a variety of settings since the age of 15, including a portrait studio, a summer sports camp, a contract research organization, and the monitoring and evaluation organization called MEASURE Evaluation. In college, she was a member of the African organization called O.A.S.I.S., was treasurer of the student-run NGO called Project H.E.A.L., and was on the Executive Board of the social justice organization called the Campus Y. She has watched over 1200 films, listens to music almost non-stop, is an avid reader, and thoroughly enjoys watching sports. Although her future plans are not set, she will dedicate her life to being a part of positive social and structural change in developing countries such as Sierra Leone.

Benjamin Ndovi is 24 years old. He is the youngest of seven children. He has a bachelors degree in Management Information Systems from the University of Malawi. He is currently working for Partners In Health and living in Malawi. He enjoys group work and sharing experiences. He is a highly motivated and quick to learn individual who is accustomed to a fast paced environment where deadlines are a priority.

Dina Chiunjira has a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Statistics obtained from Chancellor College (University of Malawi) in 2006. After graduating, she worked with Hunger Project Malawi before joining the Malawi National Examinations Board as a Systems analyst and Programmer. She is currently pursuing her Master of Science degree in Informatics at the University of Malawi. She sometimes works as a part time staff associate at the same institution. Her interest area is Health Information Systems particularly to do with the improvement of under-five data management in Malawi. She has an interest in French.

Originally from Washington, DC, Mara studied history and English at the University of Pennsylvania. At Penn, she worked as an editor and writer for the Daily Pennsylvanian, Penn’s student newspaper, and spent a summer working at a school in Botswana. After she graduated in 2008, she spent a year working for the Clinton Health Access Initiative in Tanzania. She returned to the States in 2009 to complete Bryn Mawr College’s post-baccalaureate, pre-medical program, and is planning on starting medical school in 2011. She still loves nonfiction writing, and is excited to blog about her experiences in Malawi.

Prior to joining Global health corps, Godfrey Mudariki worked as Field Coordinator with the Organisation for Public Health Interventions and Development (OPHID) Trust in Zimbabwe, where he coordinated the implementation of a program aimed a preventing postnatal mother to child transmission of HIV, addressing missed opportunities through a community based infant feeding program. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Education and Promotion from the University of Zimbabwe, College of Health Sciences. Godfrey has been working in the Public Health field since May 2005 time at which he joined Zimbabwe Association of Church related Hospital (ZACH) as a Health Promotion intern. He then moved on to work with Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC) as a Condom Program Officer facilitating the implementation of the public sector national condom and behavior change strategies. He has also worked with Concern Worldwide as a HIV/AIDS Field Facilitator, facilitating the implementation of a community services empowerment program to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS amongst the poor and vulnerable rural communities of Zimbabwe. Godfrey has a passion for working with people. He has an interest in HIV prevention, treatment, care and support with a major focus to minority, vulnerable and poor communities in resource limited settings. He hopes to enroll with a graduate school of public health for a Masters in Public Health in the near future.

Makhdum Ahmed was born on September 30, 1982 in Bangladesh. Soon after his birth, he contracted polio even before he learned to talk leaving him disabled for life. However, he has recovered somewhat and he started to walk at 11 years of age. He completed his secondary and high school education in Dhaka, Bangladesh. During his medical school days and residency training, he began to fathom the difficulty of living in a world with a disability. He completed his MBBS from the University of Dhaka in 2006 and his residency from Mitford Hospital. In 2008, he won the Australian Leadership Award from AusAID for excellence in academic education and leadership in employment to study for his Masters in Australia. He completed MPH with Distinction from University of Wollongong, Australia in 2009. He started his professional career in Bangladesh Thalassemia Foundation as a medical officer with a view to work for the children and adolescents living with chronic diseases. He also worked for the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh as a medical officer in an H1N1/ Swine flu intervention project. He believes in capacity development of the poor and vulnerable in order to establish health equity.

Grace was born and raised in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. She completed her BA in Sociology at University of Dar Es Salaam. During her undergraduate career, Grace worked with Kilimanjaro Women Against AIDS where she was in charge of Food Program for Orphans that was funded by the World Health Organization (WHO). After graduation, Grace got a job with Clinton Foundation Health Access Initiative (CHAI) in Southern Tanzania. She managed Peer counseling and Support group program that provide psychosocial support to HIV+ mothers, their partners and children. Grace’s goal is to be a visionary for the future of social work in Tanzania and help improve the overall health of her fellow citizens. She is passionate about global health, HIV/AIDS, and reproductive and child health. In her free time, Grace enjoys running, cooking, and spending time with friends and family.

Brenda Kalebbo is from Uganda and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Quantitative Economics. She is also an ACCA Affiliate and is currently completing a medium term fellowship in Monitoring and Evaluation under the CDC/School of Public Health. She has been involved in Monitoring and Evaluation since 2007, and has found it quite a stimulating and dynamic field. Through the Global Health Corps Fellowship, she hopes to build her skills even further in this field so she can better serve the community.

Nicholas graduated with M.A Sociology and a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science from Makerere University, with a focus in Sociology, Anthropology, Community Development, Social Research, Project Management, and Health Issues. He has been engaged in University teaching and research as a Lecturer at Makerere University (4 years), working with several research organizations, HIV and AIDS organization among others. Previously, he worked for 5 years as the Executive Secretary of Hope After School a local NGO in Uganda helping less advantaged communities around Kampala city. He also worked in Iganga district in Eastern part of Uganda with Makerere University Iganga/Mayuge Demographic Surveillance Site. His passion is to participate in programmes that help the vulnerable people, bring about equity in the health sector and life of disadvantaged communities world over. He is ready to participate in every leadership activity, promote collaboration with different leaders to reach out to the less advantaged communities. His career ambition is to be a serious researcher and policy advocate especially in the health sector. He looks forward to working with different multi-cultural and ethical people and organizations with similar passions.

Emily earned her Masters Degree in Public Health with a concentration in International Health from Boston University in May 2009. She is originally from Hudson, Ohio and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in Zoology from Miami University. Emily has spent time volunteering and working in Ghana, Kenya, and Zambia, and enjoys learning about, traveling to, and working in sub-Saharan Africa. She is passionate about global health, HIV/AIDS, and maternal and child health. In her free time, Emily enjoys running, traveling, playing sports, and spending time with friends and family.

Originally from Miami, FL, Miya completed her BA in Behavioral Neuroscience at Yale University, where she worked with local youth as a Community Health Educator and as a mentor for high school students. During her undergraduate career, she studied abroad in Sevilla, Spain and worked in an orphanage and taught English in Costa Rica. After graduation, Miya was selected as one of two policy interns at Obama for America National Headquarters. From headquarters, Ms. Cain was hired as a Field Organizer for the Obama campaign in Las Vegas, Nevada where she worked with the community to help Obama win the state, the first such feat for a Democrat since 1996. Currently, she is working as a White House Associate in the Office of the Vice President.

Ian graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California, Berkeley in 2008 with interdisciplinary honors in Critical Studies in Gender, Health, and Migration. At Berkeley, Ian was active in a number of global health related student groups, founding the Berkeley chapter of FACE AIDS, and working with Universities Allied for Essential Medicines. Most recently, Ian has been working with International Professional Partnerships for Sierra Leone, an NGO he co-founded aimed at building governmental capacity in the country. Previously, Ian worked for 5 years as a Residential Counselor at an AIDS Hospice in San Francisco for low income individuals with psychiatric and substance abuse issues. He has also worked in rural Honduras with a mobile clinic. Ian spent most of his youth in Boulder, CO, and though he has lived in rural Montana, Vancouver, B.C., Córdoba, Spain, and Washington D.C., Ian is proud to call San Francisco home. In his spare time, Ian practices yoga, is an outdoor sports enthusiast, loves farmer’s markets, and enjoys cooking with loved ones.

Melissa graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in Political Science from the College of Wooster in 2006, and then with an MA in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University in 2008. Since graduating, Melissa has worked in Washington D.C. for Supply Chain Management System, a PEPFAR implementing partner focused on enhancing supply chains of HIV/AIDS medications in the developing world. Melissa is originally from Ohio, and her professional and research interests include the Great Lakes region of Africa, reconciliation, HIV/AIDS prevention/treatment, and access to health care in the developing world.

Maggie Savage graduated from Duke University in 2009 with a BA in Public Policy Studies and a focus on global health. During her undergraduate career, she studied abroad in Geneva, Switzerland, worked with children both in Malawi with the World Camp for Kids, and for community-based programs in Greenville, North Carolina. For the past year she has worked with Duke’s Health Inequalities Program on a project to improve care for people living with HIV/AIDS in North Carolina. While at Duke, she was involved in numerous service-learning organizations, served as President of Chi Omega sorority, and was an admissions ambassador for Duke. She is an avid sports fan who loves Georgia football and Duke basketball.

Diego Solares graduated with Honors from the University of California, Irvine with a degree in International Studies. While studying abroad in Brazil and Thailand, Diego collaborated with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), UNAIDS, and grassroots NGOs on projects focusing on human security, violence prevention, and HIV prevention. Upon returning to the US, he worked for the Community Knowledge Project, whose objective is to reduce health inequities in Southern California’s under-served communities. After graduating from UC-Irvine, Diego served as a “William J. Clinton Fellow for Service in India” at a grassroots NGO in the state of Maharashtra that provides HIV/AIDS prevention and care for a community of sex workers. Most recently, Diego has been consulting for PAHO on HIV prevention for men who have sex with men in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Prior to joining the Global Health Corps, Bertha worked as the Clinical Coordinator of Columbia University’s Program for Imaging & Cognitive Sciences, where she managed a functional brain imaging service for adult and pediatric neurological patients. From 2005 to 2007, she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali, West Africa, where she conducted village-based trainings in nutrition and hygiene, and led projects in income generation through natural resource management. In 2003, she joined local farmers’ groups in Arusha, Tanzania to promulgate bio-intensive agricultural techniques for improved nutrition. Bertha recently completed the Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medical Program at Columbia, and earned a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Yale University in 2004.

Angie Bengtson recently completed her Masters in International Development with a focus in Global Health Affairs and Humanitarian Assistance from the University of Denver’s Korbel School of International Studies. During her graduate education, Angie completed field research in Ethiopia and Nigeria, and an internship with Partner In Health’s Institute for Social Justice. After completing her B.A. in Communications from Bethel University in 2004, Angie worked for Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity and served as an AmeriCorps Vista Volunteer for a year with a refugee resettlement agency.

Edwin Musonga was born and raised in Uganda though originally of Rwandan descent. He moved to Rwanda permanently to attend university at the National University of Rwanda where he graduated with a BS in Computer Science. Edwin worked as an IT and Electronic Medical Records intern at the Partners in Health centre in Rwanda.  Edwin enjoys various sports, is captivated by social justice, and has participated in United Nations Youth programs in college.

Andrew Peterson completed his B.A. in Science, Technology and Society with a focus on Technology Policy at Stanford University in 2006. Since graduating from Stanford, Andrew has worked at Google, focusing on the development, design, and deployment of both internal and external products. He has a passion for data and its power to improve strategic decision-making. In his free time, Andrew enjoys teaching his friends how to swim, learning how to become as good a cook as his Mom, and planning his next great travel adventure.

Ameet graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2006 with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research. Most recently, Ameet has been working for Gap Inc. in San Francisco, California as a Senior Analyst in Inventory Strategy. Ameet’s expertise is in supply chain systems—he has worked on them for over 2 years at the Gap as a member of their Inventory Strategy team and previously at Restoration Hardware as an Allocation Analyst. Ameet hails from Burr Ridge, IL, but has called the San Francisco Bay Area home for the past 7 years. Ameet is a fiend for crossword puzzles, baseball, music, and the great outdoors.

Mawuena Agbonyitor is a third year medical student at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. She got her BA cum laude in anthropology from Harvard University and has Master of Science in Control of Infectious Diseases from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She has worked in Nigeria on the evaluation of HIV programs, and interned at USAID with the monitoring and evaluation team of the Office of HIV/AIDS. In future she hopes to practice medicine in an African country while simultaneously working on community based public health programs.