Zainab Akbar
Neighborhood Defender Service (NDS)
Harlem, New York City

Zainab grew up in Saginaw, Michigan, and is a third year law student at the University of Minnesota and will spend her fellowship as a law clerk with the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem in New York City (NDS). NDS is a cutting-edge Public Defender that works to provide holistic legal services to their clients, the residents of the Upper Manhattan’s Harlem, Washington Heights, and Inwood neighborhoods.

Zainab graduated with honors from Johns Hopkins University in 2002 with a BA in Anthropology and a minor in Global Studies in Culture, Power, and History. After graduating, she worked on political campaigns in her home state of Michigan. Zainab then moved to London to study Political Theory at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she received an MSc in 2004. On returning to the United States, she continued her work on political campaigns and then moved to Washington DC to work with DC Vote as a program assistant. At DC Vote Zainab organized to secure full voting rights in Congress for the residents of Washington DC. Zainab then spent a year with the Washington Legislative Office of the American Civil Liberties Union as a legislative assistant, where she worked on legislation concerning torture and abusive interrogations of detainees, proposed constitutional amendments on marriage and flag desecration, establishment clause issues, and hate crimes legislation.

 

Abdi Ali
Womankind Kenya
Kenya

Abdi Ali is the Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Multicultural Mediation and Restorative Justice in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  The Center is a direct service, mediation, and restorative justice program for people with family or cultural roots in East Africa, as well as those who work with them as employers, teachers, neighbors and service providers.  Abdi conducts trainings in cultural competency and provides facilitation and other consulting services to organizations and corporations.  He holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration and a Certificate in Public Dispute Management from Hamline University.  In 2006, the Otto Bremer Foundation awarded Abdi a Philanthropy and Human Rights Fellowship, which he used to conduct research on the causes of Somali youth homelessness in Minnesota and the cultural competency of organizations working with them.  In 2007, the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs awarded Abdi a Public Policy Fellowship, through which he has received extensive training on public policy making.  

As an Upper Midwest Human Rights Follow, Abdi will spend the summer visiting refugee camps along Kenyan-Somali border to study the situation of Somali refugee children living in the camps.  He will examine existing resources for the refugee children and the work of the international organizations serving them. The study will also cover the challenges Somali refugee children are facing in the refugee camps and will attempt to investigate alleged human rights violation in the refugee camps against Somali refugee children.

 

Veronica Bean
OutFront Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Veronica Bean graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College, in St. Peter, MN, in 2008, with a B.A. in Classics and Political Science. Through her years at Gustavus, Veronica discovered her interest in social justice, and particularly in gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) issues. As a first-year law student at the University of Minnesota, Veronica hopes to put her interest in social justice to good use.

This summer, Veronica will have the opportunity to work with OutFront Minnesota, a GLBT rights advocacy organization in Minneapolis. She will be working both on the legal and public policy fronts. With the recent events and developments with same-sex marriage in the United States, Veronica is very enthused about working on GLBT issues during this exciting time.

 

Ramla Bile
Horn Relief
Nairobi, Kenya

Ramla Bile received her B.A. in Global Studies and Political Science with a thematic focus on governance, peace, and justice, and a minor in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Minnesota. She is a currently a Producer for the KFAI collaborative series Muslims in Minnesota, and she is a Minneapolis stringer for the New York Times. Prior to her journalism experience, she worked at The Advocates for Human Rights, where she saw first-hand the implementation of international human rights standards.

As an Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellow, she will work with Horn Relief in the Gender and Human Rights Program. Horn Relief is a development and humanitarian organization in East Africa that promotes human rights in Somalia, a country torn apart by eighteen years of unremitting violence. The organization is based in Nairobi, Kenya and works with marginalized communities in Somalia to empower and educate youth and women to engage in civil society, promote peace, establish food security, and provide emergency relief, including rehabilitating water resources. The Gender and Human Rights Program empowers Somali women by facilitating their participation in the peace and development of Somalia. Upon her return to the Twin Cities, she hopes use this opportunity as an advocacy and education tool in both the Somali community and the broader Minnesotan community through presentations, discussions, and media engagement.

 

 

Mike Brehm
Midwest Coalition for Human Rights
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Mike Brehm is a first year student at the University of Minnesota Law School.  He graduated in 2008 from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with degrees in Business Management and Public Administration.  Mike is interested in international law and is a member of the Law School’s Amnesty International student chapter and the International Law Society.  He is also serving on the Board of Directors of a local NGO that helps immigrant families and children to integrate into their communities.

Mike will be working this summer with the Midwest Coalition for Human Rights, focusing specifically on local advocacy regarding the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).  The United States is one of two nations who have not ratified the CRC.  Through grassroots action and encouraging adoption of the provisions in the CRC, the Midwest Coalition hopes the United States will become a State Party to that treaty.

 

Sean Burke
Homeless Advocacy Project/UNITY Homeless Coalition
New Orleans, Louisiana

Sean, originally from Denver, Colorado, just completed his first year of Law School at the University of Minnesota. He developed a strong interest in social justice issues while receiving his B.A. in History, Theology, and Justice and Peace Studies from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. Since his undergraduate work, Sean has volunteered with youth and young adults in Chelsea, Massachusetts, taught High School in Montgomery, Alabama, and worked as a youth group director at a Catholic Church in North St. Paul, Minnesota.

This summer, Sean will be working with the Homeless Advocacy Project (a division of Southeastern Louisiana Legal Services) and UNITY homeless Coalition in New Orleans, Louisiana. This summer will mark a return to this organization for Sean, who, along with other U of M law students, participated in the Student Hurricane Network volunteer trips that took place over both winter and spring break of the 2008-09 academic year. As a Fellow, he will be assisting with the day-to-day casework of homeless clients and also helping research and develop plans to effectively disperse city resources in favor of chronically and temporarily homeless individuals and families. He hopes to be able to bring back tools, training, and contacts from a city deeply affected by a growing homelessness crisis in order to assist with local issues of poverty and homelessness in the Twin Cities.

 

Ilina Chaudhuri
Fundación Mexicana para la Salud (Mexican Health Foundation)
Mexico City, Mexico

Ilina Chaudhuri graduated from Tufts University in 2003 with degrees in biology, biomedical engineering, and community health.  Just prior to returning to school, she lived and worked in Chile and Argentina.  She graduated in December 2008 from the schools of law and public health at the University of Minnesota.  Ilina has recently been researching and writing on health policy issues in Mexico, including obesity, diabetes, and insurance reform. 

During her fellowship, Ilina will be working at Fundación Mexicana para la Salud on a regional campaign to promote the rights of women to quality health care, with an emphasis on breast cancer.  The Foundation is a non-profit health policy think tank with a mission, in part, of promoting health policy research and programming. 

 

Kate Crampton
Alaska State Public Defender Agency
Palmer, Alaska

Kate is currently a 3L at the University of Minnesota Law School.  Prior to law school Kate attended the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities, where she studied political science and journalism, and played lacrosse.

As a law student, Kate has gained much of her legal experience public defense work, assisting indigent client s in criminal proceedings.  Last summer Kate received an MJF Summer Clerkship to intern with the Regional Native Public Defense Corporation in northern Minnesota, and organization specifically representing enrolled members of the White Earth Band of Ojibwa (Anishinaabeg) in state district court. This experience was powerful, and fueled a growing passion for ensuring the right to a fair trial here in the United States.

This summer, Kate will continue this work as an Intern with the Alaska State Public Defender Agency at Palmer, representing indigent clients in criminal cases. More specifically, Kate plans to focus on conditions of release (bail) for the criminally accused, and whether meaningful access to bail exists for most defendants.

Kate is very much looking forward to this internship experience, and the opportunity to explore the “last American frontier”

 

Brandon Drazich
Pax Christi International
Brussels, Belgium

Brandon will graduate Magna Cum Laude with All-College Honors from St. John’s University (SJU) in May 2009.  He is majoring in English with a minor in Philosophy and writing an honors thesis, “Past the Semantics of Liberation: Frantz Fanon and M. K. Gandhi’s Singular Message.â€?  At SJU, Brandon has served as a Social Justice and Service Student Minister, coordinating campus justice advocacy and volunteerism.  He has also interned with the Public Innovators initiative of Root Cause, studied abroad in South Africa and France, and was a 2007 Fellow of the Fund for Theological Education.

As an Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellow, Brandon will join Pax Christi International in Brussels, Belgium for the summer.  Pax Christi International is a Catholic peace movement working on a global scale on a wide variety of peace, human rights, disarmament, and development issues.  Brandon’s work will focus on human rights research and advocacy, peace spirituality and peace theology, and NGO fundraising.

 

Kumneger Emiru
National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC)
Chicago, Illinois

Kumneger Emiru received her B.A. from the University of Chicago, with honors, in Public Policy Studies and African and African American Studies with a specialization in Human Rights in 2008. She is currently in her first year at the University of Iowa-College of Law. Kumneger’s personal experience as an immigrant from Ethiopia sparked her interest in immigrant and refugee rights and, more broadly, international human rights law.

This summer, Kumneger will work as a legal intern at the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) in Chicago, IL. The NIJC provides immigration-related legal services to low income immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. Furthermore, it serves as an advocate for these populations through policy reform and litigation and education. During her internship, Kumneger will work specifically with asylum seekers.

 

Anders Erickson
The John Perkins Foundation for Reconciliation and Development
Jackson, Mississippi

Anders grew up in the city of Minneapolis. Following high school he attended Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, majoring in Political Science. He is currently finishing his first year at William Mitchell College of Law.  Anders is interested in the various aspects of civil rights law, specifically, working with individuals who are marginalized in U.S. society.  His interest in this area grew while interning for Congressman Martin Sabo in the summer before his senior year of college.  Anders witnessed how the political staff devoted their time and energy to helping those in need. He was also drawn to issues of civil rights through volunteer work in undergraduate and in Law School, working with impoverished communities in Mississippi and New Orleans.

This summer Anders will be working with the John Perkins Foundation for Reconciliation and Development. His work will focus on issues of racism and discrimination that our society still faces. He will be based in Jackson, Mississippi, but will also work with community organizers throughout the Mississippi Delta.

 

 

Shannon Golden
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Washington, D.C.

Shannon Golden is a Ph.D. candidate in the University of Minnesota’s Department of Sociology and is also pursuing a graduate minor in human rights.  Her dissertation research addresses local mechanisms for transitional justice and post-conflict community reconciliation in northern Uganda, East Africa. She is currently involved in research exploring African immigrant organizations and entrepreneurs in the Twin Cities area. She serves on the graduate editorial bo ard for Contexts, a magazine working to make sociology accessible to a public audience. Shannon is actively involved in social service organizations, and is interested in sociological research that engages the community and is relevant for policymakers.

As an Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellow, Shannon will spend the summer working with the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), based on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. FCNL is a peace lobby organization, and Shannon plans to work with FCNL on the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Bombs.

Kathryn Green
Karenni Development Research Group
Thailand 

Kathryn grew up in Blaine, Minnesota. She recently graduated from the College of Saint Benedict with a double major in Peace Studies (with an emphasis on human rights) and Environmental Studies (with an emphasis on human rights). During the spring semester of her junior year, Kathryn studied abroad with the International Sustainable Development Studies Institute (ISDSI) based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. This program is designed to introduce undergraduate students to experiential learning, and uses place based learning to explore the relationships between people and their environments. Kathryn’s time in Thailand studying with ISDSI helped to instill in her a greater passion for human rights, love of south east Asia, and a desire to return to Thailand. After her fellowship, Kathryn will begin graduate school for geography with focuses in political ecology and sustainable agriculture.

Kathryn will complete her fellowship with the Karenni Development Research Group (KDGR). KDGR is a coalition of 10 Karenni Community Based Organizations (CBOs), dedicated to preventing development projects supported by the Burmese government within Burma which would have detrimental effects on the Burmese people, in particular marginalized indigenous communities, and their environment. KDRG is also a member organization of Burma Rivers Network and Salween Watch, two environmental-human rights organizations based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. KDRG acts as a coordinating body between Karenni CBOs, a research office to document human rights abuses committed against the Burmese people, and a voice to educate the national and international community on the human and environmental consequences of unsustainable development in Burma. As an intern with KDGR, Kathryn will: provide much needed assistance in translating KDRG reports into English, network with other human rights NGOs in Thailand, assist in organizing training and workshop sessions for human rights activists, and participate in all planned KDRG campaign projects.

 

Johanna Grefsrud
ISAIAH’s Great River Interfaith Partnership of the St. Cloud
Minneapolis, MN

Johanna Grefsrud is from Hawley, Minnesota, and she will this spring graduate from the College of St. Benedict. As a peace studies major, Johanna studied abroad in South Africa, and she developed varied interests in education, economics, and public policy. After her fellowship, she plans to complete a year of service through AmeriCorps.

Johanna will complete her fellowship with ISAIAH’s Great River Interfaith Partnership of the St. Cloud. GRIP organizes local congregations to address issues of concern to their community, including health care, education, and housing. Working specifically on the organizations health care initiative, Johanna wishes to explore the role a human rights framework can play in community organizing and to use community organizing to promote human rights.

 

Alisha Hilde
Empowerment Society International
Duayee, Liberia

Alisha is dual degree JD/MPP student, and this fall, she will begin her fourth and final year at the University of Minnesota Law School and Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs. She received her Bachelor of Arts from West Texas A & M University in Canyon, Texas in all-level music education. For the past year, she has interned at The Advocates for Human Rights working on the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Alisha hopes to work in economic development and poverty alleviation and thanks her wonderful husband Jason for all his support.

During the summer, Alisha will be interning with Empowerment Society International in Duayee, Liberia. Empowerment Society International is an NGO focused on empowering individuals in sub-Saharan Africa through education and the promotion of sustainable development. While in Liberia, Alisha will be training residents in GPS mapping and assisting in the development of community land records.

 

 

Anne Johnson
International Organization for Migration (IOM) – Tajikistan Mission
Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Anne Johnson hails from rural northern Wisconsin and will graduate with a B.A. from Macalester College in May 2009.  Her majors are International Studies and Anthropology, and she is most interested in cultural globalization and the challenges and critiques of international development programs. She has worked and studied in China, Croatia, and the Netherlands, and has published several academic papers on the role of the English language in globalization. Outside of her academic life, Anne is involved in a number of cultural organizations and is an avid salsa dancer and kayak enthusiast. In preparation for a career in international development, she plans to pursue graduate studies in public policy or international relations and will spend the upcoming year working in China at the Beijing Foreign Studies University.

Anne will use her fellowship to contribute to the work of the Tajikistan Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The IOM spearheads a number of migration and counter-trafficking programs in Tajikistan, such as national policy reforms, trafficking victim support, and dispersal of information to potential labor migrants. Based in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, Anne will work in the IOM’s counter-trafficking unit.  She will focus on strengthening the Tajikistan mission’s international communications and will support the IOM’s network of local counter-trafficking NGOs.

 

Mory Keita
Actions pour les Droits Humains et l’Amitie (ADHA)
Dakar, Senegal

Mory Keita was born and raised in Conakry, Guinea. Before coming to the United States in 2003, he completed 3 years of studies in economics at Koffi University in Guinea. In addition to speaking English, he speaks three other languages: French, Mandingo and Pular. Mory is currently a resident of St. Cloud, Minnesota and expects to graduate in Spring 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a minor in Political Science from St. Cloud State University. He is involved with many student organizations and serves as an executive member of one of the largest student organizations at St. Cloud State Organization for the Prevention of AIDS in Africa (OPAA).  Mory is planning to pursue a master’s degree in international relations, political science, conflict management or public and non-profit institutions.

This summer, Mory will be working with “Actions pour les Droits Humains et L’Amitie (ADHA) in Dakar, Senegal. ADHA is one of the leading NGOs in Senegal working in the field of human rights. One of the aims of ADHA is to work directly with asylum seekers in completing their administrative paperwork. Additionally, they also closely work with Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs).

 

Kyle Lewis
Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ)
Northern Ireland

Kyle Lewis was born and raised in Fergus Falls, MN.  After graduating from Fergus Falls High School in 2001, Kyle moved to the Twin Cities and earned a B.A. in Computer Science from the U of M in 2004.  One short summer later, Kyle started at the U of M Law School, where he organized and raised funds for the Race for Justice 5k as well as traveling to Japan, the United Kingdom, and Hawaii.  Kyle graduated and passed the bar exam in 2007, and worked on legal issues related to human rights before starting a solo practice focusing on criminal defense.

During his fellowship, Kyle will be working at the Committee on the Administration of Justice in Northern Ireland. CAJ is an independent, non-governmental organization affiliated with the International Federation of Human Rights. The general mandate of CAJ is to ensure that the government of Northern Ireland adheres to standards set forth in international human rights law.

 

 

Nick Manthey
DECIDE Corporación de Estudios
Quito, Ecuador

Nick Manthey is a third year law student at the University of Minnesota Law School with interests in human rights, criminal law, international contract law, and business. A 2006 graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Nick holds a B.A. with a double major in Political Science and History. In addition to recently externing for a Hennepin County judge and working at the Ramsey County Public Defender’s Office, Nick is currently serving as a director of both the Bankruptcy Clinic and the William E. McGee National Civil Rights Moot Court. Nick has also volunteered with the Asylum Law Project (El Paso, TX), the Student Hurricane Network (New Orleans, LA), the Worker’s Rights Center (Madison, WI), the Madison Area Literacy Counsel (Madison, WI), and other organizations devoted to community support and education.  Nick’s interest in Latin American human rights began when he moved to Quito, Ecuador in 2004, where he taught English at Public School El Centro Experimental Eloy Alfaro.

During his fellowship, Nick will work with DECIDE Corporación de Estudios (DECIDE), a non-profit human rights organization based out of Quito, Ecuador. DECIDE has most recently engaged itself in a campaign to combat illegal child labor. Nick hopes to use his legal background to assist in research on human rights challenges in Ecuador, participate in community teaching sessions and conferences, contribute to DECIDE’s campaign to solicit the support of local politicians, and use his grant-writing experience and English language ability to request the support of international donors and grant makers.

 

Laura Matson
The Advocates for Human Rights
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Laura, a native of Mankato, Minnesota, graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 2006 with a focus in Anthropology and African Studies. During her undergraduate program, she studied Swahili and coastal cultures in Kenya. Upon completing her degree she worked on a non-formal education project in rural Uganda and was a member of the conflict resolution program at the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding in New York. She is currently completing a Master of Science in Violence, Conflict and Development at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, where she focuses on forced migration and war-to-peace transitions.

As an Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellow, Laura will spend the fall working with The Advocates for Human Rights in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a leading organization in the field of refugee and immigrant advocacy. She will be a member of the Special Projects Program, where she will engage primarily in community reconciliation initiatives within the Liberian population in the greater Twin Cities area. She will also be involved with follow-up and evaluation of The Advocates’ Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission Diaspora Project.

 

Timothy Meyer
Center for Victims of Torture
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Timothy is currently a first year law student at the University of Minnesota.  He developed an interest in issues of social justice while interning with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Office for Governmental Advocacy in Washington, D.C.  After graduating from Miami University of Ohio, with a degree in Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs, Timothy served as a women’s empowerment and education volunteer in Togo, West Africa, with the United States Peace Corps.  In this role, he worked to combat gender discrimination, improve understanding of the dangers of child trafficking, and encourage AIDS awareness and prevention.  

This summer, Timothy will be working with the Center for Victims of Torture in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  He will be conducting policy research and analysis on issues related to torture survivors engaged in the political asylum process.  This will entail reporting on problems in the political asylum system and recommending specific policy interventions.  

 

Monica Miller
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
The Hague, Netherlands

Monica Miller was born and raised near Des Moines, Iowa.  She graduated from St. Olaf College in 2005, with a B.A .in Women's Studies and Family Studies.  While at St. Olaf, Monica's interest in human rights work grew, and she became particularly interested in the impact of warfare on women.  Monica is currently a third year law student at the University of Minnesota, and will graduate in May 2009.  During law school, Monica participated in the International Law Moot Court, which piqued her interest in international and human rights law.

Monica's will undertake her Fellowship with the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), in The Hague, Netherlands.  The Office of the Prosecutor is responsible for investigating and prosecuting serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the former Yugoslavia after January 1, 1991, and handles both trial and appellate work.  Monica's internship will begin at the end of August, and will continue through mid-December 2009.

 

Nikolas Nadeau
Global Overseas Adoptees' Link (GOAL)
Seoul, South Korea

Nikolas Nadeau is resident of Hugo, Minnesota and a graduating senior at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University (Saint Joseph/Collegeville, MN) with a B.A. in English. Adopted from South Korea as an infant, Nik was invited by birth country's government to participate in the 2007 Summer Cultural Program for Overseas Adopted Koreans, held in Seoul. An essay he wrote on that experience, titled "The Ethics of Reclaiming," took third prize in the 2008 Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics, a nation-wide undergraduate essay contest. In Summer 2008, he researched international adoption in Antigua, Guatemala, where he interviewed orphanage directors, government officials, as well as birth and adoptive parents. For his senior creative writing project, titled "Another Way Home," Nik narrates his travel experiences while creating a "hybrid" adoptive identity that integrates United States, Latin American, and Korean cultures. As an Upper Midwest Fellow he will be working at Global Overseas Adoptees' Link (G.O.A.'L.) in Seoul, which provides services to and political representation of adopted Koreans from around the world. In particular, he will work in the areas of G.O.A.'L's Dual Citizenship Campaign, Korea's ratification of the Hague Convention on International Adoption, and meetings with the Korean National Assembly. During the 2009-2010 year he will be teaching English in South Korea through the Fulbright program.

 

Samir Nassar
Center for Victims of Torture
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Born in Germany and raised in Bethlehem, Samir Nassar will complete his B.A. in Organizational Communication at Metropolitan State University this summer.  As a third-generation Palestinian refugee, Samir feels a deep sense of solidarity with all peoples who endure collective punishment and oppression, and with communities affected by diplacement and diaspora. Recognizing the power of communication to bring awareness -- and in turn, bring change -- Samir considers effective communications as the key strategy for ending human rights violations, including torture.

Samir's fellowship with Center for Victims of Torture builds on the projects identified during his academic internship with the organization earlier this year. As a Fellow, he is working with the New Tactics in Human Rights Project to develop electronic outreach and educational tools, as well as preparing outreach material in English and Arabic. Samir is also conducting usability testing to improve the organization's website.

 

Hollie Nyseth
Mexico City Human Rights Commission
Mexico City, Mexico

Hollie Nyseth is a Ph.D. candidate in the department of sociology at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.  She is also pursuing the graduate minor in human rights and is interested in issues of human rights surrounding genocide, torture, education, health, and international law.  Hollie has a B.S. in Political Science and in Sociology and minors in Spanish and International Studies.  She currently serves as Secretary of the Board of Directors of a local Minneapolis special school for immigrants and works with several nonprofit organizations in Wisconsin and Minnesota.  She has also spent time working in Mexico, where she interned with an NGO, taught English at a women’s prison, volunteered at a women’s shelter, and taught human rights in several indigenous villages. 

As an Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellow, Hollie will work with the Mexico City Human Rights Commission.  Founded in 1993, the Mexico City Human Rights Commission is in charge of investigating complaints and alleged violations to human rights in Mexico City.  As an intern during summer 2009, Hollie will work with Commission members on many human rights initiatives. However, she will particularly focus on the reforms to Mexico’s criminal justice system and will work with the Commission to develop training programs for Mexican lawyers, judges, and human rights professionals in relation to the constitutional and state-level reforms to Mexico’s criminal justice system. 

 

Graham Ojala-Barbour
Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Graham Ojala-Barbour studies law at the University of Minnesota.  He believes that everyone deserves to have their human rights protected, both in the beautiful state of Minnesota and the rest of the world.  Graham grew up in Northfield, Minnesota, and canoes down the Cannon River when he can, which flows through that town.  He received his B.A. in religion and Spanish literature from Pacific Lutheran University.  He has also lived in India, where he studied philosophy and the practice of yoga. 

During the summer of 2009, Graham will be working at the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, a non-profit organization that provides legal services to immigrants and refugees who live in Minnesota.  He will work directly with clients of the Center to help ensure that they have the best legal representation available.

 

Taylor Pierce
Center for Public Interest Law (CEPIL)
Accra, Ghana

Taylor is from Madison, Wisconsin. She received her B.A. in Spanish, with a double major in Latin American and Caribbean Studies, from Emory University in 2007. During college, Taylor studied abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina and completed a senior honors thesis about memory theory relating to human rights violations of the military dictatorship in Argentina. Currently, Taylor is completing her second year of a joint JD/MPH program at the University of Minnesota.

Taylor’s fellowship will be with the Center for Public Interest Law (CEPIL) in Accra, Ghana. The Center for Public Interest Law (CEPIL) is a rights-based, non-profit organization that utilizes the law to obtain justice for poor and marginalized individuals and communities. CEPIL achieves these objectives through advocacy, litigation, research, and social mobilization efforts. The Center promotes human rights by seeking to achieve a society without injustice, oppression, and social inequality, and strives for a culture without discrimination. CEPIL represents those that cannot afford to pay for legal services and also conducts research, publication, and human rights education.

 

Jordan Shepherd

Refugee Advocacy and Support Program (RASP)

Istanbul, Turkey

 

Jordan Shepherd is a student at the University of Minnesota Law School, specializing in international human rights law.  Jordan began work in refugee studies through the Anthropology department at Texas Tech University.  After completing a Master of Arts degree with thesis research on the transnational experiences of African and Asian immigrants in Istanbul, Turkey, he interned for one year with the Citizen's Alliance for North Korean Human Rights in Seoul, South Korea. 

 

As an Upper Midwest/Robina Fellow, Jordan will return to Istanbul to intern with the Refugee Advocacy and Support Program.  With the RASP, he will represent non-citizens in their claims for relief before the United Nations and international bodies, as well as advocate for the development of international policy to protect the human rights of non-citizens.

 

 

Kelsey Sheridan
Kallari Association of the Ecuadorian Amazon
Ecuador

Kelsey is a St. Paul native who received her B.A. in International Relations and Anthropology from Beloit College in 2006.  During her studies, she focused on Latin American and Native American issues, including studying and traveling for 6 months in Ecuador.  From 2007-2008, she participated in the RARE (Resource Assistance for Rural Environments) Program through the University of Oregon as an Americorps volunteer.  The RARE program focuses on rural Oregon, and Kelsey lived in the 700-person town of Chiloquin, Oregon, working on a youth center project and other community development initiatives.  She is currently working at a gourmet deli in Minneapolis, pursuing her interest in food issues.

The Human Rights Fellowship will afford Kelsey the opportunity to work with the Kallari Association of the Ecuadorian Amazon.  Kallari is an indigenous cooperative of Kichwa artists and cocoa farmers in the Amazon jungle.  Kallari's income provides families with an alternative to oil drilling and deforestation, and ultimately gives them a voice in the future of their homelands.  Kelsey will assist with the marketing and improvement of the Coop’s “beyond fair tradeâ€? products, as well as organize community leaders to defend their land rights.  She plans to document human rights abuses, connect with other human rights organizations, encourage women to become advocates, and improve her understanding of fair trade and environmental issues.

 

Tyler Simmons
Malawi Human Rights Commission

Lilongwe, Malawi

For additional information about the Malawi Human Rights Commission, please contact former 2008-2009 Humphrey Fellow James Kaphale.  He has acted as a liaison between the Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellowship Program and the Malawi Human Rights Commission in the past and is a good source of information about the work the Malawi Human Rights Commission does.  You can find his email address through our website, listed under 2008-2009 Humphrey Fellows.

 

Tyler is a first year law student at the University of Minnesota. He came to Minnesota from Helena, Montana top pursue his undergraduate studies at Concordia College in Moorhead.  Before graduating from Concordia with a B.A. in Political Science and History, Tyler became interested in International Human Rights issues while studying during a semester in India. While a first-year law student, Tyler has also been an assistant debate coach at Henry Sibley High School in Mendota Heights, Minnesota .

 

This summer, Tyler will work with the Malawi Human Rights Commission, which is an organization that addresses all levels of human rights research, reporting, and litigation, pursuing complaints and presenting various human rights issues to the courts.  He will work primarily on legal issues in a variety of areas, including migrants’ rights, women’s rights, and development and rights.

 

 

Elizabeth Super
Transitional Justice Institute
Belfast, Northern Ireland

Elizabeth is currently a first-year law student at the University of Minnesota. She became interested in human rights at a young age, while watching family friends (who were Bulgarian immigrants) struggle through the naturalization process. This interest was developed further while studying social justice at Cretin-Derham Hall high school, during which she volunteered at Adams Spanish Immersion Grade School.  She deepened her interest in international human rights while studying Political Science at the College of St. Benedict and through her participation in the Women as Global Leaders Conference in Abu Dhabi, UAE.  While a student at the Law School, Elizabeth has been a member of Amnesty International, Raise the Bar Day of Service, and the Asylum Law Project, with whom she spent a week working on immigration and asylum cases at Catholic Charities in Miami, Florida.

This summer, Elizabeth will intern at the Transitional Justice Institute in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  She will work on the Inquiries Observation Project, with which she will monitor and evaluate governmental inquiries into the deaths of defense attorneys in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

 

Jennifer Swedberg
United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Contemporary Forms of Slavery
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Jennifer Swedberg grew up in southern Minnesota and graduated from Bethel University in 2007 with a degree in Socio-cultural Studies. She spent a semester of her college career studying abroad in the South of France, giving her the opportunity to explore Europe. She has a passion for learning about and understanding people. She is also interested in social justice issues.

This summer she will be pursuing her Fellowship in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She will be assisting the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Contemporary Forms of Slavery by reviewing NGO applications for funding. The Trust Fund sponsors NGOs working to combat slavery in its modern forms.

 

Shelby Vandenberg
The Alliance for Children’s Rights
Los Angeles, California

Shelby is currently in her second year at the University of Minnesota Law School. She received her B.A. in Political Philosophy from Syracuse University in 2005. When she’s not busy studying, she enjoys teaching swing dancing. Shelby became interested in children’s rights when she did vocational work with special education students.

As an Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellow, Shelby will spend the summer working with The Alliance for Children’s Rights in Los Angeles, California. The Alliance is a non-profit agency that provides free legal services to children living in poverty. They provide legal services in the following areas: foster care, adoptions, guardianship, special education, public benefits and access to health care. Shelby will be focusing on special education cases this summer.

 

Anna Veit-Carter
Saligan
Quezon City, the Philippines

Anna Veit-Carter is currently a first year law student at the University of Minnesota.  She received her B.A. in mathematics from Grinnell College, in Grinnell, Iowa in 2005.  After graduation, she spent two years teaching middle school math and science in inner-city Newark, New Jersey with the Teach for America program.  This sparked her interest in the issues facing the urban poor and inspired her to go to law school in order to work with that community in another capacity.

This summer, she will be doing an 8-week internship with Saligan, an alternative law organization, in Quezon City, Philippines.  Saligan works to promote the rights of women, workers, and the urban poor.  She will be working with their urban poor program, assisting in their legal clinics and teaching paralegal classes to empower the community.

 

Natalie Volin
Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ)
Belfast, Northern Ireland

Natalie Volin grew up in Hudson, WI. She is a summa cum laude graduate from the University of Minnesota’s Philosophy Department. During her time at the University of Minnesota, she was awarded the Woodbridge Scholarship for Academic Achievement. She also received a College of Liberal Arts Undergraduate Internship Grant for her work at the Sheila Wellstone Institute.  After graduating from the U of M, she went on to work as Regional Director for the endorsement phase and then Director of Women’s Outreach for the general election of the Al Franken’s senate campaign.  She is a board member of the DFL Feminist Caucus and is on NOW’s Global Issues and Strategies Advisory Committee. Her academic pursuit and general interest is in feminist legal theory, and more particularly, human rights law, post-conflict societies, and gender-specific issues in each. She plans on pursuing a JD and a PhD.
    
During her fellowship, Natalie will be working at the Committee on the Administration of Justice in Northern Ireland. CAJ is an independent, non-governmental organization affiliated with the International Federation of Human Rights. The general mandate of CAJ is to ensure that the government of Northern Ireland adheres to standards set forth in international human rights law. Natalie will be working in the policing and criminal justice areas. She is interested in learning about the balance between terrorism, security, and human rights, as well as how Northern Ireland's lessons could be applicable to the United States.

 

Paul Walters
The Friends of Ngong Road
Nairobi, Kenya

I am a first year graduate student at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. I am currently working on my Masters of Public Policy with a concentration in Global Public Policy and a minor in Human Rights.

I received my BA in Psychology and English from Saint John's University in 2005. After graduating from college I worked for a nonprofit organization in Saint Paul providing programming and housing for adults with developmental disabilities. I then became a volunteer with the Saint John's Benedictine Volunteer Corps where I worked on development of their international volunteer corps, before coming to the Humphrey Institute.

I'll be interning with a nonprofit organization called The Friends of Ngong Road in Nairboi, Kenya. The mission of Friends of Ngong Road is to provide education and support for Nairobi children living in poverty whose families are affected by HIV/AIDS so they can transform their lives. Friends of Ngong Road pairs each sponsor with a specific child allowing for a mutually beneficial relationship to develop.

My duties have yet to be officially outlined, but will likely involve research, exploring potential donor opportunities, staff training on quality assurance, and taking some pictures and video clips for the development of a promotional video.

 

Matthew Webster
Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (SMRLS)
Rochester, Minnesota

Matthew Webster is a 1L student at the University of Minnesota Law School who hopes to practice immigration law in southeastern Minnesota.  As a former ESL teacher in Brownsville, Texas, he developed a passion for immigrant advocacy, and he has continued representing the immigrant community both as an activist and law student.  In March 2008, Matthew led a nine-day march for immigrant rights along 126 miles of the Texas-Mexico border.  Also in 2008, he worked with an immigration attorney in Rochester, MN, and contributed to a U of M research project on non-traditional immigrant destinations.  In his 1L year, Matthew served as Vice-President of the Asylum Law Project, a law school organization that mobilized 100 students to volunteer in asylum law agencies in El Paso, Miami, Las Vegas, Arizona, and Minneapolis.  He continued to be engaged in immigration law through volunteering with Park Avenue Foundation Clinic and Citizenship Day in Rochester, MN. 

This summer through the Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellowship, Matthew looks forward to working with migrant workers in Rochester, Owatonna, and Plainview on issues of immigration, housing, family, and employment law.  Under the supervision of Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (SMRLS), he will conduct community education events, interview clients in the field, assess legal claims, and work to provide representation for migrant workers in this non-traditional immigrant destination.  After the tragic ICE raids at Postville, Iowa, and Worthington and Austin, Minnesota, immigrant workers in this region of the country are reticent to pursue legal remedies, so much of his job will be gaining the trust of this vulnerable community and ensuring their basic human rights are secure.

 

Jay Wilkinson
International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus
Brussels, Belgium

Jay Wilkinson is a Minnesota public interest lawyer.  He has represented clients of the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis (www.midmnlegal.org) in the fields including youth law, public benefits, equal employment and fair housing.  Jay is a founding board member of the Children’s Law Center of Minnesota, the Minnesota Fair Housing Center and HOME Line.   His family has been enriched by hosting teachers, students and volunteers from four continents.    He writes poetry about his Vermont relatives and other topics.  If he can support human rights for people with disabilities across the world and  ride a bicycle for more than 3000 miles and in more than three nations during this sabbatical year, he will be very, very happy. 

In 2009, Jay will work on a project addressing international human rights issues that arise when infants are born with severe disabilities. His host is the International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

 

Nick Wunder
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Washington, D.C.

Nick Wunder graduated from Carleton College in 2002, where he studied English literature. Prior to enrolling at the University of Minnesota Law School, Nick worked at the American Civil Liberties Union’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Project. As a member of the Project’s public education team, he worked to create strategic communications initiatives and media advocacy tools to support the ACLU’s litigation and legislative work.

During his fellowship, Nick will return to the ACLU’s LGBT Project to work as a summer law clerk. Law clerks perform a vital role in performing research, writing legal and policy memos, drafting pleadings and briefs, and assisting the attorneys in their work with clients.  The ACLU is committed to integrating the fight against LGBT discrimination into the organization’s broader human rights work, and today it brings more sexual orientation cases and LGBT advocacy initiatives than any other national civil rights organization.

 

Maisue Xiong
Bridges Across Borders Southeast Asia
Chiang Mai, Thailand

Maisue Xiong was born in the Ban Vinai Refugee Camp in Thailand and grew up in California.  She is currently a third year law student at William Mitchell College of Law.  She received her undergraduate degree in Social Justice and Legal Studies from Hamline University in 2006.  The opportunity to engage with the refugee community in Thailand is a dream come true.  Maisue is particularly interested in Refugee and Immigration Rights in Thailand, due to the past and current refugee issues surrounding the Hmong people.

With her fellowship, Maisue will contribute to poverty alleviation and challenging inequality through legal and educational means.  She will conduct legal research of Thai laws and jurisprudence and draft manuals on relevant laws, which will be used to educate Hmong refugees in Thailand.  She will also work on various advocacy projects and community empowerment initiatives to address Prisoner and Detention Rights, Access to Health Care in Thai Prisons and Detention Centers, Juvenile Justice, HIV and Drug Use, Children’s Rights, Thai Criminal Law Procedure, and Human Trafficking.