Summer Scholars Fellowship
Our Summer Scholars fellowship program enables students in graduate degree programs to experience work abroad with the United Nations or its agencies, as well as non-governmental organizations. The mission of the Scholars program is to foster direct knowledge and understanding of the UN and international organizations.
The yearly fellowships, which are fully funded by UNA-NYC, offer frequent collaborations with agencies such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), but may involve other agencies as well. We also work with NGOs such as Plan International.
Applications
Any interested students in New York City who learn about this program should contact their university's program representative to facilitate or recommend participation in the Summer Scholars program. Individual student applications, independent of school participation, will not be accepted.
Criteria for Selection
Applicants must be enrolled in a New York City (Manhattan only) university as full-time graduate students, and should be current members of UNA-NYC
Submission of CV as well as Statement of Purpose letter
Two letters of recommendation
Award Conditions
The Summer Scholars fellowship provides a stipend to cover all travel and living expenses.
The award recipients are expected to keep a blog of their summer experience.
The recipients are invited to participate in a UNA-NYC program, usually an open house for sharing their experiences, as well as a brief appearance at our annual gala dinner held during the autumn.
Housing and Budget
Costs associated with participation in the program will be assumed by UNA-NYC, which will provide the required financial assistance to the student for the duration of the internship. The grant will cover round-trip airfare to and from the selected country, as well as housing and food. Housing will be available in small hotels or apartments, selected by the student with the help and input of the UN or NGO office, if necessary.
The award recipients are responsible for ensuring that all passports and necessary visas are in order, as well as providing necessary immunization and vaccination certificates. Proof of medical and evacuation insurance must also be submitted prior to departure.
2024 Summer Scholars
ANA BARRAGÁN MARTÍNEZ | Summer Scholars 2024 : PANAMA Fellowship
Ana is a Fulbright Fellow pursuing a master's degree in International Political Economy and Development at Fordham University. Born in Xalapa, Mexico, she holds a bachelor’s degree in Administrative Computer Systems from the Universidad Veracruzana, as well as a certificate in Global Media, War, and Technology from the University of Queensland.
Prior to joining Fordham, Ana focused on the intersection of Information and Communication Technologies and Development. She worked at the Georeferencing Program to detect gender-based violence against women and girls of the Municipal Government of Xalapa, where she contributed to the generation of digital maps that identified areas with high levels of violence, identifying correlations that led to public policy proposals to ensure a safer city for women and girls.
After working in the private sector, Ana joined a woman-led cooperative that supports indigenous Mexican artisans through a positioning network that empowers their local economies, and volunteered through the United Nations Volunteer Programme with the Associação Jadir de Taekwondo, which offers free sports, gender, and environmental education to children and youth from vulnerable communities in Rio de Janeiro. Additionally, she has collaborated with the Sustainable Development Solutions Network – Mexico, where she joined the program Collaborators in Environmental Impact Projects, supporting the development of platforms that connect scholars, students, NGOs, private initiatives, and state agencies to achieve the SDGs in her home country.
Ana feels a strong commitment to the development of welfare and prosperity in Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly for women and youth, and seeks to continue putting technology at the service of this cause. This summer she will join the UNFPA Latin America & the Caribbean Regional Office in Panama City, Panama, as an intern in Data-Driven Storytelling for Population and Development Issues.
CHERISSE BOVELL | Summer Scholars 2024 : SOUTH AFRICA Fellowship
Cherisse is a graduate student at City College, NY pursuing her Master’s Degree in International Affairs. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree from The New School (TNS) in Global Studies and an Associate’s in Journalism and Public Relations from COSTAATT in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
Prior to her move to NYC, Cherisse worked with the South-West Regional Health Authority in Trinidad and Tobago during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her responsibilities included creating press releases on the national COVID-19 vaccination roll-out and conducting visits to local health centres to gather community member’s accounts of their vaccination experiences, aimed at encouraging broader vaccination uptake.
During her undergraduate studies Cherisse harnessed her passion for global justice by founding the Human Rights Advocacy Group at TNS, a student organization focused on engaging the campus community in human rights related discussions, events and activism. In 2022 Cherisse joined the International Peace Institute as an intern and assisted with their event preparation for the General Assembly High-level week. She was selected as a Social Science Research Fellow at the Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts where she conducted research on the strategic use of public relations campaigns utilised by governments to divert attention from pressing human rights concern. Cherisse is the creator of the resource bank “Plug for the People” a social justice initiative aiming to create a platform that centralizes resources and beneficial programmes for underprivileged communities in the NYC metropolitan area.
This summer, Cherisse will be joining the UNFPA’s South Africa based regional office to assist on the development of their youth empowerment programs particularly focusing on the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional (ESAR) initiatives. She is eager to further explore youth engagement opportunities and eagerly awaits the start of her work placement.
GENEVIEVE CONNELL | Summer Scholars 2024 : MONGOLIA Fellowship
Genevieve is from a farm in Southern Wisconsin and is a Public Service Fellow in the graduate program for International Political Economy and Development (IPED) at Fordham University. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies, Chinese, and French from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Her current research focuses on multiple angles of poverty and development. In her recent work with the Fordham Francis Index (FFI), she analyzed food insecurity and religious restrictions and contributed to the annual report illustrating the current global outlook on extreme poverty. In January of 2024, she participated in a team assessment on the business and enterprise development program for a women-led nonprofit in the Philippines. Prior to her graduate studies, she spent a year as an English language assistant in Villefontaine, France with the Teach Abroad Program in France (TAPIF). She worked with ethnically marginalized youth in a middle school in the banlieue and fostered greater cross-cultural learning opportunities while strengthening US-France relations through education and culture. Her value in creative learning has allowed her to gain a versatile assortment of experiences in a variety of environments including lectures and events management and Nordic ski coaching.
Eager to continue learning and growing, Genevieve will be working with the UNDP Mongolia Office in Ulaanbaatar and looks forward to supporting the research on the socio economic development of green energy transitions.
SARU DUCKWORTH | Summer Scholars 2024 : SENEGAL Fellowship
Saru is Nepalese-American student and Masters of Public Administration in Development Practice candidate at the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), with a focus on gender and multidimensional poverty. She holds a Bachelors in International Affairs with concentrations in French Language and Conflict Resolution from George Washington University.
Saru is the UN Foundation Next Generation Fellow for Jobs & Economic Opportunities, working with global coalitions of youth advocates and social entrepreneurs for the full realization of SDGs 1 (no poverty) & 8 (decent work). Previously, Saru spent five years working at the intersection of evidence and practice for women’s empowerment programs in multiple contexts across South and Southeast Asia. At BRAC, the world's largest INGO, she worked with the Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative and governments across Africa and Asia to scale up sustainable livelihood programs for women living in extreme poverty. She has received awards for her on-the-ground research in Myanmar and Nepal in the areas of multidimensional child vulnerability, gender and SRHR norms, and social inclusion, and was a US Department of State Fulbright Scholar.
Saru additionally worked on climate adaptation for communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis. Her research into child risk factors with UNICEF in Yangon, Myanmar, and later with Mercy Corps, explored the intersection of manmade and natural disasters and their impact on young people. She is also a dedicated community volunteer, receiving the US President’s Volunteer Service Award for her work managing a free food pantry for low-income students at her university.
Saru will be joining the UNFPA Western and Central Africa Regional Office (WCARO) in Dakar, Senegal, working with specialists on the Gender and Human Rights team to strengthen program development and implementation across 23 African countries.
MARIA ANDORYATI HUTAPEA | Summer Scholars 2024 : PHILIPPINES Fellowship
Maria is an international student from Indonesia currently pursuing a Master of Public Administration in Development Practice (MPA-DP) at the School of Public and International Affairs (SIPA), Columbia University. She is an awardee of the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education Scholarship from the Indonesia Finance Ministry, which fully supports her master's degree studies in the USA. She holds a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering from the University of Indonesia.
Prior to her master's studies, Maria's passion for grassroots and poverty issues led her to build a career in the Non-governmental Organization (NGO), Wahana Visi Indonesia, a partner of World Vision. She gained extensive experience in both Humanitarian, like natural disaster emergency response, and Development projects. In her role focusing on Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL), Maria ensured program effectiveness and impact by designing programs with robust indicators, facilitating quantitative and qualitative measurement, and implementing participatory feedback mechanisms. She was a part of the Asia Pacific Regional Disaster Management Team in her previous office, providing capacity building on MEAL and Cash Voucher Assistance, and becoming a surge capacity like being deployed to Mozambique office. She pursued relevant coursework to enhance her skills in quantitative analysis and her interest issues such as food security, climate change, and disaster risk reduction. Maria's work on various projects, mostly in remote areas of eastern Indonesia, has strengthened her vision to contribute on a broader scale, ideally within national or headquarters settings, particularly in the realm of policy development.
Through the Summer Scholar Fellowship by UNA-NYC, Maria will have the opportunity to further her goals by joining an internship with at the UNDP country office in the Philippines. She will focus on Knowledge Management and Policy Advocacy Services to support data and knowledge production for UNDP's Impact and Advisory Team (IAT) and Country Accelerator Lab Network (ALab).
MIHUVHO MAFUNA | Summer Scholars 2024 : SOUTH AFRICA Fellowship
Mihuvho Mafuna is a Master of Arts in International Political Economy and Development (IPED) student at Fordham University. He is on course to complete an Advanced Certification in Emerging Markets and Country Risk Analysis from Fordham, in August 2024. In May 2023, he graduated with a Master of Arts in Economics, concentrating on Finance. His academic journey began at the University of Venda, where he earned a Bachelor of Commerce in Applied Economics in 2018 and a Bachelor of Commerce in Economics with honors in May 2019.
Currently, Mihuvho serves as a Technical Support Specialist at Fordham University in the Bronx, New York. Since March 2023, he has been involved in projects requiring meticulous planning, coordination, and deployment of software. His role includes providing remote technical support, troubleshooting computer-related issues, and maintaining inventory database records. Previously, Mihuvho was a Research Intern at Torp Resources in South Africa from April 2021 to August 2022. He identified and researched over 20 new suppliers of raw materials used in mineral processing, analyzed economic trends, and identified new technology trends in renewable energy and energy efficiency. Mihuvho also worked as a Lecture Assistant at the University of Venda from February 2017 to December 2017. He assessed the performance of over 400 students, conducted tutorials, and developed advanced learning plans in Mathematics and Statistics. Mihuvho has shown a strong commitment to community service and leadership. He was an Organizer for the Mutingati Community Project in South Africa from October 2021 to August 2022, organizing events to address critical issues such as alcohol and drug abuse and teenage pregnancy. He also served as Secretary of the UNIVEN ABSA Man's Soccer team from January 2017 to December 2018, where he created a junior league and organized tournaments.
Mihuvho is set to join the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) East and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) in Johannesburg for a summer internship. Under the direct supervision of the Population Dynamics Policy Advisor, Mihuvho will support the Evidence, Knowledge, and Innovation (EKI) team in advocacy and research on intersections of climate change, gender, and sexual and reproductive health and rights.
GABRIELA SANDINO DE LUCA | Summer Scholars 2024 : SURINAME Fellowship
Gabriela is currently pursuing a Master of Public Administration in Development Practice (MPA-DP) at the School of Public and International Affairs (SIPA) of Columbia University in the city of New York. She is focusing her studies on food security, migration, and human rights. Originally from Bogotá Colombia, she holds a law degree from la Universidad de los Andes.
Gabriela is a qualified Colombian lawyer specializing in public international law and international arbitration with professional experience in top-tier international arbitration law firms in Italy, London, and Paris. She acted as counsel for both investors and states in complex transnational disputes and investor state arbitrations. She also worked in the legal office for the Food and Agricultural Organization which triggered her passion for sustainable development and development projects.
This summer, Gabriela will be working at the UNDP country office in Paramaribo, Suriname. Under the overall guidance of the UNDP Programme Officer for Democratic Governance, Gabriela will contribute and support the team in creating effective mechanism to enable strong engagement with civil society on issues related to human rights.
