2022 Fellows

2023 Fellows

Adéṣẹwà Adéṣínà headshotAdéṣẹwà Adéṣínà

MDP, Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Berkeley

Justice & Empowerment Initiatives, Lagos, Nigeria

Adéṣẹwà will be investigating and collating the resourceful ways slum dwellers living with disabilities create informal networks, services and infrastructures to increase their social access within their communities. They will identify recommendations and action steps to facilitate the journey of non-disabled people in unlearning ableism, and building solidarity with people living with disabilities (PLWDs). Adéṣẹwà will develop a combined advocacy report that outlines approaches, strategies and testimonies from slum dwellers living with disabilities on how they have creatively designed for their environment to meet their accessibility needs.

Anna Judson headshotAnna Judson

JD, School of Law, UC Berkeley

National Foster Youth Institute, Washington DC

Anna will conduct federal child-welfare policy research, help with political mobilization and organization, and support the National Foster Youth Institute’s incoming Congressional Delegates. During summer 2022, Anna will work closely with members of Congress and the Senate to bring awareness, facilitate conversations, and introduce legislation about the five crucial policy topics. Anna looks forward to advocating for her community and working with politicians to better understand how to gain bipartisan support for human rights agendas.

Anthony Ghaly headshotAnthony Ghaly

JD, School of Law, UC Berkeley

WITNESS, New York

Anthony will join WITNESS this summer as a legal intern for the newly developed Technology, Threats, and Opportunities team. The team will address novel issues facing human rights documentation and advocacy in consequence to the proliferation of digital technologies in the field. Anthony will work under team leader Raquel Vazquez Llorente to provide legal support on matters related to international human rights law and international criminal justice.

Bhavya Joshi headshotBhavya Joshi

DrPH, School of Public Health, UC Berkeley

Roda - Parents in Action, Croatia

Bhavya will be visiting refugee accommodations in Croatia to understand the unmet reproductive health needs of Ukrainian women refugees arriving in Croatia. Working with Roda, she will be meeting and working with organizations like Red Cross, Doctors of the World, and other human rights organizations in Croatia to understand the barriers faced by Ukranian women refugees in accessing reproductive health services since February 2022. Bhavya aims to use the data to advocate for reproductive rights of refugees in times of compounded crisis using the international women human rights mechanism.

Caroline Lester headshotCaroline Lester

JD, School of Law, UC Berkeley

Regional Public Defenders for Capital Crimes, Texas

Caroline will be completing a legal internship with the Regional Public Defenders for Capital Cases. She will work on trial-level capital cases in rural counties in Texas. Caroline will assist the legal teams at her placement with their caseload.

Eunchong Cho headshotEunchong Cho

Ph.D., Sociology, UC San Diego

Minsnail Union, South Korea

Eunchong will study human rights-centered approaches to youth housing rights in South Korea. He will help strengthen Minsnail Union’s human rights framework in its movement goals, and integrate global human rights concepts into their vision to overcome challenges, promote global partnerships, and contribute to global human rights.

Francis SantosFrancis Santos

JD, School of Law, UC Berkeley

ACLU Racial Justice Program, New York

Francis will be working for the ACLU's Racial Justice Program (RJP) this summer. RJP focuses on upholding racial equality and combating racism through litigation, community organizing and training, legislative initiatives, and public education to address a broad spectrum of issues that disproportionately negatively affect people of color. The program focuses specifically on issues of racial equality in the areas of criminal justice, economic justice, education, affirmative action, and American Indian rights.

Kenneth Ng'etich headshotKenneth Ng'etich

MJ, Graduate School of Journalism, UC Berkeley

Muslims for Human Rights, Kenya

Kenneth will work on a project that investigates the plight of Kenyan workers in Saudi Arabia. He will look into allegations of abuse, including the reports of 89 Kenyans – most of them female domestic workers – who died under mysterious circumstances in Saudi Arabia between 2019 and 2021.


Malak AfanehMalak Afaneh

JD, School of Law, UC Berkeley

The International Legal Foundation

Malak will be working as a global legal intern with the International Legal Foundation’s MENA Team to provide direct legal services for women and children impacted by state sanctioned violence. She will conduct legal research on methods of empowerment and healing for survivors with a focus on Palestine and Tunisia, and analyze litigation strategies aligned with both customary international law and systems of justice in the MENA region.

Riya Desai headshotRiya Desai

MD/MS, Joint Medical Program, UC Berkeley & UC San Francisco

Families Against Mandatory Minimums, California 

Riya will be working with Families for Justice Reform/FAMM, a national advocacy organization focused on criminal justice reform, to conduct research on expanding compassionate release for sick and aging people in California. She will analyze California’s compassionate release data, qualitatively explore barriers and facilitators to compassionate release, generate policy recommendations, and investigate the Medicaid policies for skilled nursing facilities for justice-involved people.

Violet Barton headshotViolet Barton

Ph.D., Interdisciplinary Humanities, UC Merced

Asociación de Comunidades Indígenas de El Salvador, El Salvador

Violet will support the work of Nahua Pipil leaders to create an Indigenous archive that documents the processes of establishing a national Indigenous forum to advocate for the ratification of Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization, in El Salvador. Convention 169 was established by the 1989 Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, codifying the right to self-determination within nation-states. It also acts as a framework for the protection of Indigenous people and communities under international law.

Wafa Alawi headshotWafa Alawi

MPH, School of Public Health / Global Health and Environment

Women's Center- Shu'fat Camp, Palestine

Using a random sample of de-identified data collected by the Women's Center- Shu'fat Camp (WCSHC) in Palestine, Wafa will utilize a mixed-methods approach to examine which demographic of women has the highest risk of developing any disease, excluding injury. For the qualitative portion of this study, Wafa will conduct interviews with WCSHC staff to gain a better understanding of their perspective of the program and its objectives. This will allow program staff to better focus their efforts and resources on this group, and play a role in improving the quality of life for these women.