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Current Fellows

2023 Student Fellows

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Madeline Adee

Ph.D., Health Policy, UC Berkeley

American Friends Service Committee, California

Madeline Adee (She/Her/Hers) will partner with the American Friends Service Committee to conduct research to describe the planning (purchasing and training), implementation, and after-effects of the use of force within California prisons. The use of force, in particular the use of military weapons, against incarcerated people within California state prisons has the potential to have significant health impacts for this population. She seeks to help advocate for decarceration efforts, diverting state funding away from weapons purchasing, and reducing the ability of the prison system to respond to incidents with military weapons.

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Mikail Aliyu

DrPH, School of Public Health, UC Berkeley

Ipas – Partners for Reproductive Justice, Bangladesh

 

Mikail Aliyu (He/Him/His) will be working with Ipas to research difficult-to-address myths and misconceptions around contraception and menstrual regulation among Rohingya refugee women. These myths continue to discourage and prevent a majority of Rohingya refugee women and girls from getting accurate information and making autonomous decisions about their bodies.

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Meghana Kumar

Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Data Science, UC Berkeley

Stop the Traffik, London

Meghana Kumar (She/Her/Hers) will work as a research assistant at non-profit organization Stop the Traffik on their Aman Safety Project, which focuses on preventing the trafficking of refugees. She will research human trafficking and migration trends in Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey. Further, she will research the role of financial institutions in detecting and preventing trafficking of refugees in those countries. Her research will inform Stop the Traffik’s preventative campaigns in fall 2023.

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Gabriel Lazo

JD, School of Law, UC Irvine

Reporters Without Borders, Berlin

 

Gabriel Lazo (He/Him/His) will assist Reporters Without Borders in its work in support of journalism and journalists worldwide, specifically the organization’s legal work in the fields of surveillance regulation and technologies, media regulation, protection of journalistic work and the enhancement of human rights in that context. He will assist in analyzing the national and international legal framework, evaluating possibilities and developing strategies for legal action before national authorities as well as before international courts and entities.

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Mulika Musyimi

MPH, School of Public Health, UC Berkeley

Sanergy Collaborative, Nairobi

 

Mulika Musyimi (He/Him/His) is partnering with the Sanergy Collaborative team to address water and sanitation linkages in Kenya. He will asses the number of people reached with improved sanitation efforts during the stipulated three month life cycle; identify any remaining barriers and potential solutions to accessing improved sanitation in target communities; and support the Sanergy/Citywise team as it prepares to scale and replicate Mtaa Fresh in other cities in Kenya and the larger Sub-Saharan Africa region.

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Jenny Rempel

Ph.D., Energy & Resources, UC Berkeley

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, California

Jenny Rempel (She/Her/Hers) is partnering with Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, a human rights organization that works alongside low-income, rural communities in California to ensure the basic right to safe, affordable drinking water. Jenny will use community-engaged research to examine and improve local drought programs and adaptation planning for household water security. By assessing short-term drought emergency programs alongside water adaptation planning processes, Jenny will work to address violations to the human right to water in our changing climate.

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Paula Santa Rosa

Ph.D., Communications, UC San Diego

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Bolivia

Paula Santa Rosa (She/Her/Hers) will work with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Bolivia on a project to develop partnerships with community radio stations for human rights education. She will also help organize events with scholars, journalists, and civil society organizations to foster discussions about the state of freedom of expression and journalism in Bolivia. Paula will conduct fieldwork for her dissertation research which contributes to human rights literature by providing a historicization and conceptualization of “the right to communicate” and an analysis of its relation to community media in general, and community radio stations in Bolivia in particular.

Logo of Human Rights Center UC Berkeley School of LawMaria Fernanda Quintero Sirtori

LLM, School of Law, UC Berkeley

Accountability Counsel

Maria Fernanda Quintero Sirtori will partner with Accountability Counsel, to protect human rights of communities around the world and the environment  harmed by internationally financed projects in Latin America (Haiti), Eastern Europe and Asia (Ukraine, Mongolia). They will undertake direct responsibilities on implementing agreements reached between communities with Multilateral Financial Institutions. They will be also supporting communities requesting compliance reviews by several accountability mechanisms and expects to be involved in the vetting process for several new cases. They will support community driven and policy level strategies to access justice.

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Meredith Sullivan

JD, School of Law, UC Berkeley

Office of the Federal Public Defender, Arkansas

 

Meredith Sullivan (She/Her/Hers) is pursuing a JD at Berkeley Law. She will complete a legal internship with the Office of the Federal Public Defender in Little Rock, contributing to post-conviction advocacy for death-sentenced individuals in Arkansas. She will work on pending and future capital habeas cases in federal court. She will assist attorneys, paralegals, investigators, and mitigation specialists with case preparation and work closely with clients.

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Wangyuxuan Xu

MJ, Graduate School of Journalism, UC Berkeley

Investigative Reporting Program at Berkeley Journalism, New Mexico & Oklahoma

Wangyuxuan Xu (She/Her/Hers) & Zhe Wu (She/Her/Hers) will collaborate on a multimedia journalistic piece that includes a documentary, podcast, and long-form narrative on an investigation highlighting the labor and financial exploitation of Chinese immigrants in the U.S. cannabis industry.

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Zhe Wu

MJ, Graduate School of Journalism, UC Berkeley

Investigative Reporting Program at Berkeley Journalism, New Mexico & Oklahoma

Zhe Wu (She/Her/Hers) & Wangyuxuan Xu (She/Her/Hers) will collaborate on a multimedia journalistic piece that includes a documentary, podcast, and long-form narrative on an investigation highlighting the labor and financial exploitation of Chinese immigrants in the U.S. cannabis industry.

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Tabesh Zaidi

Ph.D., Interdisciplinary Studies, UC Merced

Healthy House, California

Tabesh Zaidi (He/Him/His) will partner with Healthy House, which promotes well-being and health of all marginalized, migrant, and low-income communities, including refugees. They provide interpretation services to the Hmong Health Collaborative in 18 languages. He will use his trilingual skills to facilitate their legal, administrative and immigration questions services.

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Sediqa Zaki

MDP, Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Berkeley

World Hazara Council, Washington D.C.

Sediqa Zaki (She/Her/Hers) will be working with the World Hazara Council (WHC) to develop a strategic plan for their new sub organization (HWGM). This new organization focuses on advocating for the rights of marginalized women, fostering educational and income-generating opportunities, and enhancing women’s agency in economic, political, and social spheres. Her work will serve as a roadmap for HWGM’s activities, aligning them with the broader mission of the WHC to promote the cultural, social, and civil rights of the Hazara community in Afghanistan and around the world.