Prior to joining AID, she served as the Deputy Director of the Greater Access to Trade Expansion (GATE) Project funded by USAID’s Office of Women and Development, where she developed and led trainings to integrate gender into the USAID/Bangladesh and USAID/Peru Economic Growth programs. She was the lead author of “Pro-Poor Growth, Gender, and Markets,” a report which was disseminated to incoming Peruvian government officials. She provided comments on USAID’s Economic Strategy, which led to incorporation of gender considerations in the final government strategy.

Marceline came to the GATE project from the Women’s EDGE, where she served as Director of the Global Trade Program. She developed Women’s EDGE programs and positions on global trade issues and represented the organization to policymakers, funders, and the media. Working with women around the world, she advocated for fair trade policies and programs.  She developed the Look FIRST Campaign and a collaborative research agenda with organizations in Mexico and Jamaica  for the Trade Impact Review, which led to media coverage in Dow Jones, the Washington Post, CNN, and other media. Her advocacy efforts led to the first amendment on gender and trade introduced in the Senate as part of the Fast-Track debate in 2002. She also designed the President’s InterAgency Council on Women’s strategy and advocacy on gender and trade, which led to the first U.S. guidance to federal departments on integrating gender considerations into all economic policies in 2001. She was also instrumental in ensuring that Department of Labor trade analyses included a gender-specific review and in securing the appointment of a gender and development expert to the ACTPN.

Marceline’s other leadership experiences include serving as Board President for the Fair Trade Federation; as Director of the International Population Campaign at the Sierra Club; as a Development Associate at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research; as the Vice-President for Development for the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador; and as Environmental Organizer with MASSPIRG.

Marceline has presented on her work to Congress, at foreign embassies, to the media, and at conferences from Mexico to Bangladesh. She has also authored many articles and contributed to numerous books and journals. She received her Masters from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and her Bachelors of Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Marceline is also a published poet and visual artist. When not writing poetry and creating art, Marceline enjoys spelunking and chasing her son around playgrounds and pools.

Selected Publications:

“Trade Agreements and Reproductive Health and Rights: An Agenda for Analysis and Advocacy” in Grown, Caren, Elissa Braunstein, and Anju Malhotra (eds) Trading Women’s Health and Rights? Trade Liberalization and Reproductive Health in Developing Economies: Zed Books: New York and London: 2006

“Look FIRST: Engendering Trade and Development” Gender and Development, Vol. 12, Number 2, Oxfam: Great Britain: July 2004

“ ‘Engendering‘ development-centered, rights-based, equitable trade policy” in Pickering, Sharon and Caroline Lambert Global Issues: Women and Justice: University of Sydney; Sydney: 2004

“The GATS Agreement: Doing a Disservice to Women?” Foreign Policy in Focus January 2001

Tina Abrefa-Gyan
Bio coming soon!

DeChants Carolyn
Carolyn DeChants is a senior at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michican where she is majoring in Political Science and French.  Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, she spent her junior year studying abroad in Clermont-Ferrand, France.  While in France she had the opportunity to travel throughout Europe and work at a French restaurant in addition to her studies.  At Kalamazoo she is a member of the Kalamazoo College Democrats, and the women's Ultimate Frisbee team.  In her spare time she enjoys reading and playing the guitar.

Nicole Connor
Nicole Connor is an intern for the Global Peace and Security program at Americans for Informed Democracy. Nicole received her BA in French and History from the University of Delaware. While at Delaware, she was French club president and created a student run magazine devoted to promoting global perspectives. She has particular interest in fostering cross-cultural dialogue, notably in conflict areas such as the Middle East. Recently, she was involved in rebuilding Gulf coast communities devastated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in working with AmeriCorps NCCC. For the future, Nicole hopes to pursue a Master's degree in International Relations with a focus on conflict resolution and gender issues. For fun, she enjoys traveling and a variety of activities from capoeira to afro-latino dance. Nicole is fluent in French and is currently undertaking the challenge of learning Spanish.

Gina  Del Tito
Gina Del Tito is a rising junior at Dickinson College in Carlisle Pennsylvania. She is an enthusiastic International Studies and French double major eagerly anticipating (as long as her visa request is accepted) studying abroad next year first in Toulouse, France and then in Y·ounde, Cameroon. Although her french language skills are passible, she hopes that at the end of that time to begin learning new languages, including, but not limited to arabic and spanish. A strong believer in the power of democratic dialogue and the strength of patriotic dissent, she is ready to dive into the work at Americans for an Informed Democracy. With a continuous passion for the arts cultivated from a young age in her primary education at the Kimberton Waldorf School from which she graduated in 2006, coupled with her desire to work towards a better world for democracy, Gina is excited to help work with the next generation of student leaders.

Don Eskridge
Hi, my name is Don Eskridge.  I am a graduate student of international studies with an emphasis in human development at Oklahoma State University.  I have recently been accepted to the Peace Corps and am aiming to ship out near the beginning of next year.  I am passionate about human rights and hope to work with the UN or an international nonprofit focusing on this issue in the future.  I can't wait to learn more about the field and my abilities in it through work with AID this summer.<br><br>Aside from all that, I really like games, dancing and swimming.  I'm looking forward to a great summer.

Christine Goldrick
Christine has been interested in global and public health ever since she saw a film about obstetric fistula in Mali in high school. She is currently a rising sophomore at Dartmouth College, where she is the secretary of the Dartmouth Coalition for Global Health. She also edits Standpoints, a journal of global health and has interned with the public health department of her hometown. At Dartmouth, she is also involved with MEDLIFE, a student organization which plans medical mission trips to Honduras and Ecuador. In addition, she enjoys Korean food and spoiling her cocker spaniel.

Rachel Hughes
Bio coming soon!

Kevin  Kaiser
Kevin Kaiser is from Greenwood, Indiana.  As an undergraduate, he studied political science at DePauw University and spent time studying European politics in Copenhagen, Denmark.  Kevin is currently working towards completing his Masters of Public Affairs at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University.  In his free time, Kevin enjoys reading, playing and watching sports, and painting.

Karen McManemin
I just graduated from Beloit College in Wisconsin with a B.A. in Health and Society and a minor in African Studies. I am originally from Salt Lake City, UT (though not a Mormon). I spent 4 months abroad in Nairobi and Mombsasa, Kenya taking classes in development, health and society, and conducting an independent research project on sex workers' knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding HIV/AIDS. I also learned some Swahili and I would like to return to East Africa hopefully in the near future. In undergraduate, my main extracurricular activity was being the chapter leader of Student Global AIDS Campaign. I love to travel and I am passionate about global public health issues, thus I am planning to enroll in an international health MPH program in the fall (either at Tulane or BU). Other places that I have traveled include Tanzania, Mexico, Austria and Italy. When not traveling or studying I enjoy skiing, biking, and meeting new and exciting people.<br>

Jennifer Officewala
I am a 3rd year Doctor of Pharmacy and Masters of Public Health student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. I am pursuing a Global Health Concentration as a part of my Masters degree. I have volunteered in several hospital and community pharmacies in Nairobi, Kenya. I have also worked in a HIV/AIDS clinic in Jos, Nigeria that provided free health services and treatment to the indigent population of that region. I am originally from Maryland, and attended undergrad at Bryn Mawr College in the Philadelphia suburb of Bryn Mawr, PA. I look forward to working with everyone at AID and know that my time as the Global Health Assistant will be extremely unique and mind-enriching.

Matthew Podolin
Matthew Podolin is a junior at Wesleyan University, majoring in the multidisciplinary College of Social Studies. During the fall of 2007 he spent a semester in Kenya studying health and development. There he completed an independent field research project on sexual health education among underprivileged youth in Nairobi. He serves as the youth chair of the city of Middletown's Citizens Advisory Committee, and at Wesleyan he participates in numerous student groups, including the student anti-genocide group. He is currently focusing his studies around international economics and development, and he is preparing for his senior thesis on the development of the state in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide.

Amy Russell
I was raised in a small town in Southeastern Arkansas before moving to Lebanon, Missouri when I was 16. I am now a senior American Political Studies major and Global Studies minor at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri. Drury is a small, liberal arts University that prides itself on its unique Global Studies core curriculum and I love it! After graduation I plan on attending law school and work as a legal advocate for the disabled or underprivileged children. In my spare time I enjoy jogging, shopping, and watching Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert.

Ruhi Shamim
Ruhi is a senior at Columbia University, studying Environmental Biology and Sustainable Development.  Besides being active in local green initiatives, she is also involved with cultural identity awareness/community building on campus and in the New York area.

Julia Stutz
I was born in Brooklyn, New York and lived there my entire life until moving to Washington, DC to attend The Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University. I am now a senior in the school and majoring in International Politics. While at GW I have volunteered for the Education for Peace in Iraq Center as well as worked for a local Maryland council member Valerie Ervin. Outside of school and work I do a lot of dancing (mostly hip hop and tap) and have performed in many shows around DC and NY. I also grew up with two older brothers which has led me to have a strong interest in most sports, but especially basketball. 

S. Fatima Tazeen
Fatima Tazeen is a senior at University of Texas at Arlington. Since high school, she has volunteered at and helped run a community clinic, organizing health fairs and outreach programs. Seeing firsthand the medical crises in her native India, she is motivated to promote health education and improve health services and is thus studying Biology and Psychology and plans to attend medical school.

Kristen Thompson
Kristen is a rising senior in the Honors College at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina.  She is pursuing degrees in Political Science and Communication Studies.  In the future, she hopes to study International Relations in graduate school.  She recently studied abroad with the Semester at Sea program and values the experiences she gained.  The cultural interactions revealed the importance of intercultural understanding and relationships, which she seeks to facilitate through her involvement in the Americans for Informed Democracy chapter at her home university.  She helped form the AID chapter at the College of Charleston where she currently serves as the president of the group. In her free time she enjoys surfing, scuba diving, and traveling. 

Shelby Buettner, Regional Director

Veronica Canton, Regional Director and Board Member
Veronica Canton is a Regional Director and Board Member of Americans for Informed Democracy (AID).  She also works as a Marketing Director for Friends of El Shadai, a non-profit organization working toward supporting educational and financial needs orphans in Uganda, and is a Research Analyst for Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant's Rights, an organization focused on working with immigrant communities through faith related coalitions within California, assisting newly arrived immigrants with multiple aspects of the acculturation process. Veronica is currently pursuing a Masters Degree at San Francisco State University in International Relations, specializing in Intergovernmental Affairs.

Colleen Carpinella, Regional Director
Colleen Carpinella is an undergraduate student at Hobart and William Smith Colleges pursuing a double major in Public Policy Studies and Psychology.  This past semester Colleen helped start an AID chapter on the HWS campus and she currently holds the position of Treasurer of this chapter.  She is highly active in Student Government serving as Secretary of the William Smith Congress Executive Board.  Colleen will study abroad this upcoming year at the University College of Maastricht in the Netherlands.  Colleen also worked this summer as the Director of Conferences at Americans for Informed Democracy in New Haven.

Emily J. Kronenberger, Regional Director
Emily Jane Kronenberger currently works as the Policy Analyst at the Alliance for the Betterment of Citizens with Disabilities, where she tracks and analyzes policy that impacts the health and lives of people with disabilities and their families. Emily will be beginning her MPH studies in the fall of 2007 at Hunter College's Brookdale School of Health Sciences in New York City, where she will specialize in Urban Public Health and Community Health Education. Emily plans to center her studies around the reproductive and sexual health of women and girls. Emily is an outspoken advocate for comprehensive sex education and access to reproductive health services, especially for individuals with disabilities who are often further marginalized around issues of sexual health. She has recently developed a web log called New Wave Grrrl, which serves as a health information and resource sharing forum for women with a special focus on women with disabilities. In her professional, intern, and volunteer work, Emily has been involved in critical areas of health and human service issues, including disability, women's rights, public health, poverty, youth empowerment, political and civic enfranchisement, human rights, LGBTQ and gender. She holds a BA in History from Marymount Manhattan College, where she graduated with honors and was awarded the Sister Raymund McKay Award in Community Service. In 2006, Emily was awarded her MS in Urban Affairs from Hunter College after completing an independent study on adolescent sexuality as visiting student at the National Sexuality Resource Center's Summer Institute on Sexuality, Inequality, and Health. Emily serves on the Youth Activist Network Advisory Committee at Advocates for Youth and is a student member of AASECT, ARHP, NFPRHA, the National Cervical Cancer Coalition, and The University Consortium for Sexuality Research and Training.

Runyerera Bernard Londoni, Regional Director
Son of a refugee, Bernard ran from the war in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and settled in Harare, Zimbabwe with his family in 2001.He secured a United Nations High Commissioners for Refugees scholarship to attend a computer Course, and got his advanced Diploma in Computer Science.  After he completed his degree, Bernard interned with the American Embassy, public Affairs Section, Harare Zimbabwe, in the Educational advising center. At the Embassy, Bernard was selected to join the Unites States Student Achievers Program (USAP), a program which assists highly talented, economically disadvantaged students to secure scholarships to highly selective colleges and universities in the United States, for their involvement in leadership roles, community service and extracurricular activities.Bernard secured a prestigious scholarship at a small private school, Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida to pursue his studies in international Relations and Affairs. He is currently serving as the student body president, after he has been president of the international Affairs society. Having passion towards activism, in February 2007, Bernard was appointed the South-East Region Representative for Africa Action Student Network, and serves in the steering committee. Now he serves as the Regional Director for Americans for Informed Democracy.

Aniuska M. Luna, Regional Director
Originally born and raised in Cuba, Aniuska has lived in Miami for the past fifteen years.  In 2002, she spent a semester abroad as a student at the University of Murcia, in Spain.  She graduated with a Bachelors in Spanish, and a Certificate in Latin American Studies from Florida International University in 2003.  For the past three years she has been a graduate student at Nova Southeastern University, in Fort Lauderdale, initially as part of the MA in Cross-disciplinary Studies program, and certificates in Peace Studies and Conflict Analysis and Resolution.  At present, Aniuska is working towards her Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution and is a Graduate Assistant to Dr. Mark Davidheiser.

Emad Maghsoudi, Regional Director
Emad Maghsoudi is currently a senior majoring in political science at Virginia Commonwealth University.  He also serves as the Student Body Vice-President of VCU.  He has studied abroad at Oxford University: Trinity College, and was selected as a Hansard Scholar, at the London School of Economics.  While he was in London he worked for a member of the Parliament in the House of Commons.  After he graduates, he plans to pursuit a masters degree in human rights, and attend law school. 

Carrie Schwartz, Regional Director
Carrie is a senior at the University of South Carolina, where she is pursuing a degree in Psychology and Medical Humanities. Her passion lies in international public health, particularly sociopolitical factors affecting health. At USC, she spends a majority of her time assisting in school psychology research and running academic intervention programs for elementary school children. She is also involved with USC's Counseling and Human Development Center, serving as President of the peer-counseling group, SEED. For the past several years, she has also served as a University Ambassador, holding positions as a Presidental Ambassador and Vice President of Recruitment. This past summer, she worked with Americans for Informed Democracy as the Co-Director of Youth Education. After graduating next spring, she plans to pursue degrees in law and public health.

Kara J. Baylog, Senior Political Analyst
Kara J. Baylog completed her undergraduate education at Lehigh University where she studied International Relations and Asian Studies.  Before graduating with honors she lived and studied language, history and culture in Sevilla, Spain and Osaka, Japan and currently uses her linguistic skills professionally.  Kara has given public presentations of her on-site research in Hiroshima, Japan and she completed her senior research paper on Japanese-Chinese relations in Japanese.  Her interests lie in American Foreign Policy and Comparative Politics and she is looking to continue her education in these fields in the pursuit of a career in research and analysis.

Hannah Cho, Senior Political Analyst
Hannah Cho is a student at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is currently double majoring in International Affairs and History, Technology, and Science. Besides being an analyst for Americans for Informed Democracy, Hannah is actively involved in many other non-profit organizations such as CARE, AIDS Walk Atlanta, and the Red Cross. In 2006, she traveled to Argentina and Brazil where she studied Latin American Economic Development, Political Institutions, and Racial & Ethnic Studies. Hannah has participated in many conferences about international issues such as AIDS/HIVS awareness and prevention, global education, human rights, and the future of international institutions such as the United Nations. She has also lobbied in Washington D.C. and met with various members of Congress for these matters. Hannah plans to continue her work and education in international relations through the Peace Corps Master‚Ä?s International Program. In addition to English, Hannah speaks 5 other languages including Spanish, French, and Korean.

Richard Costa, Senior Political Analyst
Richard Costa is a Senior Political Analyst for Americans for Informed Democracy. He recently graduated magna cum laude from the University of Colorado with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science/Global Politics and a minor in Women's Studies. He brings with him over seven years of experience in the arena of corporate IT and information security. His areas of interest range from promoting technology in the developing world to international women's issues. He will be starting law school in 2008 and plans on a career in the field of international law.

Emma Deputy, Senior Political Analyst
Emma Deputy is a senior political analyst for Americans for Informed Democracy.  She is currently pursuing an M.A. in Arabic Studies at the American University in Cairo.  She holds bachelor's degrees in Economics and Political Science from Oklahoma State University. While a student at Oklahoma State University, Emma served as a regional director for AID.  During this time, she hosted the first Young Global Leadership Summit in Oklahoma. While at Oklahoma State University, Emma served on the Student Senate.  As a student senator, Emma created an interdisciplinary minor in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures at OSU.  Emma has also studied Arabic in Morocco at Al-Akhawayn University. 

Anna Dolidze, Senior Political Analyst
Ana Dolidze is a Visiting Scholar at ColumbiaUniversity and Lecturer in Human Rights andInternational Law at both the Caucasus School ofBusiness and Georgian American University. She servedfrom 2004-2006 as president of the Georgian YoungLawyers‚Ä? Association (GYLA), an organization promotinghigher standards for the legal profession and supportingthe professional development of law students and younglawyers in Georgia. Dolidze also works with the GeorgianMedia Council, the Stakeholders Committee of theMillennium Challenge Georgia Fund, and the HumanRights Monitoring Council of the Penitentiary andDetention Places. A graduate of Tbilisi State University,Dolidze earned her LL.M (Master of Laws) degree inPublic International Law from Leiden University in theNetherlands.

Jordan E. Dollar, Senior Political Analyst
Jordan E. Dollar is currently employed with Catholic Legal Services where he represents clients in immigration proceedings.  For the past two years he has worked as a student-attorney, under the supervision of Professor Troy Elder, with the Carlos A. Costa Immigration and Human Rights Clinic at Florida International University College of Law.  During this period he served as lead counsel on a class action case filed on behalf of Haitian refugees.  He also represented a detained Haitian asylum seeker from his individual hearing to a petition for review currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. While attending FIU College of Law Mr. Dollar served as a Graduate Assistant for Dr. Jeremy Levitt, a leading international law scholar and activist.   As a graduate assistant he researched and wrote on humanitarian law and human rights issues in Africa.Outside of law school Mr. Dollar traveled to Haiti on several occassions with Fish Ministries to work at aqua- and agricultural projects in Jeremie and Gressier, Haiti. This past summer he interned at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights in Washington, D.C., where he conducted legal research on the witholding of humanitarian loans to Haiti by donor countries.  Most recently his paper on U.S. racial essentialism towards Haiti, where he interrogates the U.S. construction of Haiti as being ungovernable" and critiques the U.S. role in suppressing Haiti's popular movements was accepted by the Lat/Crit XII conference to be held in Miami in October 2007.

Lakshmi Saracino , Senior Political Analyst
Lakshmi graduated from Pitzer College in California with Honors in Global Communications and a minor in Studio Art. She was born and raised in California, but has family in India and the Czech Republic. Over the past few years, she has interned with Mmegi, Botswana's daily newspaper in Gaborone, and Ms. Magazine in Los Angeles. She was an alternate for the Fulbright Research Fellowship to study women in journalism in Sri Lanka. Presently, her research interests include intercultural communication, comparitive genocide studies and international institution reform. She spends her summers working with the National Student Leadership Conference programs on International Diplomacy, Journalism and Globalization and plans to travel this year to teach and learn.

Shanna Edwards, Senior Political Analyst
Shanna Edwards is a Political Analyst in Washington, DC. She received her M.A. in December 2006 from American University, where she studied in the School of International Service with a concentration in Comparative and Regional Studies, focusing on the Middle East. She recently presented her Master's thesis, entitled "Misunderstandings, Culture, and Dialogue: The US and the 'Middle East,'" at the Association of Muslim Social Scientists' Annual Conference. Ms. Edwards also received her B.A. in 2005 from the Honors College at AU, where she was the recipient of the Presidential Scholarship and majored in International Studies with concentrations in the Middle East and US Foreign Policy and with a minor in Women's and Gender Studies. She completed an Honors Bachelor's thesis entitled "Peace and Security in the Middle East and America: The Need for a More Even-Handed US Policy in the Middle East." While completing her studies, she interned at TranSecur, an international security firm, and InterMedia, an international public opinion firm, completed a research assistantship on Islamic peace paradigms, and instructed a graduate-level course on Quantitative Analysis of International Affairs. Ms. Edwards studied in the Arabic Language Institute at the American University of Cairo in Egypt and traveled to Israel/Palestine, where she did extensive research on human rights law violations and the myriad sides of the conflict. She is proficient in Arabic and French.

Kareem Elbayar, Senior Political Analyst
Kareem Elbayar is a Legal Analyst at the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law in Washington, DC, where he specializes in civil society law reform in the Middle East and North Africa. He is in his final year of the JD and MA - International Affairs dual degree program at the George Washington University Law School, and a graduate with High Honors in International Relations from the University of California, San Diego. 

Alassane Fall, Senior Political Analyst
Alassane received a Master's degree in Political science from the UniversitÈ Gaston Berger de Saint Louis, Senegal, School of Law and Political Science in 2000. In addition, he has a Master's Degree in International Studies from the University of Kansas (KU), Lawrence which he received in 2004. He also earned a Certificate of International Humanitarian Law from the International Institute of Humanitarian Law (Italy-Switzerland). His research interests include North- South Cooperation between sub-Saharan Africa (particularly francophone) and North America.Alassane has worked for the following organizations: the United Nations Office in Geneva, High Commission for Human Rights, Treaties and Commission Branch - Servicing of the Sub-Commission; the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in Italy; the Senegalese Foreign Ministry, Europe-America and Oceania Department. Since 2001 he has been working in the Department of African and African American Studies at the University of Kansas as a lecturer and as Outreach Coordinator for the Kansas African Studies Center.  He has also been an invited presenter at more than a dozen academic conferences focused on topics such as Africa, international politics, international public law, U.S domestic and foreign policy, European politics, conflict resolution, Islam and the Muslim World, Western Media and Africa, Western African culture, and cross-cultural communication etc.  He is fully trilingual in Wolof, French and English.  In June 2006 he became Regional Program Manager for West Africa for Youth Impact International.  Alassane has extensive breadth of knowledge, core competence, and experience about the entire West African Region.  As an independent consultant, He has just completed three analysis projects on Niger, Burundi, and Cote' Ivoire.  Currently, he is working on a project for a Law Group based in Long Beach California and another one to create an International Awareness Program for a school based in Missouri. Over a year, Alassane has been volunteering as an instructor for Kansas Department of Corrections.   As a Senior Political Analyst, he brought an impressive experience, background and enormous resources to Americans for Informed Democracy. More: http://www.alassanefall.com/

Una Hardester, Senior Political Analyst
Una Hardester is a human rights activist, writer, and blogger for AIDemocracy. She has studied in the US and Belgium, interned and worked for a number of NGOs, and traveled extensively. Her geographic area of interest is Europe and the former Soviet Union, and she blogs frequently about human rights, international law, and justice. Una is currently based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, where she is involved in human rights work. She has been with AIDemocracy since 2006.

Jessica Jones, Senior Political Analyst
Jessica Jones graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in International Studies, Asian concentration, and psychology. Spending a year in Beijing inspired Jessica to became more involved with global issues, including the Northwestern University AID chapter. Upon graduation, Jessica interned at the Leadership Council for Human Rights. Much of her experience there as a writer prepared her for her position as a Senior Political Analyst. She is currently living in Washington, DC, and is a legal assistant as a civil rights firm. Her interests include law, migration, population issues, and international development.

Christine Heckman, Senior Political Analyst
Christine Heckman graduated cum laude from the University of California, Davis with a degree in International Relations and recently completed her Master’s degree in Global Media at the University of Westminster, London. She currently works for Syracuse University London coordinating events, conferences (including those sponsored by AID!) and an array of other activities. Christine has always been intrigued international affairs and her particular interests lie in the relationship between media & politics; propaganda; Cold War history; migration and human trafficking; and the effects of tourism on local populations. She loves to travel, speaks Spanish and is working on French.

Eugene B. Kogan, Senior Political Analyst
Eugene B. Kogan is a Senior Political Analyst at Americans for Informed Democracy. His research interests include U.S. foreign policy, Congress, international security, and nuclear proliferation in North East Asia. Most recently, he worked as Deputy Editor of Millennium: Journal of International Studies in the Department of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. In 2004-2005, he was the John Kenneth Galbraith Fellow at the Americans for Democratic Action Education Fund in Washington, D.C. Kogan's latest publication is The War Congress: Shouldering the Responsibilities of a U.S. Global Role (ADA Education Fund, 2005), a study of Congress's role in foreign policy-making since September 11, 2001. Kogan has been published widely and has spoken on U.S. foreign policy and international security issues at a number of universities and organizations.

Jacques Koko, Senior Political Analyst
Jacques KOKO is completing a Ph.D. degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution at Nova Southeastern University (Florida) with a focus on the impacts of the UN peacekeeping on target nations. In this regard, he completed an internship with the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations in 2006. Native of Benin in West Africa, Mr. KOKO's work and research interests encompass democracy, the circulation of small weapons in Africa, peacekeeping, peacebuilding and local capacity building. From 1999 to 2001 Jacques worked with the Institut Africain pour le DÈveloppement Economique et Social (INADES) in Ivory Coast as a Social Analyst. As a conflict resolution practitioner Jacques gained field experiences through workshops and training in Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Cameroon, Togo, Mali, Burkina Faso and Benin. With Catholic Commissions for Justice and Peace he was involved in humanitarian efforts and got exposures to refugees and IDP in Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Currently he is Adjunct Faculty in the Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations (Seton Hall University). Jacques holds a BA in Political Philosophy and a M.A. in Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding. In addition to English, he speaks French, Spanish and several African languages. He has published articles in both French and English on conflict resolution related issues.

Jeff Le, Senior Political Analyst
Jeff Le is currently Research Assistant of Democracy Programs with The Carter Center in Atlanta working on developing international election standards and methodology.  He was the 2006-2007 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar of Goodwill and the Student Union President to Central European University in Budapest, Hungary where he completed his Masters in Political Science. He has worked with the U.S. Department of State (Washington, D.C.; Tbilisi, Georgia; Bucharest, Romania), the United Nations Headquarters in New York, and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Copenhagen, Denmark. He has served as an international election observer for the March 2005 Macedonian Elections and the May 2006 Montenegrin Independence Referendum. During his undergraduate career, he studied abroad at the University of Leeds, UK and conducted research abroad at the University of Ghana as a Benjamin A. Gilman Scholar and David Jay Gambee Research Fellow. He holds Bachelors in Arts in History and Political Science from the University of California, San Diego and is originally from Irvine, California. His research interests are focused on democratization and failed states in the former Soviet Union, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia.

Christina L. Madden, Senior Political Analyst
Christina L. Madden is a Senior Political Analyst with Americans for Informed Democracy, covering peace and security issues. She also writes for Global Policy Innovations, a program of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, and MediaGlobal, a partner organization of the United Nations Development Program. Her primary focus is on promoting international security through sustainable development and just foreign policy. As an undergraduate, Christina studied at the Sorbonne and Sciences Po in Paris, France and interned with a host of organizations, including the Nixon Center's Immigration and National Security Program and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. She received her B.A. in International Affairs and Political Science from the George Washington University in May of 2006 with concentrations in Security Policy and Asian Studies.

Michael Miner, Senior Political Analyst
Michael Miner hails from Boston, Massachusetts and serves as a Senior Political Analyst at Americans for Informed Democracy. His primary interests revolve around international communication, globalization, and U.S. Foreign Policy with specific intrigue related to the impact of technology in the developing world. He currently works for an international communications firm in Washington DC and Boston, and is also heavily involved with the non-profit group EmpowerPeace. The group is dedicated to building a worldwide network of high school students and teachers committed to breaking down cultural barriers and misperceptions through open dialogue using video-conferencing and the Internet. Michael is a magna cum laude graduate of Fitchburg State College in Massachusetts and The University of Stirling in Scotland with bachelor’s degrees in Communications Media and Political Science.

Felicia Montgomery, Senior Political Analyst
Felicia Montgomery serves as Development Associate for the Microcredit Summit Campaign and has a wide range of responsibilities within the organization including strategic planning and implementation of fundraising efforts and supporting the Director and and Deputy Director.  Ms. Montgomery played a vital role in the 2006 Summit in Halifax Nova Scotia acting as a liaison with the Canadian government, Summit Secretariat and dozens of international high-level Summit attendees. Ms. Montgomery earned a Bachelors of Art in Spanish and International Business at Georgia State University with in Spring 2006. At her University she was very active on campus holding leadership positions in several organizations including Circle K International, Latin American Student Association, Model United Nations Association, and the Latin American and Caribbean Community Center. Prior to the joining the MCS staff, she worked at the US Human Rights Network. Felicia believes that recipients of international development aid deserve true self-determination, which is why she is committed to supporting the Summit's mission to reach the very poor with microcredit. Furthermore, she believes that credit should be considered a human right. In her time away from the Summit, she serves as a founding board member of Proyecto LIDER, a girls' leadership institute in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. For fun she enjoys the Brazilian martial art, capoeira, West African dance, international films and documentaries, and traveling.

Philippe Nassif, Senior Political Analyst
 Born in New Orleans, Louisiana to a Lebanese father and Mexican mother,Philippe moved to London, England after 12 years where he completed Middle and High School at the American School in London (TASIS). His political activism began in London where he was president of the International Club for two years, a period marred by September 11th and the invasion of Iraq. During his time abroad, he traveled extensively throughout Europe and the Middle East.Upon graduating high school in 2003, Philippe moved to Houston, Texas to pursue B.A. degree in International Relations which he completed in 2007. He became a columnist at the university paper The Cauldron" where he worked all 4 years was president of the local campus greens chapter for one year  and soon after founded an A.I.D chapter on campus. He was selected to serve as A.I.D.'s regional director of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas,  and Louisiana for 2004-2005 and 2006-2007. During the times he is not involved in activism.  Philippe swims, works out, and teaches Taekwondo.

Eric Neff, Senior Political Analyst
Eric Neff graduated from Emory University in 2007 with a degree in philosophy. While a student, he has committed the majority of his extra-curricular time to journalism, serving as an editor of the school newspaper and interning as a reporter at numerous papers, including USA TODAY.

Hanna Omar, Senior Political Analyst
Hanna Omar received her BA in Political Science and Middle East Studies from Fordham University in 2004. She then went on to graduate school, and recieved an MA in Political Science also from Fordham University in 2005. She is now currently working in at UNICEF in thier New York headquarters. She has also worked witht eh American Association of Yemeni Scientists and Professionals, which is an NGO that seeks to promote education among Yemenis throughout the world.

Kelsey Price, Senior Political Analyst
Kelsey Price is a 19 year old college student at the University of Central Oklahoma.  She has traveled much of the United States and is extremely interested in political activism.  Her major is in political science and she hopes to help world affairs through political writing and travel.

Lindsay Ramirez, Senior Political Analyst
Lindsay Ramirez is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the University of Oregon. Last year, she worked analyzing Latin American security issues for a private intelligence organization in Washington DC. Lindsay was a 2004 - 2005 Rotary Ambassador of Goodwill to Granada, Spain where she graduated with outstanding marks from the Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution.  She received her Bachelor's degree from Willamette University majoring in Politics and Spanish.  Lindsay has given numerous presentations on both sides of the Atlantic aimed at increasing international understanding, and helped organize AID's first major conference in the Pacific Northwest, The Universal Ethic of Humanitarianism.

Laurel Rapp, Senior Political Analyst
Laurel Rapp is the International Education Program Manager at One Voice in New York, an organization that advocates for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Prior to this, she spent the year in Rabat, Morocco, at Universit√© Mohamed V in Rabat, Morocco, on a year-long Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship.  While in Morocco, she was Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Americans for Informed Democracy and helped coordinate a the ¬´ American-Arab Youth Dialogue, conference series in Amman, Jordan ; Cairo, Egypt ; and Rabat, Morocco.Laurel is a graduate of Brown University ('06) where she received a BA in International Relations.  Prior to this, she spent a semester in Lyon, France, at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques.  She has held numerous research assistantships with faculty at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown on topics ranging from International Terrorism to NATO.  At university, Laurel was a Student Rapporteur for the Waston Institute.  While at Brown, Laurel co-founded a chapter of Americans for Informed Democracy and has seen it grow over the course of the last three years.She has interned at the Geneva Center for Security Policy in Switzerland, the Global Center for Women‚Ä?s Leadership at Rutgers University, and Human Rights Watch in the Middle East and North Africa Division.  Laurel speaks French, Italian, and  is proficient in Arabic.

Ryan Schuette, Senior Political Analyst
Ryan Schuette is a 2008-2009 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar and candidate for study at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda; where he hopes to begin his Master‚Ä?s candidacy in International Relations and Diplomatic Studies. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Politics and Diplomacy from the University of North Texas. Before going abroad, he plans to continue fundraising for causes focused on poverty relief and working with The Chiapas Project, a micro-credit initiative. This follows his work with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C., and the Institute for Policy Innovation, a libertarian think tank. His research interests in Africa, international politics and development stem from experiences studying abroad with his English and Women‚Ä?s Studies Departments in Western Europe and with the Global Youth Partnership for Africa in Uganda. If sent to Uganda, he plans to study the integrity of political institutions and the effects of HIV/AIDS and internal displacement in Africa.