Lamisa Zainab Ali – Communications
Lamisa Zainab Ali is a rising Senior at Southern Methodist University majoring in International Studies and Human Rights with minors in Spanish, Arabic, and Public Policy and International Affairs through the Tower Scholars Program. At SMU, Lamisa has an extensive extracurricular background in graphic design and digital communications through various student organization roles. Next year, she will serve as the Strategic Director for the Human Rights Council. Lamisa hopes to pursue a career in diplomacy and foreign affairs and is looking forward to gaining direct insight into this work as a Summer Delegate with CGD’s Communications Team.
Lauren Bick – Global Health
Lauren Bick is a rising junior at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where she is an Honors student pursuing undergraduate degrees in Public Health and Psychology, as well as a minor in Legal Reasoning. Lauren’s future plans include studying abroad in Denmark to observe and analyze the most pressing issues in Global Health and what health systems around the world are doing to solve them. She also plans to attend graduate school to pursue a joint Juris Doctorate and Master’s in Public Health degree. Lauren’s research interests include equity in biomedical research and health care policy, issues in the expansion of telehealth resources, and the syndemic interactions between communicable and noncommunicable diseases, especially in low- and middle-income countries where multiple public health threat conditions can be devastating. Lauren will be working with the Center for Global Development’s Global Health team this summer on projects including promoting rapid and equitable access to medical countermeasures.
Mia Griffin – Gender and Equality
Mia Griffin is a rising junior at Amherst College majoring in Economics. Some of her past and current work includes interning for the U.S. Embassy Tokyo’s Economics bureau, interning with the US Trade and Development Agency, and conducting research on migration channels for Amherst’s Economics department. She is thrilled to be working with the Center for Global Development this summer. While one of her goals in partaking in this program is to further define career goals, Mia knows she wants to empower women and marginalized groups on a global scale, especially those in developing or emerging economies.
Eli Groff – Education
Elias “Eli” Groff is a rising senior at Lafayette College, majoring in International Affairs focusing on Global Environmental Studies. Born and raised in the Philippines, he spent time volunteering at NGOs, such as Gawad Kalinga's "GK Enchanted Farm" which focused on sustainable commercial farm practices and social entrepreneurship for impoverished Filipinos. Last year, he completed an internship at Engage Globally, a start-up NGO focused on community-led sustainable development, education, and women's empowerment in Ghana. At Lafayette, Eli pursues his interest in sustainability beyond the classroom through his summer work at the college's farm "LaFarm". He hopes to pursue a career in sustainable and economic development.
Megan Heeney – Technology
Megan Heeney is a recent graduate of the University of Kansas, majoring in Global and International Studies and Political Science. During her senior year, Megan completed an honors research capstone about automation in the Japanese transportation industry. After her internship with the Development and Technology Team at CGD, Megan will be heading to Japan through the JET Programme to teach English as an exchange teacher.
Megan Yamoah – Education
Megan Yamoah has recently completed the MPhil in Economics at the University of Oxford and is an incoming PhD student in Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She previously earned a B.Sc. in Physics and in Electrical Engineering at MIT. Her MPhil thesis investigates the role of green technologies and solar policies on trade outcomes of emerging economies. In future work, she seeks to study how new technologies and innovation ecosystems can drive economic growth in emerging economies, with focus on Southeast Asia.