2025
2025 Edmonds Summer and Fall Fellow: Ava Kreutziger
Ava Kreutziger is an incoming sophomore at Columbia University studying Human Rights and Education, with a focus on youth civic participation, queer liberation, and educational equity. A nationally recognized youth advocate, she has been featured in PBS NewsHour, NPR, and other major outlets for her bold resistance to homophobic and transphobic legislation. She was named to Gambit’s 40 Under 40 for her leadership in LGBTQ+ activism and food justice in New Orleans, where she has worked across educational, agricultural, and artistic spheres to advance intersectional change.
Ava’s organizing is grounded in the conviction that young people have the power to confront institutional harm and imagine more just futures. From teaching workshops on food sovereignty at Grow Dat Youth Farm to co-creating a public theatre project on the Louisiana State Capitol steps with the Tectonic Theater Project, her work spans grassroots activism, creative expression, and community-based storytelling. She has partnered with unions, national nonprofits, and youth-led coalitions to create spaces of safety and solidarity—including the Q-Center, an affirming hub for queer students funded by the It Gets Better Project. Ava now continues this work as the 2025 HRE USA Summer Fellow, where she is leading the expansion of the “Human Rights Education Now!” podcast uplifting youth perspectives on human rights and freedom of expression.
2025 Edmonds Summer Fellow: Carla Mory
Carla Mory is a rising senior in the Dual BA Program between Columbia University and Sciences Po. She spent her first two years of her undergraduate studies in Reims, France, and is finishing up her degree in New York. At Sciences Po, she studied Law and International Relations, and at Columbia, she is double majoring in Political Science and Human Rights.
She is passionate about social justice, immigration rights, and humanitarian law, and she has worked on these issues in both legal and nonprofit settings. After graduation, she plans on attending law school and hopes to pursue a career in human rights legal advocacy at an international NGO.
She is excited to be joining HRE USA this summer as a Fundraising and Sustainability Strategy Fellow!
2025 Edmonds Summer Fellow: Saah Agyemang Badu
Saah Agyemang Badu is a researcher and advocate dedicated to fostering equity and dialogue across global education systems. She holds advanced degrees in Public Administration, Non-Profit Management, and Human Rights and has worked on education-focused projects in Ghana, Pakistan, and Rwanda. Her work emphasizes the development of culturally responsive education frameworks that empower marginalized communities and address systemic inequities. Drawing on her international and interdisciplinary experiences, she is committed to creating inclusive spaces where diverse perspectives and voices are elevated to promote meaningful change.
Edmonds Youth Intern: Pranav Raju
Pranav Raju was awarded HRE USA’s 2024 Youth in Action for Human Rights Award for Individual Achievement. In Summer 2025, Pranav will be the first HRE USA Youth Intern and plans to develop a survey to analyze youth perspectives and experiences with human rights education in educational spaces in line with HRE USA’s vision, goals, and priorities.
Experiencing firsthand the financial burden of health care and insulin for his own Type 1 Diabetes (T1D), Pranav Raju was inspired to take action to achieve affordable healthcare for all, especially persons living with this health challenge. He has worked with members of Congress to cap insulin prices, advocated for an affordable healthcare bill for seniors, and contributed to the renewal of the Special Diabetes Program, which funds diabetes research. As a Children’s Congress delegate for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF, now known as Breakthrough T1D), Pranav testified before Congress, sharing his personal story and lobbying members of Congress for the successful passage of legislation to lower insulin costs. He created an Advocacy Toolkit to help others take action, share their stories, and influence policy, and he continues to work with both national and international health advocacy groups.
His work is also personal and local. At his local children’s hospital’s “Diabetes 101” trainings, he meets with newly diagnosed young people to encourage them with his personal experience and provide them with resources for their new journey. Mentoring other young people with T1D, he has encountered families unable to afford the life-saving medicine they need and having to choose between food and housing or insulin. As Pranav explains: “Seeing the financial and mental burden and suffering of these families pushed me to fight for change. No child or any human being should suffer or die because they cannot afford insulin.”
2024
2024 Fall Intern: Jiawen (Kevin) Li
Jiawen (Kevin) Li is a Master of International Affairs candidate at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). He is concentrating in Human Rights and Humanitarian Policy while pursuing dual specializations in International Organizations and Data Analytics. At Columbia, Jiawen actively contributes to the community as a Peer Advocate with Columbia Health’s Sexual Violence Response team, where he is training to become a certified Rape Crisis Counselor. He also serves as a Residential Fellow at International House NYC, fostering intercultural exchange and facilitating events for the diverse resident community.
With a solid academic background in international law and organizational studies from his undergraduate and graduate education at Beijing Foreign Studies University, Jiawen is dedicated to advancing global human rights through education, advocacy, and data-driven policy analysis. His experiences include internships and volunteer roles at organizations such as ICRC, UNDP and UNESCO, where he has developed expertise in research, quantitative methods, and cross-cultural communication.
As a 2024 Fall Intern with HRE USA, Jiawen was enthusiastic about supporting initiatives that promote human rights education and awareness. He leveraged his academic training and practical skills to advance HRE USA’s mission while deepening his understanding of the transformative power of education in fostering justice and equality. Currently, Jiawen is studying international human rights movement, LGBTQI+ rights and business and human rights (BHR), exploring diverse lenses of human rights advocacy. He is also researching with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on anti-corruption education.
2024 Edmonds Summer Fellow: Areianaz Eghbali
My name is Areianaz, but I also go by Ara! I am a rising senior at UC Berkeley, majoring in Psychology with double minors in Public Policy and Journalism. I am deeply passionate about social justice, mental health advocacy, gender equality, LGBTQ+ empowerment, and educational equity.
As the Gender & Sexuality Retention Director for UC Berkeley’s Middle Eastern North African Recruitment and Retention Center (MENARRC), I lead initiatives that enhance multicultural programming on campus and provide comprehensive support for students’ mental health, academic, professional, and personal needs. My efforts include organizing healing circles focused on gender equity and queerness, spearheading educational programming, and distributing essential sexual health and wellness resources. On campus, I am also a trained mental health counselor with Student-to-Student Peer Counseling (SSPC), offering free, client-centered mental health services to fellow UC Berkeley students. Additionally, I have conducted and published research at UC Berkeley’s Undergraduate Lab studying the effects of childhood adversity on later adulthood, furthering my motivation to understand the importance of early interventions in mental health advocacy and the long-term benefits of support systems.
My dedication to understanding human behavior and its intersection with societal issues drives my commitment to advocacy and education. In the future, I am eager to channel this passion into a career with human rights organizations, focusing on policy development and educational programs that promote equality and justice on a global scale.
I am thrilled to begin my work with HRE USA, where I look forward to furthering my knowledge in human rights education, equality, and advocacy.
Edmonds Summer 2024 Fellow: Carly Sandstrom
Carly Sandstrom is an MA candidate in Human Rights Studies at Columbia University. Carly is passionate about human rights, focusing on children’s rights and international humanitarian law. In addition to the Edmonds fellowship, Carly is writing her thesis on children’s rights and counterterrorism policies. Prior to graduate school, Carly earned her Bachelor’s degree in Social Relations and Policy from Michigan State University where she was also a Lab Leader for the James Madison College Human Rights Data Science Lab for two years. It was during her time working with this lab that she found her interest in human rights research and the law of war.
Carly Sandstrom is an MA candidate in Human Rights Studies at Columbia University. Carly is passionate about human rights, focusing on children’s rights and international humanitarian law. In addition to the Edmonds fellowship, Carly is writing her thesis on children’s rights and counterterrorism policies. Prior to graduate school, Carly earned her Bachelor’s degree in Social Relations and Policy from Michigan State University where she was also a Lab Leader for the James Madison College Human Rights Data Science Lab for two years. It was during her time working with this lab that she found her interest in human rights research and the law of war.
2024 Summer Edmonds Fellow: Emma Tolliver
Emma Tolliver is an incoming law student at the University of Washington, School of Law. She is passionate about human rights, with a particular interest in human rights issues around education accessibility, gender equity, and sexual health and safety. With her legal education, she plans to become a legal advocate for survivors of human trafficking and other forms of organized, sex-based crimes.
A proud UC Davis alumna, Emma received a degree in English and Political Science – Public Service summa cum laude with a minor in Human Rights Studies in June 2023. While a student at UC Davis, Emma worked for Article 26 Backpack, a non-governmental organization that supports refugees and at-risk students in connecting to higher education. After graduating from UC Davis, Emma was hired as a consultant to lead one of Backpack’s new initiatives: deployment in Burma to support Burmese refugees and at-risk populations with the support of USAID and IIE.
Additionally, Emma currently works as a Youth Empowerment Fellow for Changeist, where she designs curriculum around and helps youth in the Central Valley explore the intersection between art, media, and advocacy. Emma is extremely honored to be an Edmonds Fellow this summer and, as the first law student to ever receive the Edmonds Fellowship, is committed to continuing to leverage her skills and education for public good.
Kara Anderson: 2024 Summer Research Scholar and Fall Training As Action Series Fellow Coordinator: Kara Anderson
Kara Anderson, class of 2025, is an Albion College student double majoring in political science and English with a concentration in Law, Justice, and Society and an experiential learning certificate in human rights. She is extremely passionate for human rights and aspires to be a human rights lawyer. Kara is the Student Director of the Albion College Human Rights Lab, through which she has developed training curriculum, planned campus events, and produced content for the Lab’s website. She is also the president of the Student Senate, previous president of Phi Alpha Delta Pre-Law Fraternity, vice-president of the Concert Choir, and a member of the Gerald R. Ford Institute for Leadership in Public Policy and Service as well as the Honors Program. Last summer, Kara had the opportunity to work on HRE USA’s Training as Action Series as a 2023 Edmonds Summer Fellow, and she is excited to return and continue to learn about, and promote, human rights. View Kara’s 2024 Research Scholar & TAAS Fellowship Report
2024 Spring Intern: Justine Ho
Justine is double majoring in Psychology and Human Resources and minoring in Japanese at Rutgers University. She is thrilled to be part of the team at HRE USA, where she is eager to contribute to the impactful work being done and make a real difference in the lives of marginalized communities. Outside of her internship, you can often find her immersed in her hobbies. Justine has a passion for crochet and loves creating scarves and stuffed animals for her friends and family. She has dreams of one day visiting Japan and being able to immerse herself in their food, language, and culture. Justine explained, “I am excited to learn and grow alongside this inspiring team and can’t wait to see what we can achieve together!”
2024 Spring Intern: Annika Malhotra
Annika Malhotra is an undergraduate student at Rutgers University-New Brunswick and a 2024 Spring Term intern at HRE USA. She is majoring in Political Science, minoring in American Studies, and is interested in human and civil rights. She aspires to attend law school and become an attorney, focusing on civil rights. Annika enjoys participating in taekwondo, painting, and listening to various kinds of music outside of academics. Annika shared, “I am grateful to be part of HRE USA, a strong team of individuals who advocate for human rights and value education as a tool and a vessel for spreading the message of human rights.”
2023
2023 Fall Intern: Sahana Sentihilkumar
Sahana Senthilkumar is a second year at Rutgers University double majoring in biomathematics and computer science. She joined the HRE USA Now! Podcast Team as an intern during the Fall 2023 semester and worked with Dr. Kristi Rudelius-Palmer to create and meet weekly goals. By the end of her experience, she had created a slides presentation of the podcast’s download stats and presented it to the Podcast Team and Steering Committee, offered suggestions for outreach initiatives (i.e., creating a podcast-specific Instagram account), developed an audio transcription app using OpenAI’s open source software Whisper, and produced a draft transcript of the first episode. “Overall, I enjoyed working with the HRE USA Now! Podcast Team and am grateful to have had the opportunity to gain valuable technical knowledge by researching audio transcription software. I’m looking forward to seeing the team continue to leave their mark in the field of human rights and beyond!
2023 Edmonds Summer Fellow: Kara Anderson
Kara Anderson is a rising junior at Albion College double majoring in political science and English and pursuing experiential learning certificates in human rights and legal studies. She is extremely passionate for human rights and plans to pursue a career in the field working as a human rights lawyer and/or in a rights-based non-governmental organization. Kara is a senior researcher and founding member of the Albion College Human Rights Lab where she has worked to develop training curriculum, plan campus events, and produce content for the Human Rights Lab website (humanrights.albion.edu). This past year she also helped to organize an international human rights conference on Albion’s campus. Additionally, she is a part of the Prentiss M. Brown Honors Program and the Gerald R. Ford Institute for Leadership in Public Policy and Service. She is the President of the Albion Chapter of the Phi Alpha Delta Pre-Law Fraternity, the Vice President of the Student Senate, and the Vice President of Concert Choir. Kara is extremely excited to work with Human Rights Education USA and continue to grow as a human rights practitioner and scholar. View Kara’s 2023 Edmonds Fellowship Impact Report
2023 Edmonds Summer Fellow: Meredith Hood
Meredith earned her Master’s degree in Human Rights Practice from the University of Arizona in May 2022. It was during her capstone project working with the students in her mother’s third grade class she became interested in youth human rights education and was led to HRE USA. Prior to graduate school, Meredith earned her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science summa cum laude from Wittenberg University. While at Wittenberg she studied abroad in Germany where she interned at a local community center integrating Syrian refugees. Upon her return to the U.S., Meredith temporarily moved to DC to work at a refugee resettlement agency. This summer in addition to the Edmonds fellowship she is volunteering with the Ohio Women’s Alliance circulating a ballot initiative petition for reproductive justice. If the initiative is successful, Ohioans will vote in November to amend the state constitution to protect reproductive freedoms. Meredith lives in Columbus, Ohio with her partner Dylan and beloved rescue dog, Jeb.
2022
2022 Edmonds Summer Fellow: Veronica Bido
Veronica is a New Jersey native passionate about reimagining and rebuilding how we approach social justice issues. Her alma mater is Rutgers University New Brunswick where she studied Political Science with a minor in Middle Eastern Studies. She served as a student ambassador and resident assistant. She is currently serving the Baltimore community as a Work First fellow, and is currently working with the ex-offender reentry and bail diversion program. In her free time she volunteer’s as a crisis response advocate for victims of domestic violence and just joined a local kickball team. View Veronica’s Fellowship Impact Report Video
2022 Edmonds Summer Fellow: Hallie McRae
Hallie is a rising junior studying Political Science and Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. She is passionate about human rights and social justice advocacy, participating in programs and organizations dedicated to each. On campus, she is involved in UC Berkeley’s ACLU club, leading the Know Your Rights project team under the Criminal Justice Reform committee. Here, students inform the community about the rights they hold surrounding police and immigration forces through the creation of handouts, presentations to local high schools, and general education campaigns. She is also involved in student government, coordinating educational outreach and support for survivors of sexual violence and sexual harassment, and is a member of the Repair The World Campus Corps, targeting food insecurity by mobilizing community members each week to pack and deliver bags with essentials to unhoused folks. Engaging with Human Rights Watch Student Task Force throughout high school, Hallie benefitted largely from human rights education and advocacy in academic settings, and is thrilled to continue the work of expanding human rights education and organizational work in schools and communities nationwide with HRE USA. View Hallie’s Fellowship Impact Report Video
2022 Edmonds Summer Fellow: Natalie Roach
Natalie is graduating this May with a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Connecticut (UConn). She also received her undergraduate degree from UConn, majoring in human rights and environmental sciences. As an undergraduate, Natalie was an officer of Revolution Against Rape, a student organization with a goal of ending rape culture. One main initiative of this work was giving consent workshops to high school classes across the state. Natalie was also deeply involved in bringing justice values into the environmental spheres at UConn, through many roles such as interning at the Office of Sustainability and organizing a landmark climate justice protest. Natalie currently works for Goodwill of Northern New England on their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts. Last year she connected with store managers across 3 states in order to roll out an organization-wide culture survey to create a foundation for their current work. This fall, Natalie will be starting a fellowship at the Design Trust for Public Space in New York City to learn how public space & the built environment can be powerful tools to work towards justice and human rights. In her free time, she enjoys rock climbing, traveling, playing violin, and hanging out with her cat. Read Natalie Roach’s Edmond Fellowship report here.
2022 Edmonds Education Summer Fellow: Julie Rinker
Julie Rinker is a public-school dyslexia interventionist and dyslexia teacher trainer in Dallas, TX. She became a human rights educator in 2019 after attending a Holocaust Pilgrimage in Poland. In the Summer of 2022, Julie was the first Educator Fellow for Human Rights Educators, USA. This involved reviewing the library of resources available to all teachers, free of charge. These sources equip opportunistic teachers with the materials and lesson plans needed to incorporate a human rights education into unconventional settings. View video report.
2021
2021-22 HRE USA Research Scholar: Kaylee Taylor Bradford
Kaylee Taylor Bradford is a global educator with over eight years of international training experience. She has a M.A. in International Educational Development from Columbia University, specializing in Peace and Human Rights Education (HRE). Throughout her career, she has worked in a variety of sectors including human trafficking prevention, refugee education, substance abuse rehabilitation, and research management. She is currently an independent educational consultant assisting a variety of organizations with curriculum development, research, monitoring, and evaluation. Most recently, Kaylee investigated preservice HRE for teachers in the United States and presented her work via webinar for the HRE USA community. This year, Kaylee hopes to further the incorporation of HRE into United States teacher preparation and training by working with HRE USA to develop a teacher education action strategy for the 2021-2022 project year, including research, training, and advocacy work. View Video Report.
2021 Edmonds Summer Fellow: Ashleigh Deno
Ashleigh Deno is a senior preparing for graduation from Murray State University in May with a Bachelor’s in Secondary History Education. She is currently student teaching at Murray High School. She is actively involved on campus and serves as the Vice President of English Student Organization where she helps plan events for the department on campus. She is also the Community Outreach Chair of Phi Alpha Theta’s Murray State chapter, a national history honor society, where she helps connect the college to local school systems to help expose students to historical studies early. In 2020, she received an award for Outstanding Undergraduate Research for her paper on the effects of hurricanes in the Old South. She has spent the last two years working as a historical researcher at Wrather West Kentucky Museum where she specialized in women’s history in the Jackson Purchase Area, creating both physical and digital exhibits for the local community. View video report.
2021 Edmonds Summer Fellow: Danielle Luckstead
Danielle Lucksted is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Sociology at Stony Brook University, and has an M.A. in Human Rights from University College London and an M.A. in Humanities and Social Thought from New York University. Her research focuses on the sociology of human rights and international law, with specific interests in memory norms in the U.S. and globally and in mechanisms of enforcement such as international criminal courts. Danielle has also worked in the violence prevention field for six years. In a former position at a domestic violence organization in Michigan from 2015-2017, she researched and facilitated over 200 presentations a year on the subjects of domestic and sexual violence prevention in K-12, university, and general community settings. She has also served as an educator for Girls Leadership, a mentor for Young Leaders Against Violence, and as Outreach and Education Chair for the Kent County Human Trafficking Task Force. View video report.
2021 Edmonds Summer Fellow: Winnie Ho
Winnie Ho is a Program Coordinator for the National Resource Center for Academic Detailing (NaRCAD) in Boston, MA. In this role, she has had the unique opportunity to support an international network of local organizations devoted to clinical outreach education. Winnie graduated cum laude from Cornell University in 2019 with a BA in Biological Sciences and in Sociology, with dual minors in Inequality Studies and Global Health. In Fall 2021, she will be attending Yale School of Public Health as a Master in Public Health candidate in Social and Behavioral Sciences with a concentration in US Health and Justice.Her work is informed by her interests in progressive drug policy reform, advocating for harm reduction, and challenging ingrained stigma towards marginalized populations. With HRE USA, Winnie is looking forward to learning more about the activism being done to introduce critical human rights perspectives into our most important national conversations. View Video Report.
HRE USA 