Hansen Leadership Institute

Exciting news! 🎉 We’re working on a brand-new application website, set to launch later this month for the 2025 program. Stay tuned for updates on when it opens and how to apply. We can’t wait to share it with you! 👩🏻‍💻

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📚Throwback to our sessions on Negotiation, Dialogue and Mediation! 🙌
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📚Fellows had insightful discussions on various conflicts with Professor .almarashi, delving into the complexities and underlying causes of global issues.🌍

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📚As part of the program fellows not only hone their skills and gain new knowledge but also have various opportunities of exploring new places in San Diego🚌🌊!

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Panel on Religion in the United States!

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📚 Over the past week, fellows explored Leadership and Human Rights with Steve Swerdlow and improved their public speaking with Maris Goodstein!

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🕵️‍♀️Women leaders are sharing their experiences with Hansen fellows during a panel discussion.🙌

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🇺🇸Fellows learning more about the Democracy in America with Ambassador Leslie Bassett!📚

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🌴Exploring Balboa Park through the Urban Adventure Quest🙌

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Fellows watching baseball, ‘America’s Pastime,’ at the San Diego Padres game🏟️⚾️

📚Leadership Practice with Dr. John Hinck

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🎊Hansen fellows celebrating US Independence Day! Happy 4th of July!🎆
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🧗The united spirit of our fellows helped them overcome all the challenges of the UCSD challenge course.💪

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🎊Opening reception of the Hansen Leadership Institute 2024 cohort consisting of 20 amazing fellows from 18 countries around the world!🌍💙

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The 2024 Hansen Leadership Institute is officially 1 week away! 🤩 We can’t wait to have our dorms filled with life and excitement from our fellows once again. Stay tuned for daily updates!
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Meet Faith, a 2024 fellow from the United States.🇺🇸 Faith is a writer and nurse.✍🏼🩺 Through her studies and professional work, she has passionately advocated for educational equality for underrepresented children. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she provided translation services for Spanish-speaking hospital patients.🩻 She has also worked to support victims and survivors of human trafficking. Faith is currently working on publishing her first poetry collection. She speaks Spanish and English. 🇪🇸🇺🇸
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Meet Angela Yuan, one of our US fellows!🇺🇸 Angela is a Chinese-American passionate about the universal right to clean water and a healthy environment.🚰🌱 She has over five years of environmental policy and management experience at the grassroots, state, federal, and international levels. Angela has worked on Flint Water Crisis and PFAS lawsuits, at the US Forest Service, on a US Environmental Protection Agency award-winning watershed plan, and spearheaded a project in Kenya that provided clean drinking water to up to 5,000 residents a day, bringing access to a community of 30,000 people.💧 As Project Manager at the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators for the last two and a half years, she worked with bipartisan state legislators nationwide on environmental policy solutions. 🏛️ After HLI, Angela will move to Beijing for the Schwarzman Scholars global leadership program and to pursue an MSc in Global Affairs from Tsinghua University. 🇨🇳📚In the future, Angela strives to continue working at the intersection of the environment and public health on an international scale, particularly to support historically underserved communities. Angela loves to volunteer, paint, hula hoop, cook vegan food, and solo travel. 🌍🎨
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Welcome Andre Ferreira, a 2024 Hansen Fellow from the United States!🇺🇸 As the son of Portuguese immigrants, Andre proudly embraces his cultural heritage, and speaks both Spanish and Portuguese fluently.🇪🇸🇵🇹 Born and raised in Newark, New Jersey, graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Government and History, and a citation in American Sign Language.🤟🏼 Andre’s research endeavors, conducted under the professors from Yale University and Harvard Law School, focused on the interplay between politics and human rights development on an international scale. Andre currently serves as an immigration paralegal for a distinguished law firm in New Jersey, and is concurrently pursuing a paralegal certificate from his local county college. This fall, he will pursue a Master’s in International Politics from KU Leuven in Belgium this fall.📚🇧🇪 He aspires to further his academic journey by attending law school in the United States, where he aims to leverage his expertise to advocate for justice and equality on a global scale. Andre also has multifaceted interests, ranging from soccer and politics to photography and travel. ⚽️📸

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Introducing Phó Đỗ Quyên, a 2024 Hansen fellow from Vietnam!🇻🇳 Đỗ Quyên is a senior majoring in Literature and minoring in Vietnam Studies at Fulbright University Vietnam.📚 Her main interests include translation studies, gender and sexuality studies, and intellectual thoughts in Vietnam and East Asia. 💡Realizing that creativity empowers her to express, embrace, and transform difficult emotions, she often embarks on critical, creative projects, such as Seesaw Vietnam and LIT Magazine where she is the co-founder. 📑Seesaw Vietnam is a startup that utilizes social and positive psychology to raise awareness of well-being and provide creative tools to prevent mental health risks. 📝LIT Magazine is a non-profit club at Fulbright University, specializing in organizing literary events and publishing bilingual (Vietnamese-English) literary magazines. With these two projects, she wants to address social issues from a non-violent approach and perspective. 💫Believing that kindness and humility are two core principles enabling her to be vulnerable and to grow, she hopes that her presence welcomes others to feel comfortable being themselves. 👩‍🍳She loves improvisational theater, writing poems, crafting, embroidering, gardening, and cooking.
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Welcome Hansen 2024 fellow Yana Hulak from Ukraine!🇺🇦 Yana holds dual bachelor’s degrees in Law and Economics.⚖️ Currently, she contributes to Ukrainian Startup Fund, actively promoting the Ukrainian innovation industry globally and coordinating startup delegations to international tech events.🌍 Her international perspective was further enriched by Mitacs Globalink Research Internship at Thompson Rivers University in Canada. There she engaged in projects that broadened opportunities and networks for the Ukrainian diaspora, enhancing their community integration🕊️During her university years as president of the student government, Yana led a variety of activities that strengthened the academic community. Beyond her professional and academic pursuits, Yana is a 📺TV presenter, ballroom dancer, and horse rider🏇. Committed to advancing innovation and synergy, Yana is dedicated to shaping a future where these values foster a thriving and peaceful world.🙏 🕊️
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Meet our 2024 Fellow, Ahmed Alhelali from Saudi Arabia!🇸🇦 Ahmed describes himself in three words 👉“Impact, Marketing and Community…Beyond.” As a student at KFUPM University, studying Business and Marketing, Ahmed seeks to make a difference in his community through his global experiences. He’s passionate about leadership and community service, such as volunteering at the ⚽️FIFA World Cup 2022 and attending global summits. 🎊Notably, Ahmed led the largest TED event in Saudi Arabia 2024, inspired by his personal philosophy of “Meaningful Message,” urging others to seek purpose and strive to be the best version of themselves in life. 📖Through his activities, Ahmed aims to improve education quality by sharing experiences and fostering international cooperation.🌍
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Introducing our Hansen 2024 fellow Alexandra Vaysberg from Russia!🇷🇺 Aleksandra pursues her master’s in Politics and Governance of Global Challenges at the University of Bergen in Norway🇳🇴. 📘Prior to this, she studied for a year in the master’s program “Comparative Politics of Eurasia” at the Higher School of Economics in St. Petersburg. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and World Politics with a minor in Data Analysis, also from HSE – St. Petersburg. Her academic and professional interests intersect human rights and civil society issues with law and politics. Recently she also started exploring topics related to migration and transnational activism. 💫Having a passion for social sciences since her teenage years, she has strived to make insights from social research accessible and interesting to the non-academic audience through several non-profit education projects. Additionally, she has been actively involved in the work of several civil society organizations in Russia and beyond. ⛰️In terms of personal interests, Norway has made Aleksandra an amateur hiker (or rather a member of “Out of Breath Hiking Society”) and a fan of Bergen mountains. 🎶She enjoys listening to indie music and (tries to enjoy) learning the Norwegian language.
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Welcome Camille Rivera, first Hansen fellow from Puerto Rico!🇵🇷 She was raised for four years in Argentina, and currently works as an English language facilitator in a small education center emphasizing the integration of neurodiversity and neuroeducation from elementary school to high school.🎓 Graduating with honors with a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary psychology, she has recently been admitted into Albizu University Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program. 📖During her undergraduate years, Camille actively collaborated with fellow students and professors to coordinate workshops, activities, and opportunities for Albizu students.🏆 For serving the college’s visions and missions, Camille has been granted awards and recognition. She served as co-president of an association facilitating connections between psychology students and research internships in the USA. This project led her to a summer-long internship at Georgia Tech, where she focused on memory, distance errors and virtual environments. 📚Upon returning home, she helped a professor in ideating research proposals and writing papers on cyberpsychology. 🕵️‍♀️As a future scientist-practitioner, Camille aspires to conduct extensive research on biological psychology, behavioral neuroscience, clinical psychology, and psychotherapy and contribute to enhancing global mental health support systems. She emphasizes the significance of cultural interactions in fostering environments where individuals feel heard and comfortable, thereby raising awareness about mental health. ☘️Outside academia, Camille is currently immersed in learning Japanese and exploring its culture. She enjoys reading and watching Sci-Fi, playing video games, and exploring nature through activities such as hiking, road trips, and beach outings.
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Introducing our fellow Oluwadamilola Akintewe from Nigeria!🇳🇬 Oluwadamilola is a changemaker who is actively involved in coordinating social justice, equality and empowerment initiatives with a focus on gender and development policy.🕵️‍♀️ She founded Project Rebirth, a social enterprise that provides skills and empowerment to women and youth in internal displacement persons (IDP) camps and rural communities around Nigeria. ⚖️She earned her bachelor degree in law and is currently completing her practicing qualification program at the Nigerian Law School. For her work over the last six years championing women and youth rights, Oluwadamilola received the 2024 Princess Diana Legacy Award🏆 (the highest humanitarian accolade given to a young person under 25) by HRH William, the Prince of Wales, in honour of Diana, the late princess of Wales. Oluwadamilola is a finalist of the 2021 Chegg.org Global Student Prize, aka Student Nobel , and was awarded the African Union Woman of Impact in 2023.🥇 She also won the 2021 ONE Campaign Samantha Singh Award for young professionals in development policy. When she’s not busy championing women’s rights , Oluwadamilola enjoys streaming movie soundtracks , strumming her guitar named Leo , travelling, bar hopping to grade margarita recipes and daydreaming, while simultaneously struggling to keep up with her polyglot ambitions.
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Meet Sushmita Ghimire, a 2024 Fellow from Nepal.🇳🇵Having worked as a certified mediator and former law intern at the Nepal Attorney General’s office, Sushmita now serves as a trainee at a prominent law firm, assisting senior advocates on various cases. 👩‍⚖️🤝 Community service holds a special place in Sushmita’s heart. During the 2024-2025 term, she will serve as the President of the Rotaract Club of the Kathmandu Metropolis Area. As an alumna of both the Millennium Fellowship (2022) and a participant in the Kectil Program (2024), Sushmita is dedicated to promoting legal literacy and community well-being in any capacity. 📚🫂 Sushmita believes that personal narratives have a remarkable power to unite us; therefore, she feels content when people open up about their experiences and share their dreams. Amidst life’s pursuits, she finds solace in fresh flowers and culinary delights.💐🥗
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Welcome Minn Myoh Minn Oo, our Hansen 2024 fellow from Myanmar!🇲🇲 Born and raised as a Mon ethnic in Mawlamyine, Mon State and representing LGBT+ communities🌈, Minn Myoh Minn Oo is a grassroots community leader and emerging researcher. Presently he is working as a projects manager at Hand to Hand Charity Myanmar, focusing on youth leadership, educational equality and community development. 📝He independently writes opinion articles and conducts research on political and social issues in Myanmar. Driven by his passion for political and social issues as well as research, he aims to become a leading Professor and Researcher, working for Myanmar and Southeast Asia region. 🧐With over 5 years of experience in political and social organizations, Myoh has worked on election, reconciliation, democracy, transitional justice and education sectors. 💼Currently he is a Prospect Burma scholar, pursuing Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Development at Rangsit University in Thailand. 🕊️He wants to empower young people to become leaders and take a role in restoring democracy and peace for the country. In his spare time, he enjoys listening to news, podcasts and music, writing and going to the gym.
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Introducing Aigerim Aidarova, our 2024 Fellow from Kyrgyzstan! 🇰🇬 Aigerim is currently pursuing an Erasmus International Master’s degree in Global Markets and Development. Having recently completed part of her degree in the UK, she is now embarking on a consultancy project in Spain for her second semester.🇬🇧🇪🇸Her professional goal is to serve in a bridge-building role within the United Nations, ideally as the Ambassador of Kyrgyzstan.🇺🇳 Previously, after completing her Bachelor’s degree, Aigerim worked in the UN Resident’s Coordinator’s Office in Kyrgyzstan. She’s passionate about running marathons, traveling, dancing, and savoring delicious food! 🏃‍♀️🍱

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Introducing our 2024 Hansen Fellow, Putri Naila Dira from Indonesia! 🇲🇨 Starting with her concerns about youth roles in times of emergencies, Naila is an aspiring youth researcher and activist on gender equality. 💡 She believes that leadership is about embracing people in all their diversity, to encourage meaningful roles in any decision-making process impacting their future. For the past four years, she has been working with Plan International on their joint research and advocacy projects, specifically on the issues of girls’ empowerment and youth participation in the Asia Pacific🌏.Collaborating with youths from Indonesia, Australia, Vietnam, and Nepal 🤝 has allowed her to gain broader perspectives on intersectionality, which she believes is another critical understanding to raise global awareness of these issues. 📚Currently majoring in Culture and Society for her bachelor’s degree at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Japan 🇯🇵, her activism has earned her the Ritsumeikan Social Contribution Award and the prestigious Ando Momofuku Award. She also received several international recognition, including representing Indonesia at the Girls Takeover event with ASEAN. Beyond activism, Naila finds joy in music, art, and theater, using them as mediums for expressing her voice and connecting with others 🎶🎨🎭

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Meet our Hansen 2024 fellow, Jivan Mkrtchyan from Georgia!🇬🇪 Jivan is a lawyer and mediator with a solid academic foundation from Tbilisi State University. ⚖️He has recently been enrolled in Penn State Law in the USA, continuing his academic pursuits. Active in both national and international realms, he has engaged in diverse projects, including Erasmus+ and Council of Europe initiatives. 👨‍🏫Currently, he contributes to the renowned Kordzadze Law Firm and serves as a trainer in human rights and law at Georgia's Training Centre of Justice. 🧑‍💻Concurrently, he is pursuing a specialized course on the digitalization of law supported by Georgia's Ministry of Justice. Devoted to societal progress, Jivan works with NGOs focusing on minority and women's rights. 📕His intellectual pursuits extend into the realms of political science, international relations, and diplomacy, culminating in his notable participation as a member of Georgia's official delegation to Armenia under the auspices of the Constitutional Court. Jivan loves languages and speaks Georgian, Armenian, English, and Russian. He also enjoys writing in Georgian and painting portraits. 🌍Connecting with people from different cultures brings him great happiness. 🙌He likes cultural exchanges and building friendships across borders. He believes in international peace and sustainability, aspiring to contribute to these goals as a young leader. For Jivan, the HLI program presents an invaluable opportunity to collaborate with global peers, united in the quest for a harmonious world.🕊️
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Introducing Manar Hagag, our 2024 Fellow from Egypt! 🇪🇬 Manar is a recent graduate from the medical school now working in a university hospital system as an intern doctor. 🩻 At 19, Manar secured her first full-time paid job as a communication specialist at EMONOVO. In this role, she learned more about providing youth and minorities with educational and cultural exchange opportunities to enrich their lives.📖 As an ambassador for the Egyptian National Population Council, Manar is also involved in a youth-led, COVID-19 initiative to improve the health system in collaboration with the International Federation of the Medical Students’ Association. Manar is deeply motivated by the current Middle East refugee crisis to work tirelessly for human rights and peaceful coexistence, emphasizing respect for nations’ rules and productive engagement in host countries.🕊️ In her leisure time, Manar enjoys reading about other cultures, learning new languages, and going for picnics.🧺📚
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