Mary is a former South Sudanese refugee who has been supporting UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, since 2018. After fleeing her war-torn country as a child, she found security and hope in attending school in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. She has since become a teacher of young refugees in her community, and sees education as an essential tool for rebuilding lives and empowering a generation of girls who are too often denied entrance into the classroom. Mary is currently pursuing Theater as part of a scholarship program at St. Olaf College in the United States.

In 2018, Mary gave an impassioned speech at TEDxKakumaCamp entitled "Why I fight for the education of refugee girls (like me)". In collaboration with UNHCR she has gone on to advocate on behalf of refugees on multiple global platforms including Sky News and ABC News. Mary has spoken at international events including Global GoalsCast and the Girl Up Summit and supported the launch of UNHCR's annual Education Report. She has featured in social media films and briefings outlining the importance of education, and highlighting, through her own personal story, the resilience, talents and ambitions of the forcibly displaced in playing an active role, in not only the response to the global refugee crisis, but also to the global coronavirus pandemic.

mmaker@elimishakakuma.org

@marymaker43

Diing graduated with a degree in Systems Engineering and a minor in Economics from The George Washington University. She’s currently working as a Technology Analyst at Morgan Stanley. Diing studied primary and taught at secondary school in Kakuma. Diing is passionate about girls’ education and is always on the lookout for opportunities to increase girls’ education. Diing is an alumnus of the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U), an organization formed by President Bill Clinton. She is a CGI U COVID-19 Student Action Fund awardee. She used her funding to organize We Are The Kakuma in partnership with Dreams Studio and Mary Maker to provide sanitizers, masks, food etc for refugees in Kakuma. She is the co-founder of a girl mentorship program, Me4Her: Breaking Patriarchal Barriers, with a grant she received from the CGI U. Diing was also a teacher at Kakuma Refugee Secondary School, where her passion to see more South Sudanese refugees receive educational opportunities compelled her to become a teacher after completing high school. As a student on her college campus, Diing has been part of the Enough Project's Student Upstander program, an organization that advocates for better policies to end genocide and mass atrocities against humanity in conflict zones such as South Sudan.

dmanyang@elimishakakuma.org

Dudi is in his last semester at Harvard University, majoring in History and Science. He grew up in Kakuma where he studied and taught in primary and secondary school. The summer of 2020, he helped with the construction of Elimisha Kakuma’s on-site center in Kakuma and equipped it with necessary equipment to facilitate learning. He is passionate about creating access to quality education, one of the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs), to the less fortunate, especially refugees and internally displaced persons through the application of modern technology. He also went to and taught in primary and secondary schools in Kakuma. Therefore as a former teacher and student, he knows firsthand what it means to be a refugee with dreams and not have the opportunity to pursue them. This summer, he will be running a project that focuses on teaching 9th and 10th graders computer programming as well as teaching them how to apply to universities abroad after graduating from high school. By being a part of Elimisha Kakuma, Dudi hopes to realize his dreams of creating greater access to higher education for refugees.

miabokjd@elimishakakuma.org

Deirdre is an educator with a Master's in Education, Curriculum, and Instruction, with a concentration in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). Deirdre has more than 14 years of experience teaching English across five continents, notably in Kakuma, Rwanda, Guatemala, Indonesia, the Czech Republic, and the United States. Her passion is promoting educational access to all, especially immigrants and refugees. She has taught in seven countries across five continents, with highlights including serving as an English Language Fellow through the U.S. State Department in Indonesia, interning for Jesuit Refugee Service in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, a teaching and research instructor at Virginia Tech, serving as Lead Teacher of a Scholarship Program in Rwanda, and working as the English Department Coordinator of a non-profit school in Guatemala. She has developed and taught curriculum to young adults and adults and strongly believes in the power of education to transform lives.

dhand@elimishakakuma.org

Anika Brennan is a junior at Macalester College studying sociology and education. She has had a longtime passion for teaching and education access, working at various education startups in Nicaragua and Mexico. She joined the program in its very early days in May, 2021 teaching the Techniques in Writing Class, as well as working with students one-on-one providing support through the college application process. She has assisted one student receive the WUSC scholarship and another receive a full ride to Dartmouth College and is now branching out into fundraising and curriculum development as an Assistant Director of Academics. She will be moving to Tucson next semester, to work with Asylum seekers on the U.S Mexico border, and hopes to expand her knowledge and experience working with displaced populations.

abrennan@elimishakakuma.org

Katherine L. Hall has been working in education for over 30 years. She has recently returned from living and working in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Cairo for 14 years. She taught public speaking, composition and rhetoric, business communications, technical writing and psychology whilst abroad. She has worked with her students on community service projects worldwide for her entire teaching career and together they have impacted students around the world—including in Uganda, South Africa, Philippines, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Thailand. She received her Ph.D. (Curriculum and Instruction) and M.A. (English) from Virginia Tech and her B.A. (English) from Christopher Newport University. She currently is an Instructor in the English Department at Virginia Tech.

Jenn Gooding is an English language instructor who has taught academic reading, writing, grammar, and American slang and idioms to students preparing for U.S. universities as well as to adults in the nonprofit and community college settings. Through a grant to improve medical education in Tanzania, she provided individualized, online writing instruction to Tanzanian medical students for three years, and she visited Tanzania in 2014 to teach English workshops. She also taught English for International Relations at Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia for three years. Through three U.S. State Department programs, she provided teacher training for K-12 teachers from Pakistan and professors from the University of Tikrit in Iraq as well as advanced English and research instruction for Fulbright students from Argentina. She has been volunteering with Elimisha Kakuma since its inception. She has an M.A. in ESL & Multicultural Education and an M.A. in International Affairs.

Julia joined the Elimisha Kakuma team in July 2021 as an intern through the Virginia Tech Center for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies. She graduated in May, 2022, Summa Cum Laude, while double majoring in International Studies and Humanities for Public Service with a minor in Spanish. Throughout her time with Elimisha Kakuma, she has helped students with their college applications through one-on-one tutoring sessions. She helped one student receive the WUSC scholarship and another receive a full ride to the University of Elmhurst. She now leads essential parts of our academic preparation and college counselling programs as the Assistant Director of Education. She recently moved to Spain to teach English while continuing her work with Elimisha Kakuma. She cares deeply about ensuring more opportunities for higher education for all refugees and believes that refugee-led organisations and partnerships are vital to this goal.

jgreenman@elimishakakuma.org

Mauridi Kiza Ramadhan, a young refugee at Kakuma camp, is a first-year student at Southern New Hampshire University, pursuing a BA in management focused on logistics and operation. With six years of teaching experience, Kiza became an IT coach at the UNHCR-Vodafone Instant Network School. Witnessing refugees' economic struggles, Kiza founded "Action for Refugee Life," empowering refugees through on-campus digital training courses that focus on skill enhancement, job market readiness, mentorship, postgraduation support, and entrepreneurship assistance fostering sustainable economic advancement. Kiza manages Elimisha Kakuma in Kenya, facilitating online and in-person classes while providing vital technical and communication assistance.

Aida started working with us in August 2022 through Virginia Tech. Graduating in December 2023, she is majoring in biology in the College of Science on a pre-medical track. Aida began tutoring in her senior year of high school through math honors society teaching her classmates and has continued tutoring by volunteering for the Blacksburg Refugee Partnership located in Blacksburg, VA. She serves as a translator for the refugees and an aid between local school systems in the partnership. Aida also volunteers in geriatric community centers and is currently doing research in an immunology lab where she will later help other undergraduate students learn lab procedures as well. Additionally, she is a teacher’s assistant (TA) teaching evolutionary biology and cell function and differentiation. Aida has a passion for teaching and working closely with her students to watch them progress through furthering their education. She has taught supplemental biology, inorganic chemistry, and organic chemistry classes to the students at Elimisha.

Maha Shoaib is a senior at Virginia Tech majoring in Clinical Neuroscience and minoring in Religion. She hopes to become a physician to work with underserved populations and give back to various communities. Being someone actively combating current-day issues, Maha began volunteering for the Blacksburg Refugee Partnership to resettle Afghan refugees in Blacksburg upon the fall of Kabul. Such an opportunity led Maha to discover her love for working with refugees through formulating friendships and developing a community. In the future, she hopes to continue working with refugee and displaced populations, where she can combine the skills she learns working with Elimisha Kakuma with her future career to combat health disparities that still prevail worldwide.

mshoaib@elimishakakuma.org

Elizabeth Achol Maker is an undergraduate student at Daystar University (Nairobi Kenya) pursuing her bachelor degree in Communication with a minor in Community Development. Achol is a freelance writer with her writing touching on social issues such as early/child/forced marriages and the refugee crisis. She is currently writing for Ladies of Sosa, an entity that highlights stories of South Sudanese around the globe. She is a storyteller who is passionate about film and documentaries. She has worked closely with FilmAid Kenya in Kakuma Refugee Camp in encouraging refugees to involve themselves in finding possible solutions to issues that affect them through storytelling. Achol is passionate about community development, when COVID-19 hit she volunteered to package and distribute food in Kakuma under Dream Magical Studio. In the same period, she taught set books and Kiswahili to students in parts of the camp. Currently, she is serving with Daystar University Student Council to orient new international students in the school.

CJ Smith is a senior marketing professional specializing in B2B marketing strategy, most recently in live events and enterprise drones. CJ has extensive experience drawing actionable insights from data and creating digital marketing strategies, executed via paid media, content strategy and creation, and email marketing. Smith is a compelling presenter having hosted podcasts, webinars, and speaking at conferences, and is a published author in various media outlets. CJ is an avid musician and guitar player, enjoys innovative and disruptive technologies, international travel, languages, finance, politics, and sports. CJ thrives in fast-paced and entrepreneurial environments, enjoys collaborating across departments, and managing teams.

cjsmith@elimishakakuma.org

Najah is currently a Mastercard scholar and was an ASSIST scholar in high school, she spent her senior year at Perkiomen High School in Pennsburg, PA. Najah is a senior student at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, majoring in quantitative economics with a concentration in international relations and statistics. She is a Resident Assistant at St. Olaf College and is also currently working at St. Olaf UNICEF as an Event Coordinator for fundraising events. She aspires to take a career path in the wealth management and finance industry. Born and raised in Somaliland, Hargeisa, Najah is a family person and enjoys spending time with her 11 siblings.

Elimisha Social Media Intern, artist and creative designer. Agot is a refugee student in Nairobi, Kenya.

Diego Domenici is an Italian/American student of Political Science in Italy currently working on his Master's. Aside from providing academic support to the main teaching staff, his main task is identifying European universities fit for the program's students.

Alden is a sophomore at Virginia Tech, studying International Studies, Professional & Technical Writing, and Spanish. In high school, she competed in Congressional and Public Forum style debate, eventually achieving fifth place at the Virginia state level. After researching various social problems like pharmaceutical price caps, maternity leave, and even equal rights, the issue of immigration always stood out to her. Towards the latter half of her high school career, she became an ESL tutor in the classroom. Collaborating with her peers from El Salvador, Côte d’Ivoire, Guatemala, Vietnam, Honduras, and Yemen, helped her develop excellent intercultural communication skills. Simultaneously, in an effort to further extend her passion for tutoring, she worked in her high school’s Writing Center. There she brainstormed, drafted, and edited personal statements, supplemental essays, etc. with her classmates. Since becoming an intern for Elimisha Kakuma, her idealistic endeavors to create harmonious relationships between those domestic and foreign in every space have only been strengthened. Someday soon she hopes to spend time in Kakuma refugee camp. Beyond that, her lifelong goals include teaching English as a second language, advocating for immigrants and refugees, and traveling to experience other cultures firsthand.

Bethany Hansel is a senior at Virginia Tech majoring in International Public Policy and minoring in Arabic. Bethany's interest in working with displaced populations stemmed from her experience growing up in the Middle East, where the refugee crisis felt very close to home for her. Bethany started as a tutor with Elimisha Kakuma in May, 2023, after pursuing substantial coursework pertaining to migration and displacement issues. Following her graduation from Virginia Tech in December, 2023, Bethany hopes to further pursue her passion for human rights, continuing her work in the international nonprofit sector by helping to advance the rights of refugee and Indigenous populations around the world.

Riker is a dedicated Computer Engineering student in his junior year at Virginia Tech, with a focus in Networking & Cybersecurity. His journey into the world of tutoring began during his junior year of high school when he joined the STEP Mentorship program in McLean, Virginia. Fueled by his enthusiasm for sharing knowledge, he has consistently fostered a passion for teaching ever since. In college, he has actively participated in the FUN143 program through Wesley at Virginia Tech where he engaged with fellow students to enhance their understanding of complex concepts. Furthermore, Riker contributed his skills to the tutoring initiative of Montgomery County Public Schools/VT, teaching Geometry and English at Blacksburg High School. With a solid foundation in mathematics and a natural flair for explaining intricate subjects, Riker brings a unique blend of technical prowess and pedagogical finesse to his tutoring sessions. His commitment to guiding and empowering learners is evident in his diverse tutoring experiences.

Alayna Williams is a senior studying International Public Policy at Virginia Tech and minoring in French. After graduating from high school with an Associates in Arts and Sciences, Alayna took a gap year before returning to school at Virginia Tech. Originally, she was a physics major, but switched to International Public Policy after a semester living in the Mozaiko Living Learning Community, a Virginia Tech dorm that focuses on language and cultural exchange. Alayna first became interested in working with refugees when she began tutoring for the Coalition for Refugee Resettlement (CRR), and has continued to work with this population by tutoring for Blacksburg Refugee Partnership (BRP). As an intern for Elimisha Kakuma, Alayna has learned a great deal about formal education and gained a more international understanding of refugee issues. During her time tutoring, she discovered a passion for education and working with refugees, and she hopes to continue working in refugee resettlement after her graduation. Alayna is also passionate about languages and cultural exchange, and is taking Russian in addition to her French minor; she hopes to continue learning about languages and other cultures through travelling and teaching English abroad after graduation.

My name is Emma Yadene. I am originally from Ethiopia but mainly grew up in Silver Spring, MD. I am currently a senior at Virginia Tech majoring in Political Science and Criminology with a minor in Science, Technology and Law. I have previously worked with Blacksburg Refugee Partnership as a tutor and I began working with Elimisha Kakuma in June of 2023 as an academic intern. In the future, I hope to go to law school and pursue a career in international and human rights law.