Marleen Ivón Haboud

Marleen Ivón Haboud Ecuador 1993 Grantee US-Canada Program 1996 PhD in Linguistics/Sociolinguistics from University of Oregon PhD Professor/Researcher (Linguistics School) from Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador 2016 Postdoctoral in Contact Linguistics and Indigenous Languages from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain 2016 Postdoctoral in Highland Ecuadorian Spanish from U of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign)

Founder of the community based Interdisciplinary Research Program Oralidad Modernidad devoted to documenting and revitalizing Indigenous Languages So far, we have worked with 775 indigenous communities en Ecuador (oralidadmodernidad.org).

Founder of the Diversity in Contact International Conferences and publication series. https://oralidadmodernidad.org/iii-simposio-internacional-desafios-en-la-diversidad/

1993 grantee (US-Canada Program)

1996 PhD in Linguistics/Sociolinguistics by the University of Oregon.

2016 Postdoctoral in Contact Linguistics and Indigenous Languages. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain (February to May).

2016 Postdoctoral in Highland Ecuadorian Spanish. U of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) (July to November).

Ecuadorian representative to International Conferences about Indigenous Languages and Endangered Languages in Asia, Africa, Europe, Canada, North, Central and South America. 

External adviser for UNESCO and UNICEF regarding endangered languages and intercultural issues.

Awards:

- Georg Forster World Research Award, 2019 (First Ecuadorian receiving this World Award)
- International PUCE Award, 2019 and 2020
- Member of Academia de la Lengua Española (Ecuadorian chapter), 2019
- Nominated to the 2018 National Scientific Award "Eugenio Espejo"(Ecuador)
- Fulbright Visiting International Professor Award, 2014
- Life Honorary Member Foundation for Endangered Languages (UK)- Life Honorary Member  LAINAC Global Scholars, Tokyo University (2018).

Publications:  more than 60 publications (See https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marleen_Haboud)

Natalia Lobo-Guerrero

Natalia Lobo-Guerrero Colombia 2012 Grantee US - Canada Program Master’s in Professional Studies in Creative Arts Therapy and Creativity Development from Pratt Institute BA in Fine Arts from Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá

Thesis: “How can Art Therapy aid displaced women diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?”
Natalia earned her Masters at Pratt Institute in New York City. Over the past 10 years she has provided individual, group and family Art Therapy in a variety of settings around the world. She worked at the NYU hospital in New York with children and families, in The Pacific Links Foundation in Sapa, Vietnam, with human trafficking survivors, and with international schools and NGOs in Southeast Asia and Latin America. Natalia currently runs a private practice in Bali where she sees clients from the local and expat communities and offers introductory workshops on Art Therapy.

Afia Nathaniel

Afia Nathaniel Pakistan / US 2003 Grantee US - Canada Program MFA in Film Directing from Columbia University BSc in Computer Science from Lahore University of Management Sciences

Pakistani-American filmmaker, Afia, loves pushing the boundaries of narrative storytelling. Her debut feature film Dukhtar (Daughter) premiered at Toronto (2014) becoming Pakistan’s Official Submission for Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards®. The film played to critical acclaim in over 20 countries to rave reviews and became the Critics’ Pick (Village Voice) and the People Magazine’s Pick of the Week. The film has won several awards, including the Adrienne Shelly award for Directors, Audience Award for Best Feature at Creteil, Best World Feature at Sonoma, and Best Director and Best Feature Film at South Asia International Film Festival.

Through her films, Afia explores pressing social justice issues of our time, often difficult ones, like child marriage, forced marriage, fundamentalism in the context of patriarchal cultures and how it affects identity of the self and humanity. A notable LA Times film critic lauds Afia’s work as “a stunning, emotive work that takes to task oppressive patriarchy” another one commenting on her style as “haunting…like a fairytale”. 

Afia graduated from Columbia University with an MFA in Film Directing (Dean’s Fellow). She is an alumnus of Independent Filmmaker Project, Tribeca Film Institute, Film Independent and Berlin Talent Project Market.

Afia shares her love for telling stories with her students. She teaches directing and screenwriting at Temple University. She has also taught at Princeton University (Peter B. Lewis Fellow), Columbia University’s Graduate Film Division and NYU’s Tisch. She is a generous mentor to other filmmakers through IFP’s Narrative Labs.

Afia says “The MMEG grant came at a very critical stage in my graduate studies to support my work as a filmmaker who wanted to tell stories about brown women and girls.”

Joanna Glanville - Shein

Joanna Glanville - Shein South Africa 2020 Grantee  South African Program Master’s in Theatre and Performance from University of Cape Town Bachelor’s in Theatre and Film from University of Witwatersrand

Thesis: “Scenography as a methodology for creative facilitation”

Jo Glanville - Shein is an interdisciplinary artist, researcher and lecturer exploring applications of creativity, design and scenography to various problems. This includes collaboratively designing and building a park for children at the Johannesburg Autism School, designing an organic waste management system as part of a research initiative for the South African government, and starting a production company to facilitate womxn students participating in the theatre industry. She is currently a Visual Studies lecturer at Red & Yellow Creative School of Business in Cape Town. 

She received support from MMEG for a Master’s degree in Theatre and Performance at UCT in South Africa. Her area of research is scenography as methodology for devising and facilitation in theatre-making.

Her research explores the importance of recovering, exploring and healing from trauma through theatre, but acknowledges the potential re-traumatising of a person by using the body as the primary site of theatre-making. This is particularly pertinent for bodies inscribed with the traumas of sexual, emotional, psychological and physical abuse - all of which disproportionally affect womxn.  

Her final work, the things that were passed down, created during COVID, explored a legacy of abuse in her family using scenographic interventions to create a film that was described by the examiner as, "deeply embodied, sensitively wrought, restrained and accessed in a way that appears to be “safe”. 

Her Master’s research established and refined alternative practises for devising - ones that focused on a practise of care and acknowledging the traumatised self. This year, the ongoing project looks to find application in facilitation with the aim of constructing safe spaces in theatre practise, particularly for women, using the methodology developed. 

Andrea del Pilar Restrepo

Andrea del Pilar Restrepo Colombia 2018 Grantee  US-Canada Program Master’s in Arts Administration from Florida State University Bachelor’s, Master’s in Cello Performance from University of Southern Mississippi

Born in Ibagué, Colombia Andrea began her music studies in violoncello at the Tolima Conservatory of Music at the age of 10. After graduating from this conservatory, she began her undergraduate degree in 2010 and her master’s degree in 2015 at the University of Southern Mississippi. From 2011 to 2017 she was a member of many orchestras around Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama. In 2017, after moving to Florida to pursue a master’s degree in Arts Administration at Florida State University, she developed a strong interest in the creation and realization of music festivals that aimed to unite children from Colombia and musicians from around the world by utilising different genres of world music, and this is how the idea of Ocobo Music Festival and Ocobo Mundial were born. 

Currently, Ms. Restrepo holds the position of Operations Assistant, Personnel Manager and Head Librarian of the Empire State Youth Orchestra in Schenectady, NY. She is also the Co-Founder and Co-Director of Ocobo Music Festival in Ibagué.

Kefiloe Sello

Kefiloe Sello Lesotho 2012 Grantee  South African Program

Kefiloe is a PhD Candidate in Environmental Humanities South at the University of Cape Town. Her research focuses on water commodification and how the relationships of humans and non-human species change  as water becomes a commodity. This research addresses the devaluation of the relationship of people and water in the landscape they live in as water becomes commodified and contrasts that devaluation with the value attributed to water commodified by neoliberal economic policy. In addition to being a MMEG recipient, Kefiloe was a Wenner Gren Foundation recipient from 2016 to 2020. 

Kefiloe is passionate about women and children, especially a girl-child. Coming from a country where until recently, a woman was considered a minor, she wants to lay a foundation for women to be empowered through policy, education, and innovation. Thus, she co-founded a foundation that specifically deals with girl children in Lesotho, putting them through school and providing mentorship for them throughout their high school years. 

Kefiloe has also seen how climate change affects women more than men, and in an attempt to make better lives of women in her community, attended the United Nation University to equip herself with knowledge and better understanding of Sustainable Development Goals and the UN system. She also co-designed a course on Water and Society for the universities of Cape Town and Aarhus.

Nuning P. Hallettg

Nuning Purwaningrum Hallett Indonesia 2011 Grantee  US - Canada Program

Nuning Purwaningrum Hallett is the Vice President and Head of Retail Business at Funding Societies (Modalku)—the biggest peer-to-peer (P2P) financial technology company in Southeast Asia which works to provide underbanked workers in Indonesia with more financial access to improve their lives. 

Nuning’s higher level education and studies for a PhD in Gender Studies at SUNY Buffalo allowed her to build knowledge and empathy, the capability to see complex issues facing workers, and to find attainable solutions. Before joining Modalku, Nuning co-founded a start-up company (iCare - Sadaya) that manages employee benefits so as to allow workers to improve their lives in spite of the minimum wages they receive. The company builds partnerships with factories/company owners in order for workers to improve their skills, get better educations, and increase their financial capacities.  

Fifty-nine percent of the Indonesian population comprises elementary and middle school graduates. Only 11% of the populace consists of college graduates. Most workers in manufacturing are middle school graduates, 27 to 30 years old. At such age and with little education, most cannot pursue a higher career but must stay in assembly line work their entire lives. iCare – Sadaya connects these workers to independent education institutions which provide GED-like training and arranges to have them learn after working hours through Android applications. It also provides them with affordable instalment payments to purchase the necessary Android phones and applications. The workers eventually receive GED certificate/high school diploma equivalents and some of them continue studying in college on weekends with iCare-Sadaya providing student loans. Such educational opportunities open up future possibilities for these workers.

On the household side, women workers often finish working and come home to household chores like washing clothes by hand that takes them another 1 to 2 hours of labor. iCare - Sadaya provides the financial facilities for the women to purchase low-cost washing machines with no-interest monthly instalment payments. The company makes a profit from the margin between the principal price versus the market price. This allows the company to provide interest-free instalments.

Nuning served around 550,000 workers in these efforts before moving on to Modalku.

Beatriz Ramírez Huaroto

Beatriz Ramírez Huaroto Peru 2020 Grantee  Latin America Program

Beatriz Ramírez Huaroto  is  a lawyer and a  magistrate in  Constitutional Law  who is pursuing  a doctorate  in  Law from the Pontifical Catholic  University  of Peru. Her focus in those studies is on the implementation of laws related to gender equality and violence and rethinking the concepts of family law to ensure more equitable legal decisions for men and women.  

Beatriz  currently  works  as a University Defender at the Antonio Ruiz de Montoya  University in Lima and is in charge of monitoring the implementation of  regulations against sexual harassment, an  issue she has  worked  over the years, along  with others  linked to gender equality.  In particular in her professional life in the public and private sectors, she has worked on issues around gender violence; full access to sexual and reproductive health services;  the regulation of parental responsibility; and gender gaps within the justice system.  

Kely Alfaro Montoya

Kely Alfaro Montoya Peru 2017 Grantee  Latin America Program

Kely Alfaro Montoya  is an Economist Engineer, who specialized in economics, gender studies, and the  environment at the National University of Engineering (UNI).  She undertook her Master’s studies in both Agricultural and Environmental Economics at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and  Environmental Development from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP). She also has a Diploma in Extractive Industries, Surveillance and Sustainable Development (PUCP), as well as one in Finance (UNI) and Gender Studies.

Kely is  mother to her son, Amaru,  and a social activist working on projects related to ecofeminism and sustainable mobility.  

One of her efforts is to integrate the concepts and work themes related to gender, environment and interculturality. Thus, she has developed various efforts within activism and the development of research around it. Highlighting a study for ECLAC on water, gender and climate change (forthcoming), a study on how indigenous women in Peru could incorporate climate change policies and currently advises the Ministries of Women (MIMP) and the Environment (MINAM) in order to mainstream the gender approach in the NDCs.

Felicia Elinam Dzamesi

Felicia Elinam Dzamesi Ghana 2017 Grantee  South African Program PhD in Early Childhood Education from the University of Pretoria, South Africa

Felicia Elinam Dzamesi obtained her Ph.D. in Early Childhood Education from the University of Pretoria, South Africa in 2019. She is an Erasmus Mundus Scholar with an International Master in Early Childhood Development and Care from the University of Malta, Malta.  She also holds a B.Ed. in Primary Education from the University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana. Dr. Dzamesi is currently a lecturer teaching early childhood courses at the Department of Basic Education at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. She is also a course coordinator, mentoring Early Childhood Education Course Tutors for the new B.Ed. programme being run at the Colleges of Education in Ghana.

Dr. Dzamesi has expertise in Early Childhood Education, Early Childhood pedagogies, teacher professional development programme design, implementation, and evaluation. Her research interest centres on issues relating to early childhood education, teacher preparation, instructional pedagogies with a special interest in the pedagogical potential of African indigenous play for children’s learning and development. As part of her doctoral thesis, Dr. Dzamesi designed, implemented, and evaluated a teacher development programme based on indigenous play in Ghanaian kindergarten schools.

Sumila Gulyani

Sumila Gulyani India 1990 Grantee  US - Canada Program PhD in Economic Development and Urban Planning from MIT, in Cambridge, Massachusetts - US

Sumila Gulyani has used her Doctorate in Economic Development and Urban Planning and multiple degrees in City Planning and architecture to good use in a 20+ year career with the World Bank.  Her current position is as Program Leader for Sustainable Development in India.  In this role, she coordinates the Bank’s work in six practice areas—water; environment; agriculture; resilience and climate change; urban development; and social development; these, together, comprise an investment portfolio of about US$11 billion in 44 projects.  Sumila previously served as Manager for Water and Urban Development in Europe and Central Asia, overseeing a program of $ 4 billion in 21 countries.  From 2008-2011, she lived in Kenya and worked on infrastructure and urban projects in six African countries.  

From 2005-2007, Sumila was at Columbia University in New York as Assistant Professor and also served as the founding Director of the Infrastructure and Poverty Action Lab (I-PAL).  She is the author of the book Innovating with Infrastructure and of multiple articles on urban development, water, electricity, transport, and slums.  

Sumila holds a PhD in Economic Development and Urban Planning, a Master of City Planning, and a Master of Science in Architecture Studies from MIT, in Cambridge, Massachusetts as well as a Bachelor’s degree from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, India. She notes: “At the time that I received the MMEG grant, I was training to be an architect -- a profession that is usually about building iconic buildings, very private sector oriented, and in service of affluent clients. I pivoted from architecture to studying and working on economic development. From aspiring to build iconic structures to becoming passionate about slum upgrading (for instance)!”

Resila Onyango

Resila Onyango Kenya 2016 Grantee  US - Canada Program PhD in Criminal Justice from the Graduate Center/John Jay College of Criminal Justice - The City University of New York, US

Resila Onyango, PhD is a Criminal Intelligence Officer at the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), and a Senior Superintendent of Police in the Kenya Police Service, with 18 years of policing career.  She obtained her PhD, and MPhil. in Criminal Justice from the Graduate Center/John Jay College of Criminal Justice-The City University of New York, USA; Master of Science in Criminology from the University of Pennsylvania, USA; and Bachelor of Education (Arts)from Moi University, Kenya. 

An expert in Peace, Conflict and Security, she is a Military Observer trained at the Finnish Defence Forces International Centre in Finland; a Certified Instructor for both “Gender Awareness” trained by the UN Peace Operations Training Institute, USA, and the “Integrated Mission Planning Course” designed for the Military, Police and Civilian components under the Eastern Africa Standby Force within the African Union. She is a trained Sex Crimes Investigator by the International Law Enforcement Academy Gaborone, Botswana. As an adjunct faculty, she taught Criminal Justice at both John Jay College of Criminal Justice, USA and the United States International University-Africa, for two years.

Resila is a recipient of various international awards, including the;

• PEO International Peace Scholarship and the Margaret McNamara Education Grant: 2016

• The Graduate Center-CUNY Doctoral Fellowship: 2013-2018 

• Dr. James Fyfe Fellow: 2016 

• Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program: 2009-2010 

Her research focuses on comparative criminology and criminal justice, gender issues in policing, crimes against children, and terrorism, in African countries specifically in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Namibia, Tanzania, and South Africa. 

Violet Naanyu

Violet Naanyu Kenya 2007 Grantee  US - Canada Program PhD in Sociology from Indiana University, USA

Violet Naanyu is Associate Professor, School of Arts and Social Sciences, Moi University Eldoret, Kenya. She serves as Co-Field Director of Research, Indiana University-Kenya Program, Eldoret; Founder and Director, AMPATH Qualitative Research Core; Committee member, Africa Ethics Working Group; Co-Chair, Indigenous Populations Working Group, Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases; Member of the National Bioethics Committee, National Commission for Science Technology and Innovations, Kenya; Committee member, Bioethics Society of Kenya; and Committee member, Institutional Research and Ethics Committee, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital-Moi University College of Health Sciences, Eldoret. 

Her academic career began with undergraduate training in Anthropology. She now holds a Master’s in Medical Anthropology (University of Amsterdam, NL), a Master’s in Sociology (Indiana University, USA), and a PhD in Sociology (Indiana University, USA). She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Global Bioethics. She uses mixed methods to study bioethical issues, gender and health, disease stigma, maternal and child health, health, and care seeking behavior. Most of her research focuses on health-related projects in African nations especially investigations on individual and socio-cultural factors around illness, health, and healthcare. She has been involved in collaborative research work spanning Eastern Africa, Ethiopia, Mozambique, and South Africa. She has more than 70 academic publications and serves as Editorial Board Member for several international academic journals. Violet Naanyu is a Maasai who was born and raised in Kajiado County, Kenya. She is a proud wife and mother to six children.

Together with colleagues, she has received and helped in the implementation of diverse research grants awarded by the World Bank, Aga Khan Foundation, Government of Canada, Global Affairs Canada, Grand Challenges Africa, Fogarty Global Health Fellowship, Cancer Foundation, USAID - MEASURE Evaluation PRH Grant, NIH, NeuroGenE-Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, MRC, CDC, and VLIR-UOS scholarship. 

In 2007, while working on her PhD at Indiana University, USA, she received a Margaret McNamara Memorial Fund grant (MMF) - as the MMEG was known back then - in recognition of her commitment to improving the lives of women and children in the developing world. This support came at a time when she was juggling doctoral work, teaching assignments (in order to get tuition and upkeep money), and caregiving roles associated with her beloved children. Thus, she broke down in tears when she got the MMF grant because she was relieved of the teaching duties and could focus on completing her PhD in good time. She successfully graduated in May 2009 and promptly reported back to work at Moi University, Kenya.

Her publications and most cited published works can be found here: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=h7R4n18AAAAJ&hl=en

Her most recent published works are (2020-2021):

2021

1. Naanyu V, Wade TJ, Ngetich A et al. A qualitative exploration of supply and demand side barriers to health facility-based delivery in Bomachoge Borabu and Kaloleni, Kenya. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics. 2021; 153 (2): 273-279

2. Ontiri S, Mutea L, Naanyu V et al. A qualitative exploration of contraceptive use and discontinuation among women with an unmet need for modern contraception in Kenya. Reproductive Health 18, 33 (2021). Doi.org/10.1186/s12978-021-01094-y

3. Ngugi P, Babic A, Kariuki J, Santas X, Naanyu V, Were MC. Development of standard indicators to assess use of electronic health record systems implemented in low-and medium-income countries. PLoS ONE 2021; 16(1): e0244917. 

4. Goodrich S, Siika A, Mwangi A, Nyambura M, Naanyu V et al.  Development, assessment and outcomes of a community-based model of anti-retroviral care in western Kenya through a cluster-randomized control trial. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. DOI: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000002634 Printing article.

5. Dong R, Leung C, Naert MN, Naanyu V et al. Chronic disease stigma, skepticism of the health system, and socio-economic fragility: qualitative assessment of factors impacting receptiveness to group medical visits and microfinance for non-communicable disease care in rural Kenya. Plos One (2021) DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-47902/v1 Accepted.

6. Mwaliko E., Emily, Van Hal G, Bastiaens H, Dongen, S, Gichangi P, Otsyula B, Naanyu V, Temmerman, Marleen. Early detection of cervical cancer in western Kenya: Determinants of healthcare providers performing a gynaecological examination for abnormal vaginal discharge or bleeding. BMC Family Practice (2021) 22, 52. 

7. Vedanthan R, Kamano JH, Chrysanthopoulou SA, Mugo R, Andama A, Bloomfield GS, Chesoli CW, DeLong AK, Edelman D, Finkelstein EA, Horowitz CR, Manyara S, Menya D, Naanyu V, Orango V, Pastakia SD, Valente TW, Hogan JW, Fuster V. Group Medical Visits and Microfinance for Patients with Diabetes or Hypertension in Kenya: BIGPIC Trial. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2021; 77 16: 2007-2018.

2020 

1. Naanyu V, Mujumdar V, Ahearn C, McConnell M & Cohen J. Why do women deliver where they had not planned to go? A qualitative study from peri-urban Nairobi Kenya. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. 2020; 20:30. 

2. Naanyu V, Ruff J, Goodrich S, et al. Qualitative exploration of perceived benefits of care and barriers influencing HIV care in trans Nzoia, Kenya. BMC Health Serv Res. 2020; 20, 355.

3. Lusambili AM, Naanyu V, Wade TJ, et al. Deliver on your own: Disrespectful maternity care in rural Kenya. PLoS One. 2020; 15(1): e0214836.

4. Lusambili AM, Naanyu V, Manda G, et al. What do We Know about Nutritional Influences on the Health of Women and Children in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique? A qualitative study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020;17(17), 6205.

5. Rialem F, Gu JP, Naanyu V, et al. Knowledge and perceptions regarding palliative care among religious leaders in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya: Survey and focus group analysis. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2020; 24:1049909119899657.

6. Shangani S, Genberg B, HarrisonA, Pellowski J, Wachira J, Naanyu V & Don Operario. Cultural adaptation and validation of a measure of prejudice against men who have sex with men among healthcare providers in western Kenya, Global Public Health. 2020; DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2020.1860248

7. Park SM, Visbal-Onufrak MA, Munirul Haque MM, Were MC, Naanyu V et al.  mHealth spectroscopy of blood hemoglobin with spectral super-resolution. Optica 7, 563-573 (2020)

8. Leung CL, Naert M, Andama B, Dong R, Edelman D, Horowitz C, Kiptoo P, Manyara S, Matelong W, Matini E, Naanyu V et al. R. Human-centered design as a guide to intervention planning for non-communicable diseases: the BIGPIC study from Western Kenya. BMC Health Serv Res. 2020; 20, 415 

Vanessa Carrión-Yaguana

Vanessa Carrión-Yaguana Ecuador 2014 Grantee  US - Canada Program PhD in Economics from Virginia Tech - US

Vanessa Carrión-Yaguana is an agricultural economist who is deeply committed to reducing poverty and making a real difference to the lives of disadvantaged groups in the global south. She is also passionate  about advancing gender equality and promoting the rights of women and girls. Vanessa holds a M.Sc. in Agricultural and Applied Economics and a Ph.D. in Economics from Virginia Tech in the US. Upon her return to Ecuador, she started working for the Electoral Council of Ecuador. There, she contributed to the development and implementation of research projects on political inclusion of minorities (the elderly, indigenous nationalities, and LGBTI) to increase public awareness of the barriers and challenges faced by these communities. After serving as an Adviser to the Electoral Council for two years, Vanessa returned to academia. 

Vanessa currently serves as Assistant Professor of Economics at Universidad de Las Américas Ecuador. She  has consulted for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment and for several NGOs.   She works on development projects funded by several NGOs and her research focuses on policies to alleviate poverty in rural areas and the assessment of impacts of technologies, policies, and programs on rural residents. Her research interests also include political behavior. She has two projects currently in progress. The first seeks to identify the factors that explain different levels of blank and spoiled ballots across parishes in Ecuador. The second is an experiment to evaluate the role of candidates’ attractiveness on electoral outcomes in low-information environments. 

Publications:         

Peer-reviewed journal articles

• Carrión, V., K. Meneses, S. Cruz (2021) Gender preferences in child labor in Ecuador Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies

• Carrión, V., J. Alwang, V. Barrera (2020). Promoting behavioral change using text messages: A case study of blackberry farmers in Ecuador. Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics.

• Carrión, V., M. Vargas, A. Paredes (2016). Party system nationalization in Ecuador: Presidential elections 1952-2013. Democracias. 4 (4). 3 - 24.

• Carrión, V., J. Alwang, G. Norton, V. Barrera (2016). Does IPM Have Staying Power? Revisiting a Potato-producing Area Years After Formal Training Ended. Journal of Agricultural Economics.

Peer-reviewed journal articles (under review)

• Carrión, V., Carroll, R. Evaluating the Effects of Policy Stringency on COVID-19 Case Patterns Using Cluster Analysis (Under review).

• Carrión, V., G. Velastegui, M. Vargas. Congressional Elections in Ecuador: Is there a Gender Penalty? (Under review).

Book chapters

• Carrión, V., P. Gallegos, V. Barrera, G. Norton, J. Alwang (2016). IPM for potato producers in highland Ecuador. In Rangaswamy Muniappan (Ed.), IPM packages for tropical vegetables.

Khanyisile Kgoadi

Khanyisile Kgoadi South Africa 2016 Grantee  South Africa Program

Khanyisile is currently a visiting scholar at Emory University where she has secured a postdoctoral position in the Rengarajan lab conducting research on HIV-TB coinfection. Her PhD work which is currently under examination investigated the immune mechanisms associated with central nervous system tuberculosis (CNS-TB), a deadly form of tuberculosis that primarily occurs in children and immunocompromised adults. Publication from her PhD work is under preparation and her masters research on HIV and HAART metabolic complications was published. She has presented her PhD work at local and international conferences, as an invited speaker at some. Her goal is to find a cure for HIV and positively change the lives of people infected and affected by HIV/TB. South Africa has high rates of both HIV and TB with TB being the leading cause of death in her country in 2017. The prevalence of HIV and TB is high is Sub-Saharan Africa and she is working towards being the solution to African health problems that will also benefit the world. She is an emerging young female scientist equipped with strong leadership qualities, knowledge, and great work ethic. Her work and voice have already influenced senior scientists/experts, clinicians, and leaders in the global STEM field who she has engaged/worked with and through networking she has caught their attention as a future collaborator. She is a board member of the South African Immunology Society (SAIS) and has served as SAIS representative entrusted with voting on behalf of her country’s society at the 2019 International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS 2019 Beijing) Annual General meeting. She is involved in promoting the IUIS 2022 Cape Town together with her mentor (Prof Clive Gray), which prior to the pandemic had been planned be hosted in South Africa on African soil for the first time. During the pandemic in 2020, she helped co-organize and moderate COVID-19 webinar series that were hosted by SAIS and Immunopaedia and attended virtually by local and international audience. Her leadership skills, research and outreach has placed her in a position where she gets invited to work/network with leaders across fields in academia and the scientific community.

Education granted her the opportunity to not only acquire knowledge and skills but also share with learners, students, and the world. During her PhD studies she has inspired and served as a role model to the youth in her country. She won the 2015 South African Women in Science award; and was honored as part of the 2018 Mail and Guardian Top 200 Young South Africans, a phenomenal list that profiles and celebrates exceptional leaders under the age of 35 who are shaping the country’s future. She mentors, motivates, supports, and encourages fellow women to achieve greatness, this includes the four women she nominated for the Top 200 Young South Africans and who made the phenomenal list over the years (2017-2020). She has also won international awards that include the Society for Neuroscience Trainee Professional Development award which recognizes young neuroscientists that demonstrate scientific merit and excellence in research. The MMEG grant positively contributed to reducing the financial limitations associated with her PhD studies and supporting opportunities to achieve career development goals that included being able to attend her first international conference. MMEG grant motivated her to continue doing what she loves, which is learning and teaching because she believes Education is the key to success and unlocks a world of endless possibilities which positively change people’s lives. She said “It has been an absolute honor to be selected and supported by MMEG as one of the exceptional women who positively empower women and children through Education”. 

She has been involved in the training of next generation of scientists and medical doctors in her roles as university teaching assistant, tutor, practical demonstrator, facilitator, and faculty instructor to undergraduate and postgraduate students. She was invited to serve as a faculty instructor by a neuroscience emeritus professor (Prof Vivienne Russell) at the 2018 International Brain Research Organization-UCT (IBRO-UCT) Africa Advanced School of Neuroimmunology and Gut-brain Axis. She delivered a lecture on neuroimmunology and trained the diverse participants (Masters, PhD and Medical doctors) from across Africa on the flow cytometry technique through experiments she organized and led. Coming from a disadvantage background, she experienced first-hand the financial difficulties faced by university students and it led to her taking the lead in a fundraising phonathon initiated by the late UCT Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) Dean (Prof Bongani Mayosi) for medical students that were facing financial exclusion in 2017. In her capacity as the vice chairperson of the FHS Postgraduate Health Sciences Student’s council, she voluntary recruited students and worked with them in a team she led for the phonathon together with the UCT Development and Alumni Department. The team raised funds which exceeded the set target and it made her feel Proud and Happy for the achievement that helped fellow students. She cares for her community and the well-being of others and that is why she actively participates in outreach programs. She has mentored Grade 12 learners from IkamvaYouth, an organization that enables disadvantaged youth to pull themselves out of poverty and into tertiary education or employment. Her weekends during her PhD studies were spent tutoring Maths and Physical Science to grade 11 learners at a disadvantaged school in the Gugulethu township. She has given voluntary and invited motivational talks to learners, which include: (1) Top grade 11 & 12 performers in Maths and Physical Science from across the Western Cape Province who come from disadvantaged backgrounds and (2) mGenAfrica life sciences competition #mGenQuiz2019. The mGenAfrica platform is an initiative of UCT in partnership with the Western Cape Education Department that introduces learners to careers in STEM by promoting interaction between high school learners and research staff working in genomics and other health research fields across Africa. She also served as a voluntary judge for the 2019 Eskom Cape Town Expo for Young scientists (school learners). She fights for Education for All. She is Grateful for the Amazing support and opportunities she has been granted by her friends, family, mentors, organizations, funders and everyone who played a role in shaping her career growth with all Glory to the Almighty God.

Larisa Kasumagić-Kafedžić

Larisa Kasumagić-Kafedžić Bosnia and Herzegovina 2004 Grantee  US - Canada Program PhD in English Language Pedagogy and Intercultural Education from University of Sarajevo

Dr. Larisa Kasumagić-Kafedžić  is Associate Professor at the University of Sarajevo (Teacher Education Program of the Department of English Language and Literature) and has been actively involved in peaceful upbringing; community youth development programs based on psycho-social support for war-traumatized children; the philosophy of peace and nonviolence; and intercultural pedagogy in teacher education, for the past 25 years.

During the war in Bosnia (1992-95), as a young teenager and high school graduate, Larisa began her first professional development activities by working as a translator for the Child Mental Health Program of -the International Medical Corps, which helped provide psycho-social support to war-traumatized children. The methods used were mostly focused on arts therapy and the use of creative expression in processing difficult traumatic memories and experiences. In 1995 she joined several other colleagues to co-found a local organization—SEZAM--that provided psycho-social support for war-traumatized children and their families who had been forcibly displaced from different parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The programs in this NGO built on the early work in war trauma and developed different activities and initiatives for peace education and nonviolent communication modules for teachers and schools.  

In 2003 Larisa was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship by the US State Department, within the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Program, to spend a year at Cornell University where she took courses along with practice-oriented activities within the field of peace education, youth development, and community work. From 2003-2005 she did her master’s studies at Cornell University in International Development, and with the concentration in Education; her master’s thesis focused on Engaging Youth in Community Development: Post- war Healing and Recovery in Post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina (Cornell University, 2005). 

In 2014, she completed her Ph.D. in English Language Pedagogy and Intercultural Education from Sarajevo University. Her doctoral research (2010-2014) focused on Intercultural Communicative Competences of English Language Teachers and Students in Primary and Secondary Schools in Sarajevo Canton (University of Sarajevo, 2014).

In 2006-07 Larisa was a coordinator of the World Congress of Comparative Education Societies “Living together: Education and Intercultural Dialogue,” which was held in Sarajevo, BiH, and gathered close to 800 educators from around the globe. In 2016, she was invited as a guest professor to Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan, where she taught courses on Intercultural Learning, Peace Education and Action Research in Education, for one full semester.

Since January 2019, Larisa has been involved in an international research project on Higher Education Pedagogies for Peacebuilding under the Arts and Humanities Research Council of the UK as a coordinator for the Bosnian branch of the project and as one of the co-investigators along with the professors from Rwanda, Columbia and UK. She is a member of the Society of the Study of English language in BiH, and the Secretary of the Society for the Advancement of the Applied Linguistics in BiH. She is the founder and the president of the Peace Education Hub that was established in February 2020 at the University of Sarajevo (https://peacehub.ba/).

Saima Hirani

Saima Hirani Pakistan 2015 Grantee  US - Canada Program 2017 PhD in Nursing at the University of Alberta

Dr. Hirani, of the Aga Khan University School of Nursing and Midwifery, Pakistan, won the University of Alberta’s Genevieve Gray PhD Medal in Nursing, which recognizes excellence in research and academics. She was also a Talaat Moreau Grantee. Her thesis was “Social Support Intervention to Improve Resilience and Quality of Life Among Women Living in Poor Urban Karachi”. 

Saima has been an Assistant Professor at the School of Nursing of the University of British Columbia since July 2020, where she started as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in July 2019.

Her work has focused on mental health and mental health promotion of socio-economically disadvantaged women and families in Pakistan.  Saima’s commitment to women in children has been evident through her work with women in mental health facilities, in prison and survivors of rape and domestic violence. Her research aims to increase the understanding of how facilitated social support influences women’s resilience and mental health, in order to provide low cost yet relevant interventions. 

A quote from Saima: “I didn’t have money to execute the research on the ground. I wanted to do something for women’s mental health, and in my search, I found Margaret McNamara Education Grants. I got this motivation, this encouragement, as I always see MM as a ray of hope in my life, because it has given me those wings to fly.”

Her most cited published works are: 

The intersection of gender and resilience. - PsycNET (apa.org)

Applying community-based participatory research methods to improve maternal and child health in Karachi, Pakistan - ScienceDirect

Confirming the Factor Structure of an Intuition Instrument for Nursing Students (snrs.org)

Her most recent published works are:

A portrait of the early and differential mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada: Findings from the first wave of a nationally representative cross-sectional survey - ScienceDirect

Examining the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on family mental health in Canada: findings from a national cross-sectional study | BMJ Open

Associations between periods of COVID-19 quarantine and mental health in Canada - ScienceDirect

For a more complete list of publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=mdMmYfAAAAAJ&hl=en

Vida Yakong

In 2009, MMEG supported Vida Yakong, a nurse practitioner from the Nabdam  district in northern Ghana, with a $12,000 educational grant to help her complete a  PhD in medical anthropology at the University of British Columbia.  

Today, Vida is an educator, researcher, and leader. She is significantly improving the  lives of women and children in her community and having a lasting impact.  

Vida is the Foundation Dean and a Senior Lecturer at the school of Nursing and  Midwifery (student population 4,140), at the University of Development Studies in  Tamale, Ghana. At UDS, Vida leads a research program on women’s and child health, which has produced some 25 published papers over the last 10 years.  

Vida contributes to local and government-level health programs. As a member of the national Covid-19  technical team, she has advised the government on its Covid-19 response and management. 

Vida founded Project “GROW” - Ghana Rural Opportunities for Women www.projectgrow.ca, a community  development project, while at the University of British Columbia. GROW builds on the findings of Vida’s  graduate research, i.e., poverty is the main barrier that prevents women in the Nabdam district from accessing  health clinics. GROW works to foster women’s/girls’ economic growth and build health care and educational  capacity. Some of GROW’s achievements over 11 years: 

• projects based on Women’s needs that increase their self-sufficiency: 

GROW has provided 1,230 goats, 100 donkeys, 100 donkey carts to women from 52 communities in the  district. It has also supplied ploughs, a grinding mill and water barrels. 

• fostering training and education of women and girls: 

Some 200 women/girls have been trained in dressmaking and shea butter soap production, with 35 trainees  supported with seed money to start their own production. GROW has supported a community school with 100  sets of tables and chairs, books, school uniforms and a 6-year free school meal program. 447 bicycles have  been provided to the community making it easier for kids who travel long distances to attend school. Local  leaders have been persuaded to allow pregnant girls to continue studying thus improving school enrolment for  girls. 

• building health care capacity and community resilience 

GROW has set up and equipped a community medical clinic. It has built accommodations for nurses, enabling  them to be on-hand to provide 24-hour health services to the community. Other actions include the provision of  5,520 mosquito nets to the community, the drilling of a borehole to supply potable water to the clinic, and the  donation of an ambulance.  

Vida’s accomplishments brilliantly showcase the multiplier effect of a MMEG grant. Know that your  donations are well-spent - and greatly appreciated! 

Zorina Noordien

Zorina Noordien South Africa 2016 Grantee  South Africa Program 2017 Master's degree in Clinical Psychology at the University of Cape Town

Her thesis was “Exploring Muslim women’s lived experiences of psychological abuse in intimate relationships.”

Zorina currently lectures at the University of the Western Cape and is a member of the Clinical Psychology Master’s program, where she is involved with supervising and teaching student Clinical Psychologists and preparing them for the internship program.

She has worked as a Clinical Psychologist in a Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Division of the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, which is South Africa's only dedicated child health institution, tending to children referred from all of South Africa and from all over Africa. There, she has worked with a diverse population of children, adolescents, and adults from contexts of systemic inequalities, which has fostered a better understanding of the lived experiences and challenges they may encounter. She has managed and facilitated individual and group supportive structures with children and adolescents experiencing medical, neurodevelopmental, psychological, educational, and systemic challenges, working collaboratively with relevant stakeholders, prioritizing the best interest of the child.

Zorina has been volunteering with the Health Workers Care Network since June 2020, offering weekly crisis counselling and support to front line health care workers. This is a nationwide network which offers all healthcare workers across the public and private sectors free support, pro bono therapy, resources, training, and psychoeducation.

She is a co-author of a paper on the subjective wellbeing of children in the Western Cape area. 

A quote from Zorina: “What this grant has done for me is given me the knowledge and the skill set to be able to create a difference be it at an individual level or at larger levels when I do group work, when I engage in research with women who are in shelters, that is Margaret McNamara. This was my purpose.”

Hannah Simba

Hannah Simba Zimbabwe 2020 Grantee  South Africa Program PhD Candidate Public Health from University of Stellenbosch

Hannah brings a strong multidisciplinary background in biology and environmental studies to her current and planned research into the etiology of cancers that have a severe impact on women and children in Africa. Simba realized early the crucial role of mentoring and guidance for African girls, if they are to realize their potential. For eight years she has been an energetic leader and participant in empowerment activities for high school girls through STEM tutoring in schools, and organizing girls’ camps and workshops focused on programming and reproductive health. She has managed to reach hundreds of girls, and has trained around 20 university students as mentors, working as Chapter Leader in WAAW (Working to Advance STEM education for African Girls), as well as through an organization she co-founded.

Hannah writes, “My passion goes beyond just being a research scientist as I also feel I have an obligation to give back to the community. One of the main problems pertaining health in Sub Saharan Africa is the lack of diagnostic laboratories in rural communities. This has major implications because diagnosis is essential in the prevention and treatment of diseases and hence people die from causes that could and should have been prevented. I aim therefore to start at least one diagnostic laboratory in a remote rural area in the course of my career. This is something that is really close to my heart.”

Publications: Simba, Hannah, et.al., Systematic Review of Genetic Factors in the Etiology of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma in African Populations, August 2019, Frontiers in Genetics 10, DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2019.00642

Tagged: Stellenbosch, Zimbabwe, Cancer, Epidemiology