About the PON Summer Fellowship Program:
PON offers fellowship grants to students at Harvard University, MIT, Tufts University and other Boston-area schools who are doing internships or undertaking summer research projects in negotiation and dispute resolution in partnership with public, non-profit or academic organizations. The Summer Fellowship Program’s emphasis is on advancing the links between scholarship and practice in negotiation and dispute resolution by supporting students interested in exploring career paths, either professional or academic, in this field. Through this program, PON hopes to prepare students to assume leadership positions in the field of negotiation and dispute resolution, to forge new links between our academic community and worldwide organizations involved in the practice of negotiation and dispute resolution, and to encourage students to reach for opportunities that would otherwise not be available to them due to financial constraints.
This years fellows:
Jasmine Barrett
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
Internship: Christian Friends of Korea
Location: North Carolina, USA
Jasmine Barrett is a student at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy where she is studying conflict resolution and humanitarian studies focusing on the Korean peninsula. She is a graduate of the Australian National University where she completed a BA with Honors in Korean Studies. Prior to coming to Fletcher she was a Korean Foundation fellow in South Korea. Her research interests include partnership building between North Korea and overseas humanitarian agencies, and conflict resolution within inter-Korean relations. This summer Jasmine will work with Christian Friends of Korea (CFK) implementing humanitarian projects in North Korea, including projects to provide medical care to tuberculosis patients in CFK sponsored clinics, as part of a joint initiative to eradicate TB in North Korea.
Arielle Berney
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
Internship: UNDP
Location: Colombo, Sri Lanka
Arielle Berney is a master’s candidate at the Fletcher School where she is studying Conflict Resolution and Human Security. She is a graduate of Brown University, where she majored in international relations. Arielle has taught English to university students in Malaysia, worked with vocational centers and orphanages in Vietnam and reported for a daily newspaper in Cambodia. This summer, Arielle will be part of the UNDP’s Transition Recovery Program in Colombo where she will be conducting research, analyzing field results and assessing the program’s impact on socio-economic recovery and social cohesion in post-conflict zones.
Cassidy Evans
UMass-Boston, McCormack Graduate School in Policy Studies
Internship: UMass-Boston/ Settlement House in Abuja, Nigeria
Location: Boston, MA
Cassidy has a B.A. magna cum laude in International Studies from the University of South Carolina. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Dispute Resolution at UMass-Boston with a particular focus on international conflict. This summer she will be working on a joint initiative with UMass-Boston and the Settlement House in Abuja, a leading Alternative Dispute Resolution NGO in Nigeria, to facilitate an exchange program for Nigerian legal professionals to build their capacity for plea bargaining, mediation, and other ADR approaches to conflict resolution within their judicial system. Additionally, she will be researching the role of rule of law and its impact on the conflict within the country.
Ariel Heifetz
The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy
Internship: Cooperation Ireland
Location: Belfast, UK
Ariel Heifetz is a Master’s candidate at The Fletcher School, studying International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, and a volunteer mediator in Massachusetts District Courts. Her research examines the transferability of effective facilitation strategies from Northern Ireland to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Before Fletcher, Ariel served as Director of Public Diplomacy at the Consulate General of Israel to New England, where she handled community and interfaith relations for 5 states. Prior to that, she researched suicide bombing at a security think tank in Israel and worked at the Program on Negotiation, examining Belgium’s structural capacity to manage ethnic conflict. Ariel holds a B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science from Columbia University and a black belt in Hap Ki Do. This summer, in addition to field research, she will intern with NGO mediators conducting reconciliation sessions for Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, including former combatants and mid-level community leadership.
Jessica Heinzelman
The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy
Internship: Ushahidi, Inc.
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Jessica is a Master’s candidate at the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy where studies international conflict resolution and negotiation. Her current research focuses on the potential impact and political dynamics of Internet and communication technology-enabled grassroots conflict management tactics. Jessica is a graduate of Smith College and before starting at Fletcher worked as a political strategist and community organizer for issue campaigns and served as a Kiva Fellow in Benin City, Nigeria. As a PON Summer Fellow Jessica will be working with Ushahidi, Inc. in Nairobi, Kenya. She will be researching best practices for conflict sensitive deployment for Ushahidi’s crisis mapping platform and supporting innovative mobile reporting projects including one in Burundi designed to monitor the 2010 elections, identify early warning signs of conflict and empower local response.
Patrick Karurewa
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
Internship: Institute for Peace and Security Studies
Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Patrick Karurewa is a graduate student at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy where he is a candidate for a Joint degree in International Law (LLM) and International Affairs (MALD). A Rwandan citizen (Born in Kinshasa-DRC), Patrick holds a bachelor of laws degree from the National University of Rwanda. Before joining graduate school, he worked for more than 10 years in the fields of Defense and Security in Rwanda.
As PON summer fellow Patrick will serve as an intern at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He will be working on a new project that will involve close collaboration with the University of Peace (UPEACE) Africa program and the African Union Commission’s headquarters in the fields of higher education and on the job training aimed at strengthening the capacity of African institutions in various issues related to peace and conflict resolution.
Orlee Rabin
Heller School, Brandeis University
Internship: CORALINA, The Corporation for the Sustainable Development of the Archipelago of San Andres, Old Providence, and Santa Catalina
Location: San Andres, Colombia
Orlee is a dual MA Candidate in Sustainable International Development/Coexistence and Conflict at Brandeis University, where she is concentrating her studies on climate change and coexistence issues. Before attending her graduate program, Orlee interned for Search for Common Ground and the Abraham Fund Initiatives in Jerusalem, working on peace education curriculum and media strategies to promote conflict resolution. During the summer Orlee will work for CORALINA’s Seaflower Marine Protected Area (MPA), conducting a conflict assessment of the MPA’s activities and training staff in conflict resolution and negotiation skills as they pertain to resource and ethnic conflicts on the island.
Additional information about our fellowships can be found here.
