You're invited...

A Baraza for Kenya

Presented by The New School's Graduate Program for International Affairs

Please join us for a night dedicated to sharing knowledge & raising awareness.

Friday, November 13, 2009
7:00pm ~ 9:00 pm

The New School, Theresa Lang Community and Student Center,
55 West 13th Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY

Program will include:

Special Guest Speaker Dr. Carolyn Kissane of New York University's Center for Global Affairs

Presentations by GPIA alumni, directors of the East African Center

Photography of Takaungu by Brenna Britton

Cocktails and Light Food

The New School's Graduate Program for International Affairs (GPIA) is hosting this presentation where speakers will discuss how contemporary development trends such as public-private partnerships, transparency, sustainability, and capacity building look on the ground, and give insight into how one small organization is achieving big results in Eastern Kenya. Students of International Affairs, Development, International Health, and Public Policy will gain insight into their fields of study while others will learn about these important issues.

Dr. Carolyn Kissane has worked as a researcher and consultant in Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia, Argentina, Japan, and Sweden for educational and nongovernmental organizations including World Teach, The Academy for Educational Development, Soros Foundation, United States Institute of Peace, US Department of Education, and the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX). She also works with CIMERA, an NGO she helped set up that works in the Balkans, Caucasus, and Central Asia. She has taught undergraduate and graduate level courses in the areas of international affairs, nongovernmental organizations and international development, and education and international development at Teachers College Columbia University, CUNY Queens College, Colgate University, and New York University. She currently holds a fellowship from the Carnegie Council for Ethics and International Affairs for her work on post-Soviet history education in Kazakhstan. She also received a Fulbright Hayes Doctoral Dissertation Research Award, Teachers College Columbia University Dean's Grant, IREX Caspian Sea Fellowship, IREX travel grant, and a National Security Graduate Enhancement Fellowship.

Dr. Kissane's publications include an article on history education in Comparative Education, Freedom House Countries at the Crossroads report on Kazakhstan, Evaluating Human Rights Education, a forthcoming chapter on History Education for Reconciliation and Understanding, and new research on the impact of oil revenues on educational policy and financing in resource-rich countries. She received her Ph.D. in Comparative Education and Policy Studies from Columbia University.

Kate Crowley - EAC Kenya Program Director (MAIA, The New School, 2006)

Kate received her Master's degree in International Affairs in 2006 from the New School University's Graduate Program in International Affairs (GPIA). While attending the New School, she worked in India, researching micro-finance and micro-enterprise programs for rural women. Kate also completed a project for the New York Alliance Against Sexual Assault, assessing the needs and available services for undocumented immigrant women who had been sexually abused or assaulted. Kate has worked for the Save Darfur campaign, raising awareness about the genocide in Sudan, and helped organize a 75,000-person rally in Washington, DC for the organization. Kate first became involved with the EAC through the New School University, completing her final practicum project with the EAC's sewing group. After working with the EAC for more than a year in the U.S., she moved to Takaungu, Kenya to work as a consultant to the Takaungu Sewing Self-Help Group and an assistant to the Program Manager. In July of 2008, she became the EAC's Program Director in Kenya.

Jen Hill - EAC US Program Director (MAIA, The New School, 2009)

Jen received her Master's degree in International Affairs from the New School University and her Bachelor's degree in Cultural Anthropology from Ohio University. At the New School, she worked on various projects including an analysis of the UN's new One UN program in Tanzania and Vietnam from a gender perspective. Jen also worked as an Outreach and Communications intern for African Refuge, a non-profit organization addressing the needs of the Liberian refugee community in New York.

She began as a Development and Communications Intern at the EAC in Takaungu where she also taught children at the after-school program. Since then, she has taken an integral role in developing our sponsorship program and administering our new website. As the Board President, Jen will focus on strengthening the relationship between donors and the organization as well as fundraising on the East Coast. Her professional interests include governing international emergencies and security in post-conflict settings and she is pursuing a career assisting with humanitarian emergencies in East Africa. She has experienced the positive impacts of the EAC's programs in Takaungu and is honored to support the organization.

Photographer Brenna Britton visited Vutakaka school and clinic in Takaungu in 2006. Brenna's work will be displayed at the Baraza and she will be in attendance. Britton is the Deputy Photo Editor of Entertainment for People magazine where she oversees production and art direction of celebrity photo shoots. She served as Director of Photography at WIRED magazine for 5 years and has earned numerous National Magazine Awards, Society of Publication Designers Awards, and Photo District News (PDN) awards. Brenna got her start in the magazine industry after she left ABC's television photography department to become the Assistant Photo Editor at a "start up" publication called ESPN The Magazine. Brenna pursues her own documentary photography of the human condition with work in Mexico, Uganda, Kenya, and India.