CPGC Poster Fair and Ignite Presentations

On October 21, 2024, members of the Haverford community gathered for the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship’s annual Fellowship Poster Fair and Ignite Presentations. Nearly 60 students, all winners of a CPGC Summer 2024 Fellowship, created informational and educational posters describing their summer experiences working with various organizations in pursuit of equity, sustainability, and other justice-serving initiatives. From Indonesia and Trinidad to Honolulu and right here in Philadelphia, the student Fellows spent this past summer completing internships in fields as widely varied as political organizing, preschool education, and agricultural development. This October evening allowed them to share their experiences with other Haverford students and faculty, spreading the knowledge they each gained and filling Lutnick Library with a sense of community, collaboration, and service.

Beyond creating posters to interact one-on-one with those in attendance, six of these Fellows, nominated by their peers, also gave Ignite Presentations in which they shared the more comprehensive details and personal impact of their internships. These brief, powerful talks illuminated the transformative nature of CPGC Fellowships and showcased the broad range of meaningful work that Haverford students are empowered to engage in. The six selected Ignite Talks included: 

Anjali Agarwal ’27 - Decarceral Justice Work in Philadelphia

Deeply committed to reforming and humanizing America’s incarceration system, this summer Anjali Agarwal interned with the Philadelphia-based Human Rights Coalition, an organization dedicated to fighting for prisoners’ rights and lives. Her work with HRC involved advocating for and assisting with four main initiatives: their Toxic Prisons Campaign, which advocates for environmental justice in Pennsylvania prisons; their Solidarity Not Solitary campaign, which aims to end solitary confinement for periods of longer than 15 days in PA; their initiative to re-enfranchise formerly and currently incarcerated voters; and the Movement Magazine, an HRC publication for which Agarwal selected, sorted, and transcribed content. As Agarwal continues her involvement with the Human Rights Coalition through the CPGC’s Philadelphia Justice & Equity Fellowship (PJEF) program this year, she will focus more specifically on the Toxic Prisons campaign and on grant outreach, getting to hone her work, expand her responsibilities, and advance the quest for decarceration.

Olivia Aguirre ’25 - Friends Peace Teams, Asia West Pacific

Olivia Aguirre completed her Fellowship this summer through the global organization Friends Peace Teams, where she worked specifically with Peace Place Pati in Pati, Central Java, Indonesia. Friends Peace Teams aims to support long-term justice and healing, with one of their main goals being to “deconstruct historical legacies of racism, exploitation and oppression to preserve peace.” Aguirre attended and supported a series of Alternatives to Violence Project workshops, which involved over 40 participants from 11 countries, and she also helped facilitate Power of Goodness workshops in different communities, leading discussions on the importance of nonviolent responses to challenging situations. The other aspect of her work took place at a local preschool for children of all developmental levels; Aguirre showed that her time there, in a place where differences weren’t barriers, made her realize she wants to work further in special education. Connection and inclusion, she shared, “starts with a handshake.”

Aguirre and guest Nadine Hoover, the Friends Peace Teams Peace Ministries Clerk, will be facilitating a Power of Goodness workshop & Indonesia internship info session on Thursday, December 5 from 6-7:30 in Lutnick 200.

Rebecca Hametz-Berner ’25 -  Sustainable Agriculture and Food Justice

An environmental studies major with minors in geology and classical studies, Rebecca Hametz-Berner spent her summer in southern Trinidad, where she worked with the organization We Help You-th Farm, or WHYFarm. WHYFarm’s main mission is to engage youth in agricultural education in order to promote a sustainable agricultural future. One of Hametz-Berner’s biggest projects during her time there was her work at the AgriKoolture Kidz Kamp, where she facilitated both traditional summer camp activities as well as education about pro-environmental behaviors and the importance of stewarding nature. She also helped out at the Agri Expo 2024 in Trinidad’s capital, where she and WHYFarm were able to share their work with the 60,000 people in attendance. Beyond her engagement with WHYFarm’s key aspects of agricultural processing, agricultural business, agricultural innovation, and agri-edu-tainment (a cross between agriculture, education, and entertainment), Hametz-Berner shared that this summer also inspired her to ask the following: “What are the stories the trees and their people have to tell?”

Kaiya Inouye ’27 - Promoting Peace Through Discussion in the Indo-Pacific Region

Kaiya Inouye returned to her home in Hawai'i this summer to intern at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (DKI APCSS) in Honolulu. As one of the Department of Defense’s five educational institutes, Inouye explained that the Center provides a place where “military, government, and civilian leaders can gather to exchange ideas, explore pressing issues and achieve a greater understanding” of issues in the Indo-Pacific region. The DKI APCSS program has more than 15,500 alumni from 140 countries—a number that Inouye is now counted within. Her role at the Center largely consisted of attending and participating in lectures, mock scenarios, and seminar groups, through which she was able to lead discussions on security issues as well as connect closely with other participants. Beyond learning more about issues like climate security, disaster preparedness, and gender security, Inouye shared that the two most important lessons imparted to her were those of cultural humiliation and open-mindedness, explaining that only by listening to each and every participant and absorbing the wisdom they had to share could “APCSS' goal of truly promoting peace through collaboration” be achieved.

Lauren Johnson ’26 - Political Action in Pennsylvania

Lauren Johnson completed her Fellowship this summer with the Pennsylvania-based organization MarchOnHarrisburg (MoH). Largely reliant on lobbying, marching, and nonviolent civil disobedience, MoH is dedicated to promoting democracy and working against political corruption in Pennsylvania politics. Most of Johnson’s work was centered around MoH’s efforts to pass House Bill 2433 through the Pennsylvania State House in a movement to ban corporations with substantial foreign ownership from spending in PA elections. Johnson explained that she engaged in policy matters, lobbying, and organizing, meeting with more than half of the State Senate and completing a 36 mile march from Lancaster to Harrisburg to raise awareness for the bill. She will continue her involvement in MoH this year through the PJEF program, continuing to explore activism and potential career opportunities through work that she described as “one of the coolest and most revelatory things that I’ve ever done.”

Marc Meunch-Nasrallah ’24 - Harm Reduction in Kensington, Pennsylvania

After volunteering there for a month in his spring semester, Marc Meunch-Nasrallah spent his summer working at Prevention Point in Kensington, PA, an organization that advocates for harm reduction strategies to empower and protect communities affected by drug use and poverty. Meunch-Nasrallah worked as a Syringe Services Navigator, distributing supplies like sterile syringes and Narcan, helping people enroll in medical insurance, and connecting participants to further services and organizations beyond just the syringe exchange. Besides the impact of his experience engaging with people directly, Meunch-Nasrallah also shared that the overall mission and values of Prevention Point itself changed his worldview entirely, explaining his realization that the mutual agency established in harm reduction work is the only way to build trust and form lasting relationships with people, which in turn will mitigate dangerous and unhealthy behaviors. Emphasizing the community of care and understanding built by Prevention Point through its non-judgemental approach, he shared the lesson this summer taught him: “People know themselves best.”

Eric Hartman, the Executive Director of the CPGC, provided the closing remarks of the evening, commenting upon the diverse range of Fellowship opportunities and the multitude of ways the CPGC works to support both its Fellows as well as students looking to affect meaningful change through other paths. Visit here to learn more about the CPGC’s summer Fellowships and its Philadelphia Justice & Equity Fellowship (PJEF) program, and make an appointment with an advisor to discuss application and involvement opportunities.