Leadership Scholars Program





INTRODUCING THE IWL LEADERSHIP SCHOLARS 2011-2012
*Asterisk denotes continuing Leadership Scholars

*Juaveria Ali, School of Arts and Sciences ’12, is a psychology and public health double major. She has taught at the Islamic School in Teaneck, N.J. and is an assistant at the Douglass Library. Juaveria is interested in learning about other religions and hopes to create an interfaith dialogue to dispel misconceptions. She was recently elected head of the interfaith committee for the Muslim Student Association. She interned with Omni Eye Services, where she worked with an optometrist in diagnosing and treating eye diseases. Her social action project will address the lack of information about health careers in underrepresented high schools.

Amani Al-Khatahbeh, School of Arts and Sciences ’14, is a political science and Middle Eastern studies double major. She is passionate about exploring the underlying political constructs in the Israeli/ Palestinian conflict. She has interned with Altruist Solutions and the New Jersey Brain Injury Association as web designer. Amani is a member of the New Jersey Muslim Political Action Committee and MuslimGirl Rutgers Student Organization

Akanksha Arya, School of Arts and Sciences ’13, is a cell biology and neuroscience major in the Honors Program. She is conducting independent research on molecular biology, and volunteer teaching Hindi to elementary students through HindiUSA. She is a marketing editor for the Rutgers Bioethics Society journal. After college, she hopes to become a doctor or researcher in health sciences. Akanksha traveled to Bangalore, India, volunteering with the NGO Youth of Seva, where she learned about the positive benefits of healthcare polices for children.

Eva Billik, School of Arts and Sciences ’13, is a social work major. She is committed to social justice and voluntarism and has participated in relief recovery efforts with RU Alternative Breaks in New Orleans, LA. She also volunteers with Elijah’s Promise, a New Brunswick organization that works to combat poverty and hunger. She was first introduced to the Institute for Women’s Leadership as a participant in CLASP, where she interned with AMARD (Arts Mentoring against Drugs, Racism, and Violence) Summer Camp.

*Prachi Baodhankar, School of Arts and Sciences ’12, is a cell biology and neuroscience major. She was the Residence Hall Association Representative for McCormick, the honors residence hall on Busch campus, where she raised money for Haitian earthquake victims. She volunteers annually at Savali, a school for children with mental disabilities or cerebral palsy in Pune, India. With the Rutgers chapter of the Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children, Prachi also travelled to Costa Rica where she worked at a pediatric clinic. She is a member of the ballroom dance team. Prachi interned with the New Jersey Women and AIDS Network in New Brunswick. In her social action project she will explore the causes and solutions to domestic violence in South East Asian communities in the U.S.

*Misha Bernier, School of Arts and Sciences ’12, is a political science major and a Spanish minor. In summer 2010 she interned with Arts Mentoring Against Drugs, Racism, and Violence Summer Camp (AMARD). She is interested in reforming education so all children, regardless of gender, race, or class, have access to quality education. She has also interned at the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Division on Women in Trenton and Rolling Stones Magazine. She is taking her passion for politics and education into her social action project, where she hopes to challenge the school-to-prison pipeline.

*Leila Brollosy, School of Arts and Sciences ’12, is a political science and Middle Eastern studies major. She recently travelled to Doha, Qatar to attend a conference promoting education in Palestine. She is an Aresty Research Assistant analyzing contradictory U.S. foreign policies towards political Islam. She is a recipient of the Frank Gerhart Humanitarian Award for her volunteer work in the promotion of ethnic, religious, and gender diversity. She interned with the Center for Women’s and Global Leadership (CWGL) at Rutgers, compiling research on projects relating to macroeconomic policy and women’s issues. Leila’s social action project will focus on bullying and discrimination against Arab Muslim Youth.

Shoshannah Buxbaum, School of Arts and Sciences ’13, is a psychology major minoring in sociology, and is in the Honors Program. She is a research assistant in the Social and Organizational Psychology lab. After spending nine months in Israel, she returned with a wider perspective on the Jewish and Arab conflict. She hopes to contribute to a positive dialogue toward solutions for peace between the two groups. She plans to earn a Ph.D. in clinical psychology.

*Dodam (Laura) Chun, School of Arts and Sciences ’13, is an art history major. She has lived in Mongolia, South Korea, China, and now resides in the U.S. She is currently a museum guard at the Zimmerli Art Museum and hopes to become a museum curator. This past summer she traveled to Rome for five weeks with the Rutgers Art History Department. She continued her work with the Zimmerli Art Museum as an intern, and for her social action project intends to work with the scholarship fund for the Zimmerli Museum Children’s Art Programs.

Melissa Gabilanes, Douglas Residential College ’13, is double majoring in history and theater in the Honors Program. An active member of two theater companies, she stays busy attending plays in the New Jersey and New York area. She has interned with Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, checking references and copyediting manuscripts.

*Amanda Gallear, School of Arts and Sciences ’12, is a Spanish literature and culture major. Last summer she interned with Lazos America Unida, a grassroots organization based in New Brunswick. She is currently a volunteer with the student run non-profit Intersect Fund, where she continues to reach out to the local Hispanic community as a translator and teacher of a business class for low-income entrepreneurs. She continued her advocacy for immigrant populations as an intern with New Labor, working on strategies and reform measures to improve work conditions for immigrant workers. She will be taking her experience with community initiatives to organizing social change through student initiatives in the New Brunswick area.


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