2024 DHRC Student-Initiated Summer Internship Fellowship

Awarded to U-M LSA undergraduate students with a demonstrated interest in pursuing a career in human rights to work with an international human rights institution or organization identified by the student.

Abigail Goodman
Internship Site: UN Watch
She/Her/Hers
Double major in International Studies and Middle Eastern Studies
Class 2025

"I had a great time working at UN Watch and note-taking at the UN this summer. My three month internship gave me valuable insight into the world of NGOs and think tanks, and taught me the ins and outs of how the United Nations operates. Through the Geneva Summit, where we brought a cohort of human rights activists to speak, I learned about the different political situations in countries like Venezuela, Ukraine, Nicaragua, Tibet, China, North Korea, Russia, Belarus, Cuba, Zimbabwe, and the Gambia. In terms of tangible work results, I co-authored and provided the research for a report highlighting the bias of Nawaf Salam, the head of the International Court of Justice who recently authored a report on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. That report was published and discussed in major Israeli and American media, which was a big success for me. Additionally, I worked with my team on investigating claims about different experts and organizations within the United Nations that we believe could be improved or dissolved altogether. Those projects were also a big success because they have a big impact on our donors and readership, and were also published in major international media."

Amber Henson
Internship Site: Harambee
She/Her
Majoring in International Studies and Political Science
Class 2025

This summer, I traveled to Cape Town, South Africa, with support from the Donia Human Rights Center. My goal was to immerse myself in a new culture and engage with the local community to better understand the social and economic challenges they face. During my seven-week internship with Harambee, I worked on a project aimed at reducing South Africa's staggering 60% youth unemployment rate. Through this experience, I learned the principles of sustainable consulting, which involves developing solutions that are not only effective in the short term but also viable in the long run. My role as a project lead was to develop a phased plan to partner with companies for soft skills training in townships, establish a shadowing program, and design advanced training and assessments. This hands-on experience gave me valuable insights into creating impactful programs that can scale up successfully—from 50 to 2,000 participants in three years."

Makayla Kegerreis
Internship Site: Post-Conflict Research Center in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
She/Her
Majors: International Studies and Spanish
Minor: Social Media Analysis and Design
Class 2025

"This summer I was fortunate to receive an internship position at the Post-Conflict Research Center in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, where I spent the summer conducting research and writing articles about the past and present implications of the Bosnian War. As someone with hopes to conduct research and utilize social media to promote human rights in the future at an NGO, this was a priceless learning experience that stretched my interest in the subject even further. I am grateful for the Donia Human Rights Center for making this internship possible through the Student-Initiated Summer Internship Fellowship. In May and July, PCRC took all the interns to Prijedor and Srebrenica, respectively. During the Bosnian War from 1992-1995, these were both sites where massive war crimes and human rights violations took place. Prijedor was the home of one of the largest ethnic cleansings since World War II. As an intern, I was able to listen to survivors, journalists, and researchers whose main focus was to promote peacebuilding and memorialization in this region. As someone who did not know a whole lot about the Bosnian War before, this was a priceless learning experience."