Our Team

	Katrina Burgess, Ph.D. Director, Henry J. Leir Institute Associate Professor of Political Economy Office: Cabot 603B Email: katrina.burgess@tufts.edu	Katrina Burgess is Director of the Henry J. Leir Institute and Associate Professor of Political Economy at the Fletcher School at Tufts University. She is the author of Courting Migrants: How States Make Diasporas and Diasporas Make States and Writer and Producer of Waylaid in Tijuana, a documentary about Haitian and Central American migrants whose journeys to the United States are disrupted by shifts in U.S. policy. She has also published on labor politics, remittances, migration, and voting from abroad. She previously taught at Brown University, Syracuse University, UCLA, and the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM) and received her PhD in Politics from Princeton University.
	Jacob Ewing Project Manager Office: Cabot 603 Email: jacob.ewing@tufts.edu	Jacob Ewing is the Leir Institute’s project manager, overseeing daily operations, communications, events, and fundraising and development efforts. He received his MALD from the Fletcher School in May 2022, studying migration and LGBTI issues and serving as a research assistant with the Refugees in Towns project. For his capstone practicum, he aided Afghan Fletcher families and international coalition partners with evacuation and seeking U.S. legal status in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Previously, he supported the Obama Foundation’s global programmatic and development efforts as analyst to the CEO. He is a proud alumnus of the University of Kentucky.

Leir Institute

	Alyssa Scheiner MALD Candidate Research Assistant	Alyssa Scheiner is a first year MALD candidate at The Fletcher School. At Fletcher, she studies international development and environmental policy and human security, focusing on the intersections of gender and climate migration. Previously, Alyssa worked at Ceres, a nonprofit organization transforming the economy to build a just and sustainable future for people and the planet. Alyssa holds a B.A. from Boston University in International Relations and Middle East and North Africa Studies.
	Avery Closser MALD Candidate Research Assistant	Avery is a first year MALD student at Fletcher studying Human Security and Gender and Intersectional Analysis, with a focus on migration and gender dynamics during conflict. Prior to starting at Fletcher, Avery worked for an Immigrant Rights Organization in Tacoma, WA, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Colombo, Sri Lanka, the World Affairs Council non-profit in Seattle, WA, an intellectual property law firm in Seattle, and, lastly, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Avery graduated from the University of Puget Sound with majors in International Political Economy and Spanish, and a minor in Latin American Studies.
	Aamna Ahmad MALD Candidate Research Assistant	Aamna is a MALD ’24 student from India. Prior to Fletcher, she worked with the Accountability Initiative, a research group at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), a leading public policy think tank based in New Delhi. At CPR, she supported activities across capacity development, communications, and program operations. Specifically, her role focused on conceptualizing, creating, and implementing online and in-person learning programs aimed at promoting transparency and accountability in governance. Previously, she graduated with BA and MA degrees in Sociology from the University of Delhi.

Digital Portfolios of the Poor

	Daryl Collins, Ph.D. Founder and CEO, Decodis Principal Investigator	Dr. Daryl Collins is the CEO and Founder of Decodis, a social research firm that creates tech-led, customized data capture and analysis to elevate the voices of vulnerable populations. She is the author of the acclaimed Portfolios of the Poor and a pioneer working at the intersection of finance and human vulnerability. In the past two decades, Dr. Collins has built a broad portfolio of work with financial service providers, foundations, bilateral donors and governments. Her work is grounded in a deep understanding of the financial lives of individuals through the execution of Financial Diaries studies in over 10 countries. Dr. Collins spent the last decade as Managing Director and CEO of BFA Global, a niche financial inclusion consulting practice. She holds a B.Sc. and an M.Sc. in economics from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. in Public Policy Analysis from New York University.
	Anuli Mefor MALD Candidate Research Assistant	Besides her knowledge of the Nigerian context, Anuli supports DPP with her valuable Monitoring & Evaluation background within the international democracy development sector. Anuli holds a BA in International Relations and Strategic Communications from Calvin University. She is passionate about global development, particularly in advancing inclusive and responsive governance in Africa. She is currently a Master of Arts candidate (2022) at The Fletcher School.
	Daniel Ng'abei Kibet MIB Candidate Research Assistant	Daniel is a Kenyan social entrepreneur who brings to DPP his international work experience with grassroot initiatives in rural communities. Daniel holds a BA in Economics and Business Administration from the Earlham College. A market analyst and researcher, he is passionate about using business and entrepreneurship to drive positive social impact and contribute to ending global poverty, hunger, and insecurity. He is currently a Master of International Business candidate (2023) at The Fletcher School.
	Lakshmee Vinayak Sharma MALD Candidate Research Assistant	With her unique background in Social Anthropology and Technology Policy, Lakshmee supports the DPP team not only with her field knowledge of the Indian context but also in the research design and analysis. Lakshmee holds an MSc in Social Anthropology from the University of Oxford and a triple major BA in Psychology, Sociology and Literature from Christ University, Bangalore. She has over 5 years of work experience focusing on climate change, livelihoods, and technology in South Asia and seeks to work at the intersection of technology and human security. She is currently a Master of Arts candidate (2023) at The Fletcher School.
	Robin Tharakan MALD Candidate Research Assistant	Technologist by training, Robin contributes his 7 years of work experience in both social and private sector in India to support the DPP with questions of Cybersecurity and Digital Privacy. Robin earned a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering from National Institute of Technology in Calicut. He is currently a Master of Arts candidate (2023) at The Fletcher School, where he focuses on digital rights and public interest technology and policy.

Journeys Project

	Kim Wilson Principal Investigator Senior Lecturer Email: kim.wilson@tufts.edu	As a Sr. Lecturer in International Business and Human Security, I have deeply enjoyed both teaching and research activities at the Fletcher School. I joined the faculty in 2005 and am proud to have received the James L. Paddock award for excellent teaching in 2009. Because I am half-time on the faculty, I have continued to undertake intensive fieldwork for the World Bank, several UN organizations, and many international NGOs. In the classroom, this has allowed me to apply first-hand, highly practical examples to theoretical frameworks in a range of sectors— from financial inclusion to education to agriculture. Since 2016, I have focused my research exclusively on the financial journeys of refugees and migrants, paying particular attention to transcontinental journeys. This led me to launch the Journeys Project (http://sites.tufts.edu/journeysproject/) in 2018. The site illuminates the economic and financial strategies that migrating people use to amass funds prior to a journey, access money along the way, and manage finances once they reach a destination, whether final or temporary. My research on the financial elements of migration has been promoted or sponsored by the UN High Commission on Refugees, the International Organization for Migration, UN Capital Development fund, the German Agency for International Cooperation, the Open Society Foundations (via IRC), Catholic Relief Services, The International Rescue Committee, and Mercy Corps. Fletcher masters’ students have been deeply involved in my field research and have documented the financial experiences of migrants and refugees in many locations, including East Africa, the Mediterranean, Latin America, and the United States. In 2023, I look forward to publishing a chapter in Global Human Smuggling (Johns Hopkins Press) and co-authoring a book with Daryl Collins on the financial journeys of refugees (Princeton University Press). In the meantime, I am happy to be teaching courses on how to generate robust evidence in field research.
	Charlie Williams MALD Candidate Project Manager	Charlie is a second-year MALD student at Fletcher, focusing on gender analysis and international organizations. Prior to Fletcher, Charlie received her BA in history from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and worked with a food security non-profit in Senegal. She is passionate about community engagement and advocacy, and through her studies hopes to work in resettlement post Fletcher.

Refugees in Towns

	Karen Jacobsen, Ph.D. Principal Investigator Henry J. Leir Professor of Global Migration	Karen Jacobsen is the Henry J. Leir Professor in Global Migration at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and directs the Refugees in Towns Project at the Leir Institute for Migration and Human Security. Professor Jacobsen’s current research explores urban displacement and global migration, with a focus on the livelihoods and financial resilience of migrants and refugees, and on climate- and environment-related mobility. In 2013-2014, she was on leave from Tufts, leading the Joint IDP Profiling Service (JIPS) at United Nations in Geneva. From 2000-2005, she directed the Alchemy Project, which explored the use of microfinance to support people in refugee camps and other displacement settings. Prof. Jacobsen’s Ph.D. in Political Science is from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her areas of expertise include refugee and migration issues, humanitarian assistance in developing countries, urban impact, and climate change and migration. She is currently at work on a book that examines the impact of displacement on cities. Her previous books include A View from Below: Conducting Research in Conflict Zones (with Mazurana and Gale, Cambridge UP 2013 ); and The Economic Life of Refugees (Lynne Rienner, 2005), which is widely used in courses on forced migration. She consults and works closely with UNHCR and other UN agencies and international NGOs. She is a citizen of both South Africa and the U.S., and splits her time between Brookline, MA and western Maine (Andover, ME).
	Lauren Bacon MALD Candidate Research Assistant	As a second-year MALD student, Lauren studies international negotiation and trauma-informed transitional justice. Prior to Fletcher, she earned her MPhil in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation from Trinity College Dublin. Her professional experience spans civil rights law, behavioral health, education, advocacy, and forced migrant support in Ghana, Peru, China, Palestine-Israel, Northern Ireland, and the U.S.
	Yumeka Kawahara MALD Candidate Research Assistant	Yumeka Kawahara is a second-year MALD studying Human Security and International Organizations. Her main academic focus is refugee integration processes in Europe and the role of civil society. She is from Japan and earned LLB at Kyoto University with 1-year study abroad experience at Sciences Po Paris. Prior to Fletcher, she worked with several think tanks and non-profit organizations in Japan, France, Singapore, and Cameroon and worked on migration issues and international affairs.
	Maliha Khan MALD Candidate Research Assistant	Maliha is a second-year master’s candidate at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy focusing on human security and humanitarian affairs, and negotiation and conflict resolution. Prior to graduate school, she worked as a journalist covering human rights issues including migration, refugees, and violence against women, and as a freelance editor. Maliha holds an undergraduate degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics.
	Lucy Mastellar MALD Candidate Research Assistant	Lucy is a second-year MA candidate at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, where her studies focus on migration and international law. Prior to Fletcher, Lucy worked in a variety of roles throughout the private and public sectors, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and a leading international Big Law firm. Lucy has hands-on experience navigating refugee and asylum crises in Greece and at the United States - Mexico border. Lucy earned her BA at American University, where her final thesis assessed the intersection of religious extremism and migration.
	Nicci Mattey MALD Candidate Research Assistant	Nicci is a second-year Master of Law and Diplomacy student at Fletcher from San Antonio, TX. Prior to Fletcher, she obtained her BA in International Relations and Political Science from Tufts University. She is a fervent immigration advocate who is passionate about climate displacement. She has interned at several advocacy and resettlement organizations in Washington D.C. focused on bettering U.S. immigration and refugee policy.
	Barnabas Ticha Muvhuti Global Fellow	Barnabas is a Ph.D. student at Rhodes University, and was previously a Curator and Assistant Researcher at the University of Cape Town's Centre for Curating the Archive. He is a Zimbabwean who moved to Cape Town in November 2008, and has since studied, worked, and lived with fellow migrants from Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Somalia, and Rwanda, among other countries of origin. He is interested in the experiences and treatment of migrants by hosts communities and immigration authorities. Barnabas studied at Midlands State University in Zimbabwe, the University of Cape Town, and the University of Stellenbosch.
	Charlie Williams MALD Candidate Research Assistant	Charlie is a second-year MALD student at Fletcher, focusing on gender analysis and international organizations. Prior to Fletcher, Charlie received her BA in history from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and worked with a food security non-profit in Senegal. She is passionate about community engagement and advocacy, and through her studies hopes to work in resettlement post Fletcher.

Disclaimer | Non-Discrimination | Privacy | Terms for Creating and Maintaining Sites