Serac - Interns

Adam Stofsky is the Executive Director of the New Media Advocacy Project (N-MAP), an NGO which assists defenders of human rights and social justice integrate new media into their advocacy and legal strategies. Adam was an intern at SERAC during the summer of 2002. His worked focused on the Maroko case. In addition to conducting background research for a human rights report on the demolition of Maroko and the state of the Maroko evictees, he made a documentary film to advance the case. This film, Maroko: The Rebirth of a Slum, provided much of the inspiration for the New Media Advocacy Project. Adam's greatest accomplishment at SERAC, aside from his legal work, was soundly defeating Felix Morka in a pepper soup eating contest. He is willing to accept a challenge for a rematch at any time. Read more>>>

Stephanie Oluchukwu Akpa is a third year Juris Doctorate candidate at Yale Law School in the United States of America. During her time at Yale, Ms. Akpa has been active in pursuing her interest in international human rights and development. Ms. Akpa is a member of the Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic, where she is currently working on a project examining the relationship between the large-scale mining sector and the artisanal and small-scale mining sector. This project involved a field study in Ghana, where her team was able to meet with various stakeholders in the mining sector. In addition to the Lowenstein Clinic, Ms. Akpa has participated in the Workers and Immigrants Rights Advocacy Clinic, where she co-wrote briefs for the suppression and termination of immigration proceedings and co-wrote a brief challenging the no-bond detention of certain classes of immigrants. Last summer, Ms. Akpa was a summer associate at an international law firm and worked on matters including international arbitrations and private mergers and acquisitions.

Ms. Akpa has also been active member of the student community at the law school. Last year, she served as the Vice President of the Yale Black Law Students Association and the co-director of Women and Youth Supporting Each Other, a mentorship program for young women. Ms. Akpa graduated cum laude from the University of California, San Diego in 2005 with a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science and minors in History and International Migration Studies. While an undergraduate, she served as the President of the Black Students Union and as an intern in Washington, D.C. with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights under Law. Ms. Akpa interned with SERAC from May to August 2007.

Samuel James served as an intern from January to June 2008.

Connie Chan served as an intern with SERAC from May to August 2008.

Ewa Zgrzywa is working towards completion of the Master in Development and International Cooperation from the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland. She specializes in urban and community development. During her studies, she participated in several research projects related to urban poverty and social exclusion and was active in the student organization that runs eco-village projects in India. She was also a writer for a development-related magazine funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. During summer 2008, Ewa did an internship at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, where she worked with the UN Human Settlements Programme. This gave her good background for the work with SERAC in Lagos from September until the end of November 2008. During her stay in Lagos, she understudied the Nigeria Social Housing Initiative (NSHI) project and did fieldwork studying social capital of the two target communities Ijora Badia and Maroko as her final project. She also worked closely with community organizers in SERAC's Community Action Program. After the internship in SERAC, Ewa became the biggest fan of amala with ewedu and could eat suya every single day. Ewa is currently enriching her knowledge about Africa at the Center of African Studies, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

'Sola Adeniyi is a legal practitioner with passion for human rights issues especially when they relate to children, women, and the under priviledged in society. She presently works with Justice, Development & Peace Commission, (JDPC), Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, a non-governmental human rights organization in Nigeria as a Staff Attorney.

She has also handled cases of violence against women, juvenile matters and several cases for sexually abused children and mentally incapacitated persons. She is a contributor to several publications by JDPC and The Nigerian Bar Association, Ijebu-Ode Chapter on issues concerning the enforcement of fundamental Human Rights, legislative and judicial reviews.

'Sola was a Professional Attache with the Social and Economic Rights Action Center (SERAC) from March 30 to April 13, 2009. During her stay, she served as a member of the team working on mobilizing and organizing communities affected by the Olokola Liquefied Natural Gas and Free Trade Zone (OKLNG/FTZ) project of the Ogun and Ondo State governments in Nigeria.

Annalisa Leibold studied economics and political science during her undergraduate years at the University of Michigan. She has had a longstanding interest in African economic development and human rights. In the summer of 2007, she volunteered teaching at a rural government school in the Kajiado District of Kenya. Upon returning, she worked with community members and raised money for students from the school to continue their education.

In the fall of 2008, Annalisa began a J.D. degree program at Yale Law School. Since coming to law school, she has worked on a human rights project related to resources in West Africa, a paper on the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline, and has served as a first year editor for the Yale Human Rights and Development Law Journal. Annalisa's internship placement ran between between July 1 to July 29, 2009.

Alysson Ford has worked for several years on social and economic development, particularly in West Africa. After graduating from Harvard University in 2000, she served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cote d'lvoire, where she promoted improved levels of community education through projects such as adult literacy classes, school lunch programs, and youth camps. In 2004, she received a Master's degree in Development Studies from the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies, writing her dissertation on girls' education in Sub-Saharan Africa. The following year, she joined CRS in Burkina Faso, where she ran a US-government funded project to build, equip, and support 132 primary schools in the regions with the lowest girls' education rates. She was subsequently promoted to the post West Africa Regional Representatives, supporting 10 country programs with a portfolio of over $70 million annually.

Alysson is currently a first year student at Harvard Law School. A member of Advocates for Human Rights, she has worked on projects related to economic and social rights in Zimbabwe and Palestine. She is also a board member of the Civil Rights - Civil Liberties Law Review and has worked on the Human Rights Journal. Alysson served dutifully during her internship placement which ran between June 27 and August 7, 2009.

Charles Nicholas is a third year law student at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. As a student in the clinic of the International Human Rights Advocacy Center, he is concerned with the realization of ordinary citizens’ economic and social rights and the escape from poverty (especially in resource-rich countries, like Nigeria), establish by relevant domestic law, international and regional treaties, and customary international law. Charles served as an intern with SERAC from June 17 to July 15, 2009.

Adebayo Okeowo holds a Law degree from the University of Ilorin and recently concluded studies at the Nigerian Law School. He has a passion for Human Rights which is what informed his internship with the Center for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria, South Africa in 2008 where he understudied the violation of gender rights within Africa especially Southern Africa.

He also engaged in Dignity Project on the platform of World Youth Alliance, New York in August, 2008 - a project seeking to promote the inviolable dignity of the human person as enshrined in documents like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the UN Charter and the African Charter.

In the year 2007, Bayo was on the team that placed Nigeria in the finals of the African Human Rights Moot Court Competition for the first time in the 16-year history of the Competition. An event which has as its thrust, the promotion of fundamental human rights especially as it pertains to ESC rights. While at the University, he was elected the Secretary General of the Law Students' Society and prior to this, also had a brief stint at the Association's Senate.

With writing being one of his hobbies, he has written a wide range of articles - both inspirational and educational, which have been published in Law Journals, National Dailies and Magazines, some of which include: The Implication of Heads of State Immunity on Human Rights, Unity is the Answer, The Day God died e.t.c

A member of the Nigerian Society of International Law, While at SERAC between August - November, 2009, Bayo served under the Legal Action Program an initiative seeking to assert the rights of disadvantaged individuals and groups through the provision of free legal assistance.

Nse Umoh is currently on a year-long hiatus from the masters of city planning program at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, P.A. She will be working with the social housing team at SERAC from September 14, 2009 until August, 2010.

She comes to SERAC with an undergraduate background in urban studies and one year of Penn's city planning program under her belt. She has spent a semester studying and comparing the patterns of informal settlements and government's responses to their existence in Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Auckland and Cape Town.

She is eager to explore these same ideas in Lagos while simultaneously working with SERAC to quell the proliferation of slums and the human rights violations that plague their existence through the actualization of the Nigeria Social Housing Initiative. As a native of Nigeria, Nse is back home and is looking forward to all the work, fun and excitement SERAC and Lagos have to offer!

Jennifer Suoyo Aga, a 1999 law graduate from the University of Science and Technology Rivers State Nigeria was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2001. She is currently undergoing her masters programme in Human Rights and Conflict Management at the Scuola Superiore Sant Anna, Pisa, Italy.

She works with the National Human Rights Commission as a Senior Legal Officer and Programmer Officer on Niger Delta and Environment. Her duties includes investigating, monitoring and making recommendations to the appropriate authority on matters relating to human rights violations especially as it relates to Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Ms. Aga also facilitates proceedings concerning aspects of the Niger Delta Region, employer/employee infractions and arbitrary evictions of civil servants from thier official quarters in the FCT. She is an active member of the committee responsible for updating the National Action Plan on promotion and protection of human rights in Nigeria.

During her masters programme, Jennifer carried out research on economic, social and cultural rights especially in the areas of forced evictions and economic development. Given her passion for human rights, Ms. Aga keenly explores avenues to enrich her knowledge on how to address the issues of violations on these rights.

She has in the past, benefitted immensely from SERAC-organized programs on the Niger Delta and the environment. These experiences were consolidated when she interned with SERAC between October to December, 2009.

Segilola Latinwo joined SERAC from Washington University in St. Louis Law School (WashU) where she just completed her first year in the law school. At WashU, she is involved in a number of organizations including the International Law Society, Africa Public Interest Programs, the Black Law Students Association and the Student Body Association's Honor Council. She graduated from Southern Methodist university in May 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Public Policy deciding to take a year off before attending law school.

During her gap year, Segi worked as a paralegal clerk for international law firm Baker Botts, LLP., where she was a member of a litigation and corporate bankruptcy team of attorneys and paralegals. She has also previously interned in Washington D.C for the Honorable Carolyn Kilpatrick (MI) where she was able to attend Congressional hearings and witness firsthand the work process and protocol of Capitol Hill. A native Nigerian, Segi has a passion for human rights initiatives, international development and democratic governing and policy in Sub-Saharan Africa. This stimulating environment is one in which she intends to contribute to after graduating from Law school.

Segi served under SERAC's Legal Action Program during her internship placement which ran between June 1, to August 10, 2010.