2015 | ifpba

PROGRAM COORDINATOR

Mili Ferrer, M.A. International Affairs

Mili attended The New School for Public Engagement seeking a deeper understanding of IR from the multidimensional perspectives offered. Here, she gained interest in Urban Development and the social implications of this process. She served as Vice-President for the student organization Somos OLA, as well Senator for NSPE in the University Student Senate. She attended the IFP Buenos Aires in 2014, with the interest of converging her undergraduate degree in Psychology with the knowledge acquired at GPIA; cognitive impact of a socio-environmental process. The social impact of a cleanup with the proportions of the Matanza-Riachuelo -and before that- the chronic neglect from part of the State to address the many social, political, and economic issues surrounding the basin, is a great opportunity for any student to delve into a problem that is encompassed by endless variables. Mili served as Teaching Assistant for Professor Alberto Minujín, as well as Concentration Assistant for the Global Urban Futures career path in the International Affairs Masters Degree program. Currently Mil is the Program Coordinator for the 2015 IFP Buenos Aires; she recently graduated from her Masters at The New School, and is currently seeking opportunities in Latin America as she hopes to continue working in the region.

THE STUDENTS

AGUAS Y SANEAMIENTO ARGENTINO

(AYSA)

Phuong Nguyen, M.S. Non-Profit Management (2015)

Phuong is a California native, where she fostered her eagerness to seek for life’s adventure and her joy for knowledge. She graduated at the California State University of Sacramento with the B.S. in Psychology and it was not until her time served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana, that reignited her passion for the work in human rights. She moved to New York in 2011 to pursue a career in the non-profit sector at the New School. While there were many salient factors in her decision to pursue graduate studies, one of the more foundational factors was her personal experience leaving her native country when she was five. She and her family left Vietnam in 1991. They were detained as refugees in the Philippines for about eight months before they could enter the United States. Life at the refugee camp consisted of no running water, no electricity, a shared community shower, and sleeping on straw mattresses. At that age, she couldn’t comprehend why her family and thousands of others were living like that; somehow, she knew that she wanted to inquire about it in her future. Her memory of living under the camp’s stark conditions motivates her desire to fight for human rights and booster policies pertaining to refugee protection and human trafficking. The curiosity to understand community development and human rights issues that exist around the globe has inspired Phuong to participate in the International Field Program In her work in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she hoped to cultivate her knowledge in social and economic development in like Argentina and to transform her experience into practical skills.

Annel Cabrera, MSc. Environmental Policy & Sustainability (2016)

Annel is working towards her M.Sc. in Sustainability Management. For more than a decade, she has worked on issues of economic and community development, poverty, economic self-sufficiency, and workforce development. She has been able to gain hands-on experience in program development, evaluation, capacity building, and operations. Prior to focusing on field research in Argentina, she was the Director of Community Relations for Delancey Street Associates (a tri-venture between BFC Development, L+M Development Partners, and Taconic Development Partners); housing developers working on the largest community redevelopment project south of 14th Street in Manhattan. As Director, she managed community engagement activities and developed and managed economic opportunity programs emerging from the project and for the benefit of community members. Ms. Cabrera previously worked with the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) in the Office of Resident Economic Empowerment and Sustainability (REES). While at NYCHA REES, she Managed the Resident Training Academy (NRTA) and was a founding Zone Coordinator, both positions aiming to improve and expand the economic opportunities for public housing residents. Earlier in her career, Ms. Cabrera worked for Single Stop USA and Seedco where she was able to work on start-up initiatives like Single Stop’s expansion into community colleges, Opportunity NYC Work Rewards and Family Rewards (the first and only conditional cash transfer programs in the U.S.), and Tennessee Families First Program to highlight a few. She received her undergraduate degree from Bard College where she majored in Cultural Anthropology and minored in Latin American Studies. Visit Annel's LinkedIn page here.

Jessica Hernreich,M.S. Environmental Policy and Sustainability (2015)

Jessica (Jesse) Hernreich graduated from Prescott College in 2007 with a degree in Environmental Studies emphasizing Ecological Design, and is currently earning her master from The New School with an M.S. is Sustainability Management. Jesse received her Permaculture teaching certificate in 2008 from the Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute, and is a resident instructor at the ECOSA Institute for Sustainable Design. Jesse’s profession profile includes Gardening professor for Woldorf schools, owning a landscaping company, Naturalist/ Permaculture instructor, research & development and student coordinator. She sits on the Board of Performance Space 122 in NYC, the ECOSA Institute in Arizona, as well as owns her own sustainable agriculture Non-profit titled Oakhaven Permaculture, based out of Durango Colorado. As a natural scientist and entrepreneur she has acquired a diverse skill set including herbalism, animal husbandry, farming, green building, and aboriginal living skills along with project management, business modeling and marketing. Jesse’s passion and understanding of water management in the arid southwest along with her experience in Environmental science drew her to the Buenos Aires IFP along the Mantanza Rialachuelo.

Heartie Look-Dougherty, M.A. International Affairs (2016)

Heartie was born and raised in NYC but has always been pulled to Latin America, so when hearing that there was an IFP to Buenos Aires focused on her passion for the nexus of environmental management and social issues in the realm of international development, she jumped on the chance to participate. Heartie attended Pitzer College where she double-majored in Environmental Studies and Sociology with an unofficial minor in Spanish (she has practiced and spoken the language since she was 14). While at Pitzer, Heartie lived in Costa Rica where she completed a Human and Tropical Ecology program, and this is something she is building off of while in Buenos Aires, as well as her 8 years of working in various NGO’s and for profit institutions that focused on environmental advocacy, sustainability, and conservation. She is well versed in community outreach, communications, and program management and is looking forward to both adding and strengthening her skill set through her time in B.A. She loves to dance and cook, so is very much looking forward to lots of tango and “asado” when not hard at work!

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE AVELLANEDA

(UNDAV)

Joshua Brody, M.A. International Affairs (2016)

Josh is from New Mexico, where he has worked with the Higher Education Department and a regional development corporation, trying to understand the efficacy of remedial education programs. His interest in education is derived from his own experiences in public school systems. He has a degree in Liberal Arts which was obtained primarily through studying literature/writing and social sciences. His main interest is in public policy, and during his first year of the GPIA has studied economic development. During the Buenos Aires IFP, Josh is working with UNDAV, where he will continue his work on remedial education. His main hobby is yelling to himself about what he reads in the paper.