Nina Ahuja, BC '12, is originally from Little Silver, NJ, and grew up on the shore. She interned for the Athena Center for Leadership Studies throughout her junior year, and is involved with various on-campus clubs such as Hoot, Columbia's Fashion Publication, Barnard Student Government Association, and the Athena Student Advisory Board. This past spring, Nina traveled to Singapore to represent Columbia's International Relations Council and Association in WorldMUN. In her spare time, she enjoys blogging about food and teaching Bollywood dance. Nina is excited to be an Athena Fellow and is interning with Chanel this summer.
Mashkura Chowdhury is currently a junior majoring in psychology and minoring in biology. She has interned at several health related institutions, including the Alison Gertz Foundation for AIDS Education. Mashkura is passionate about raising awareness for health and social issues affecting our generation today, especially within the South Asian Community. She is currently volunteering in the Psychiatry Department at Weill Cornell Medical College and is an active member of Columbia’s Club Bangla and Peace by Peace. In her free time, Mashkura enjoys swimming and watching Broadway musicals. This summer, Mashkura is interning for SAKHI, a community-based organization committed to end violence against South Asian women.
Gabrielle Ferrara, Class of 2012, graduated from Horace Mann high school and grew up in Westchester, New York. She is majoring in political science and minoring in economics and is passionate about international politics, economic development, and entrepreneurship. Gabrielle is a leader in a variety of different clubs and organizations on campus: Barnard Student Admissions Representative, Student Career Dinner organizer, and President and co-founder of the Entrepreneur Club. Gabrielle also served as the Junior Class Council Secretary on Student Goverment. During her free time she loves to work on local political campaigns, take yoga classes, play intramural soccer, spend all of her babysitting money on great restaurants, and play squash at the New York Athletic Club. Gabrielle is interning at Golden Seeds this summer.
Allison Grossman, a junior from Hershey, PA, is majoring in political science and human rights studies and minoring in women’s studies. An Athena Scholar, she is interested in women’s rights and migration and is excited to use the fellowship to work to effect change on these issues. She spent the first half of her junior year in Paris and she has worked and interned for several non-profit organizations, including Human Rights Watch, the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and the RIF Asylum Help Center. Allison is also involved on campus as an active member of the Columbia University College Democrats and as a member of the SGA Policy Committee. Allison is thrilled to be an Athena Fellow and is interning with NOW-NYC this summer.
Joli Ienuso is a gender studies major interning at Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW) for the third consecutive summer. In her short time here at Barnard, Joli has become an Athena Scholar and an RA. She is actively involved with various LGBTQA organizations on campus and has recently worked Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition and the Sweatshop Free Upper West Side campaign. Prior to attending Barnard, Joli was a student at Drexel University for two years where she was a member of the National Society of Colligate Scholars (NSCS), had an original play produced and was the featured poet for several events.
Dorothy Kadar, class of 2012, is a political science major from Eastchester, New York. Dorothy is a Residential Assistant in Elliott Hall, and a board member of Smart Women Lead. She is very interested in the study of Public Health, specifically reproductive health concerns and in the past she had interned with Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic. Living out her hopes of continuing her work towards reproductive justice, Dorothy is interning with the Center for Reproductive Rights this summer.
Talya Levi, class of 2012, is a political science major and an Athena Leadership Scholar. On campus, she has participated in the Barnard Emerging Leaders Program, has served on the board of Globemed at Columbia as the Global Health U Coordinator, and is involved in Hillel. Talya is passionate about international development and human rights, and has interned in the education department at the American Jewish World service and in the Water Programs department at Charity:water. After graduating from Barnard, Talya is planning on attending law school and pursuing a career in international law and development. This past Spring, Talya studied political science in London at UCL. She is very excited to return to New York this summer to participate in the Athena Summer Fellowship Program and intern with the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.
Madalena Provo, class of 2012, is a psychology major; she will hopefully add on a Yiddish studies major and economics minor before her time is up. On campus, Maddie is the Junior Representative to the Board of Trustees, a speaking fellow, President of the Yiddish Club, and acts in at least two plays every semester. Maddie's passions include theatre, women and leadership, the power of words, food, America's Next Top Model, palindromes, Shakespeare, Hindi and Yiddish. She is excited to be an Athena Scholar and a summer fellow and is interning with Breakthrough TV.
Tara Sonin is a junior double majoring in Theatre and English. She has previously interned with two prominent theatrical non-profit organizations: WET (Women's Expressive Theatre) Productions and TADA! Youth Theatre Company. At Barnard, she is a Junior Class Council Representative for the Student Government Association, a Barnard Student Admissions Representative, the Publicity Director for Echoes, Barnard's literary magazine (in which she was also published) and a member on the Network Committee of McAC, Barnard's Activities Council. In her free time, Tara enjoys writing, cooking, indulging in TV and spending time with friends. This summer, Tara is continuing to intern with the TADA! Youth Theatre Company.
