Category Archives: Fellowships and Grants

Chayes Fellow Natalie Jay ’15 on working with the Portuguese Refugee Council

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Natalie (second from left) and colleagues in Lisbon.

“This photo was taken on World Refugee Day (June 20), when we handed out chocolate umbrellas (symbolizing protection) at metro stations throughout Lisbon as part of an awareness campaign. The work is interesting, and it changes every day. I’m excited to have the opportunity to work almost exclusively in Portuguese and to become conversant in Portuguese and international asylum, refugee, and immigration law, which I work with on a daily basis. I love my colleagues, and I get to go into the prohibited-entry parts of the airport!!”

Natalie is one of 23 HLS students working this summer in 18 countries under the auspices of the Chayes International Public Service Fellowship. Please visit our Chayes Fellowship page to learn more!

Chayes Fellow Kaycie Rupp ’15 on working with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Italy

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“I have been working in the Administrative Law Branch of FAO on various research projects involving FAO’s definition of harassment, the validity of settling before going to the International Labor Organization’s Administrative Tribunal, and interpreting and applying the policies and regulations of the UN system. My main tasks have been drafting various disciplinary actions and internal memos.

Throughout the summer, I have come to really enjoy the labor/employment side of things. I have discovered how much difference transferring an employee or fixing the dynamics of an office can affect the overall productivity of the office and the productivity of the agency as a whole.

Working for the UN has been an incredible experience. I am surrounded by people from all different parts of the world that bring interesting work and life experiences to the job. No matter what your job is at FAO, everyone seems to keep in mind the overarching goal of the organization. However, I have had to get used to the working environment here in Italy. It is quite the change to go from the speed and stress of 1L to the Italian lifestyle! 

I feel really lucky to have had the opportunity to work for the UN and to do it while living in Rome. Rome is such a beautiful city with amazing food and wine! Additionally, I have been doing quite a bit of traveling on the weekends with the other HLS interns here in Rome. We have been to Cinque Terre (five towns on the Italian Riviera), Naples where we saw Pompeii and hiked Mount Vesuvius, Venice, Tunisia, and Spain. Italy is a beautiful country and I find the people wonderfully kind. It will be bittersweet to leave.”

(Cinque Terre)

Kaycie is one of 23 HLS students working this summer in 18 countries under the auspices of the Chayes International Public Service Fellowship. Please visit our Chayes Fellowship page to learn more!

 

Chayes Fellow Jodie Liu ’15 on working with the Open Society Justice Initiative, Hungary

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“My time here as OSJI has been really rewarding. I’ve been putting a lot of work into an amicus brief for a freedom of expression case pending before the Argentinean Supreme Court on the liability of Internet search engines for third party violations. The Argentinean Supreme Court considers case precedent from many different countries, so I’ve been doing legal research in at least five languages. Although I have several other projects going on as well, this one has really stood out so far — it’s been really fascinating to see how international freedom of expression law has been developing in different jurisdictions as the capabilities of the Internet become increasingly expansive. 

Budapest is beautifully varied. There are some key places I haven’t visited yet, though, so my next few weekends will be busy.”

Jodie is one of 23 HLS students working this summer in 18 countries under the auspices of the Chayes International Public Service Fellowship. Please visit our Chayes Fellowship page to learn more!

 

Snapshot: Derek Galley, J.D./M.U.P. ’14

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Just a week before Derek arrived in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, the city implemented a new program eliminating fares on public transportation for city residents. For Derek — who came to Harvard to study urban planning, then became interested in how legal institutions affect how cities develop — this was a local experiment with global significance. “An idea like this helps people get around and save money, but it also challenges the traditional ways that the law thinks about how cities should be governed,” he explained, involving issues ranging from fiscal structures and shifts in urban population to politically marginalized communities. By traveling to Tallinn, Derek was able to do archival research with medieval documents that helped to explain Estonia’s long tradition of local autonomy, then visit City Hall to interview the deputy mayor and director of transportation. Equally important, “I could wait at a bus stop, ask people for change (because I still had to pay), and see who was using the bus,” Derek remembered; “It’s a popular policy, voted in by a referendum, but there was also a lot of cynicism, a sense of disillusionment with the politics behind it.” His winter term project has given him a “rich vein of material” for his academic work and an appetite for more international travel:  “I want to go to places where there’s something to learn from.”

(Please visit “Winter Term 2013: Snapshots from Students” to read about other recent projects.)

Snapshot: Samiron Ray ’14

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A growing interest in start-ups, incubators and entrepreneurship took Samiron to Santiago to look closely at Start-Up Chile, a program created by the Chilean government that provides grants to entrepreneurs from around the world willing to relocate to Santiago and grow their businesses there. “Although Chile is a fast-growing economy and has a stable political system, it has not been traditionally thought of as an entrepreneurial country,” Samiron said; “the government takes no equity stake in the ventures, but instead hopes that the presence of hundreds of entrepreneurs in Chile will help establish its own version of Silicon Valley.” During his trip, Samiron interviewed program staff, attended Start-Up Chile social events and functions. and met with  entrepreneurs participating in the program and with lawyers and investors working with them. By talking with “the people in the trenches,” he was able to look at the financial and business concerns facing the entrepreneurs, ranging from personal liability to employment issues, and explore the ways in which government infrastructures and legal institutions might hinder or support business growth. “I am fascinated by the intersection of law, entrepreneurship, and economic development,” Samiron explained, an interest that he has also explored in working with Harvard’s Innovation Lab and the HLS Cyberlaw Clinic.

(Please visit “Winter Term 2013: Snapshots from Students” to read about other recent projects.)