People

Allison Stanger is the Russell Leng '60 Professor of International Politics and Economics at Middlebury College and director of the Rohatyn Center for International Affairs. Stanger was a research fellow for the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University, the Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education in Prague, the Institute for the Study of the USA and Canada in Moscow, the Brookings Institution, and the Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. She has also served as a visiting Professor of Government at Harvard University and contributed to several projects including the Booz Allen Hamilton project on the World's Most Enduring Institutions, the Woodrow Wilson School Task Force on the Changing Nature of Government Service, and the Princeton Project on National Security. Stanger is the author of *One Nation Under Contract: The Outsourcing of American Power and the Future of Foreign Policy* and co-editor and co-translator, with Michael Kraus, of *Irreconcilable Differences? Explaining Czechoslovakia's Dissolution*. Her essays and opinion pieces have appeared in numerous publications, including *The New York Times*, *The Washington Post*, *The Financial Times*, and the *International Herald Tribune*.

Allistair Witten is an educator from Cape Town, South Africa. He is currently a doctoral student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a teaching fellow at Harvard's Principals' Center where he assists with the training and development of aspiring principals. Mr. Witten has been an educator for twenty-two years in South Africa's township schools, and spent the last ten of these as school principal. Recently, Witten has focused on extending the functions of schools and making them sites for community development and transformation. His work has contributed to the Safe Schools Program in Cape Town, which adopts a community-oriented approach to engaging problems that negatively affect the functioning of schools.

Alma Richeh was born in Damascus, Syria. Alma holds a law degree from Damascus University and an LL.M. degree in international legal studies from the American University, Washington College of Law in Washington D.C. She worked at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Damascus as an advocate to determine the refugee Status. For 8 years, Alma was a conductor for Al Farah Choir in Damascus. She conducted the choir’s youth division, where ages ranged between sixteen and twenty three, and lead the choir in many events and concerts. She concentrated on fundraising for humanitarian causes and children’s rights. During her LL.M Studies, she worked as a teaching assistance to Ambassador and Professor Clovis Maksoud at the American University, Washington College of Law. In Boston, she worked as a research intern at the Boston Consortium for Gender Security and Human Rights at the University of Massachusetts. Her research concentrated on the rights of women in countries of the Middle East from the legal, historic, cultural, religious and humanitarian perspectives. Alma is currently conducting the CAC Children Choir, the first Arab American children choir in MA and an Arabic language teacher at CAC Arabic School.

Dr. Alonso Aguirre is Senior Vice President for Conservation Medicine at Wildlife Trust, New York. He is cofounder and executive committee member of the Consortium for Conservation Medicine. He also serves as Clinical Assistant Professor at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine and is Research Professor at Columbia University. Dr. Aguirre's research has been instrumental in revealing the impact of emerging diseases of marine wildlife populations. His international experience brings applied solutions to field practitioners of conservation medicine accomplished through transdisciplinary teams, innovative research, scientific excellence, and long-term monitoring of sentinel species. Dr. Aguirre currently is Chairman of the World Association of Wildlife Veterinarians. He has been technical advisor to governments of several countries in the Americas, Southeast Asia and Western Europe. Dr. Aguirre has briefed the Mexican and US Congress, Administration, and federal agency leaders. He authored the book Conservation Medicine: Ecological Health in Practice, has published over 160 professional papers in peer-reviewed journals and is co-editor of the new Springer journal EcoHealth. He is a winner of the Harry Jalanka Memorial Medal from Finland, the most prestigious award in zoological and wildlife medicine for his contributions to the field.

Dr. Alonso Ricardo is a post-doctoral fellow at the Szostak Lab at Harvard University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is currently working with Jack Szostak in unnatural genetic systems and self-replicating polymers.

**Alonzo Jinwright** is a representative of Changing Tracks and a high school senior at University High.

Alora Thomas-Lundborg, J.D., is a Senior Staff Attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, Voting Rights Project. A graduate of Columbia Univerrsity Law School, Ms. Thomas-Lundborg practiced law in New York City, joining the ACLU in 2017. In spring 2019, she successfully argued Ohio A. Philip Randolph Institute v. Householder. The U.S. Court for the Southern District of Ohio struck down the [Ohio Congressional map as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander](https://www.aclu.org/blog/voting-rights/gerrymandering/why-ohios-congressional-map-unconstitutional/) .

Altha J. Stewart, M.D., is the executive director of the National Leadership Council on African-American Behavioral Health. Dr. Stewart has served in several executive positions nationally, managing large public mental health programs and systems in Pennsylvania, New York, and Michigan. Dr. Stewart is also past president of the Association of Women Psychiatrists and the Black Psychiatrists of America.

Growing up on the border while being both a Mexican and United States citizen has allowed Alvaro Diaz to gain a valuable perspective on the challenges and opportunities of political and civic participation. After moving to the U.S. at the age of 19, Alvaro recognized the importance of youth civic involvement in southern Arizona. During the pandemic, he became part of the first cohort of Public Allies in Tucson, Arizona. While serving for a local non-profit, he had the opportunity to learn about the dynamics of the nonprofit world and the importance of collaboration among non-governmental actors as a fundamental part of democracy development. Motivated by this experience, Alvaro participated in a local program, developed by Greater Tucson Leadership, to meet the change agents of my community. The 10-month program brings together different actors from business, government, nonprofit, and public sectors. As a student at the University of Arizona, he had the opportunity to serve as the Undergraduate Representative for the Latin American Studies Student Association, as well as part of the Aspiring Latino Lawyers Club. He also participated in a seminar by the Washington Center, learning about current issues related to National Security. As he continues his education, Alvaro has come to the realization much of the changes we want as young citizens start at the local level and civic engagement plays a huge role in moving our agenda forward.

**Alvaro Lima** is the Director of Research for the Boston Planning & Development Agency. Originally from Brazil, he recently served as Senior Vice President and Director of Research of the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC), a non-profit organization founded by Harvard Professor Michael Porter. Prior to the ICIC, Alvaro was the Director of Economic Development at Urban Edge, a Boston-based community development corporation. He has also worked as Chief of the Economic Development Department of the Ministry of Industry and Energy in Mozambique. In his work in Brazil, he was the Coordinator of Regional Development Projects at the Institute for Social and Economic Research – IPARDES. Alvaro holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the New School for Social Research.

Alvin Buyinza is a reporter for MassLive.

Alvin Poussaint is Director of the Media Center of the Judge Baker Children's Center in Boston. He is also a Professor of Psychiatry and Faculty Associate Dean for Student Affairs at Harvard Medical School. He is co-author of Raising Black Children, and Lay My Burden Down. Poussaint is an expert on race relations in America, the dynamics of prejudice, and issues of diversity as our society becomes increasingly multicultural. He was a script consultant to NBC's The Cosby Show and continues to consult to the media as an advocate of more responsible programming.

Alysia Abbott is the author of Fairyland, A Memoir of My Father, which was a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice and an ALA Stonewall Award winner and was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards. She grew up in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury, the only child of gay poet and writer, Steve Abbott.

Alyssa Johl is an international environmental and human rights lawyer, campaigner and organizer. Alyssa’s practice focuses on human rights and climate change, working to protect the rights of those most vulnerable to climate change and to develop new legal strategies to accelerate action on climate change.