“Growing up with one foot in the developed world and one foot in the developing world, I couldn’t help but confront how realities that are so simple for some are unfathomable for others,” reflects Francesca Nyakora ’19. It is this awareness of the challenges facing the world’s most underserved communities—instilled by her mother at an early age, reinforced during her studies at Taft and later Yale, and now put into action in some of the nation’s most prestigious fellowships—that has led Nyakora to work toward achieving lasting global change.

      Raised across five countries as the daughter of a Kenyan diplomat, Nyakora seemed almost destined to follow in her mother’s footsteps. “My mom is my greatest inspiration,” she says. “She spent the bulk of her career in conflict areas, including in Afghanistan for eight years, in northern Nigeria during the Boko Haram insurgency, and in Mali during its civil war.” Still only 23 years old, Nyakora has already begun to carry on her mother’s legacy and has wasted no time reaching out to areas affected by conflict and extreme poverty.

      After graduating from Taft, she pursued a double degree in African studies and political science, as well as certificates in French and human rights, at Yale University. During her time there, she also spent a year conducting research and helping shape policy as a fellow in the prestigious Kerry Initiative, founded by former Secretary of State John Kerry to partner with a select group of students to help address some of the world’s most pressing challenges. In her time as a fellow, Nyakora primarily focused on the African continent, particularly the impacts of climate change on the region.

      She followed this formative experience with a year as a junior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, advising on a wide range of issues—from ongoing unrest in Somalia to a series of political coups in the Sahel to an alarming rise in femicide in Kenya. “As a young Kenyan American, I was really gratified to be able to provide a dual perspective on many of these challenges,” she says. “One of the scholars I worked with was appointed to be senior director for Africa on the National Security Council (NSC), and as she was preparing to take on that role, she kept telling me how my research would have a major impact on her work on the NSC. That was particularly rewarding.”

      This coming February, Nyakora embarks on her latest adventure, this time as a Fulbright Scholar in Brazil examining the role of community organizations to address violence and instability in the impoverished, long-neglected favelas of Rio de Janeiro. But for her, all of these accomplishments are just the beginning. “After I finish my Fulbright, I’d like to complete a graduate program in development studies and, from there, pursue a career at the nexus of development and security studies to influence policy, either with a role in government or within an international organization or NGO,” she explains. 

      “I love this work because you can see the impact so clearly generation to generation—even year to year. I think that’s rewarding beyond measure.”