Student Leaders and Members

Marcia Almeida Mendes (F’20) (’20)

Empower Fellow 2020

Marcia is a second-year master’s degree student at the Fletcher School, studying International Development and NGO Management. Prior to Fletcher, she worked three years as a professor of Brazilian Studies at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in South Korea. She was also a Fulbright scholar at University of Massachusetts at Lowell, where she taught Portuguese language and culture. Before coming to the USA in 2014, Marcia completed her master’s degree in Applied Linguistics in Brazil, where she was born and raised. At Fletcher, she is focused on the role of grassroots organizations in International Development and how they can help the most vulnerable populations to have better economic opportunities. She spent the Summer of 2019 in Guinea-Bissau, Africa, doing research for her capstone entitled Pain and Hope in Guinea-Bissau. She has also served as a co-leader of the Fletcher Christian Fellowship for the 2019-2020 AY.

This summer she is working with MEBAR, a faith-based organization in the West Africa nation of Guinea-Bissau. MEBAR is planning to build an Innovation Center in the country’s main commercial route. The Innovation Center will provide courses on financial education, literacy for women, health and other relevant topics for Guinea-Bissauan society. Marcia is assisting MEBAR with the strategic planning, marketing and fundraising to take the Innovation Center from paper to reality.

Naman Shrivastava (’21)

Empower 2020 Fellow

Naman Shrivastava (F’21) is an emerging markets enterprise scholar at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He is the Founder of one of India's fastest growing social impact ventures - Global Governance Initiative (GGI).  This summer he will be working on creating an ed tech platform and launching impact labs across Indian colleges to address the SDG goal 5 on gender equality, SDG goal 4 on quality education, and goal 8 on decent work and economic growth.

At the Fletcher School, he is focusing on Business for Social Impact and Development Economics. He has previously worked as a strategy consultant in the Government of India, and is working at the United Nations - office of internal oversight services. Naman is also a recipient of the prestigious Harry Ratliffe Memorial Prize - awarded by the Fletcher Alumni of Color Executive Board. 

His experience has been at the intersection of Management Consulting, Political Consulting, and Social entrepreneurship. 

Naman is also a trained western classical guitarist, and has played state level professional cricket in India. He wants to use his education to create a world - that is better led, better served, and better governed.

Alfred Sogja (F’22) (’22)

Empower Fellow 2020

Alfred is a first-year Master’s in International Business candidate at The Fletcher School, studying business for social impact. His goal is to figure out how to influence and drive change towards socially impactful decision making. Prior to Fletcher, he worked in the human capital consulting industry. Over the summer, he will be conducting research on Albania’s job market, with a goal to ultimately solve the untapped talent problem there via an innovative business model. When he is not studying, he loves visiting coffee shops around the country, hiking in the mountains, and practicing meditation.

Tasfia Zaman (’20)

Empower Fellow 2020

Tasfia is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy degree from the Fletcher School, Tufts University. Her academic concentrations are Development Economics and Labor and Workforce Development (self-designed). Tasfia is passionate about policy work on labour and social protection of women and youth as well as women’s financial independence. Prior to coming to Fletcher, Tasfia worked as a consultant for the Government of Bangladesh on workforce development projects and on a variety of research consultancies for the Brookings Institution in Washington DC and United Nations in New York. In her spare time, she loves watching Bon Appétit cooking videos as well as tennis and football matches. Tasfia is proficient in English, Bangla, and French. 

This summer, Tasfia is working as a research consultant for the International Labour Organization on a research project pertaining to skills development and employment through Information Communications Technology (ICT) training.