Seventeen Harvard Law School students have been awarded 2026 Chayes International Public Service Fellowships for work with organizations based in 11 countries. The Chayes Fellows are listed below, with their summer placements and biographical information submitted by the students.
Hadley Ackerman – International Commission of Jurists, Switzerland
Hadley is a first-year law student from New York City and Singapore. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in public policy and M.A. in international relations. Prior to law school, she studied Mandarin at National Taiwan University as a Boren Scholar and then worked for the U.S. Department of State. At Harvard, she is involved with the Harvard International Law Journal, Harvard National Security Journal, and HLS Advocates for Human Rights. This summer, Hadley will be working with the International Commission of Jurists in Geneva, Switzerland, focusing on projects related to human rights and the rule of law in Central Asia.
Nicole Adamson – International Energy Agency, France
Nicole is a first-year law student from California and Colorado who is passionate about international environmental cooperation. She previously worked on a Native Hawaiian water rights project at the Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law at the University of Hawai‘i. Nicole earned a Bachelor’s degree in marine biology from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and a Master’s degree in Global Affairs from China’s Tsinghua University as a Schwarzman Scholar. She is excited to continue her adventures abroad this summer at the International Energy Agency.
Menatallah Bahnasy – European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, United Kingdom
Menat Bahnasy is a J.D. candidate at Harvard Law School and a graduate of Harvard College, where she studied Economics and Modern Middle Eastern Studies and earned a citation in Arabic. She is fascinated by international law, development finance, and public service, particularly how law and institutions can be harnessed to advance equitable development and human rights. Before law school, she worked at Bain & Company in New York and the United Nations World Food Programme in Rome, supporting innovation and systems-level reform initiatives. At Harvard, she is an editor for the Harvard International Law Journal and a student volunteer for HLS Advocates for Human Rights. This summer, she will be in London with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, working on legal reform and economic governance across emerging markets.
Joyce Chen – Council of Europe Bank, France
Joyce is a first-year student from Vancouver, Canada. This summer, the Chayes Fellowship will support her work at the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), where she will contribute to initiatives focused on social inclusion and digital governance across CEB member states. At HLS, Joyce serves as an editor for the Harvard International Law Journal and as a Head Teaching Fellow in the Harvard Department of Government. Joyce earned her B.A. from Harvard College, where she majored in Government and Ethnicity, Migration, & Rights.
Jordyn Christophides – Fenix Legal Aid, Greece
Jordyn Christophides is a first-year law student and master of public health student from Long Island, New York. She graduated from Stony Brook University in 2023 with degrees in Political Science and Linguistics. Before coming to HLS, Jordyn was a project coordinator for Medical Volunteers International in Kos, Greece, and Subotica, Serbia, managing teams of medical professionals conducting medical outreach on the Balkan Route. This summer, Jordyn will be returning to Greece to work with Fenix Humanitarian Legal Aid in Lesvos, Greece, whom she will help to provide legal services to refugees in the Mavrovouni camp, as well as conduct research on physical and mental health in Greek hot-spot camps.
Anna Diaconu – Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Hungary
Anna is a first-year law student from Seattle, WA. She graduated from Bowdoin College in 2024 with a double major in Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies and in Government and Legal Studies. She then spent a year working with the EuroEd Foundation— a nonprofit which advances tech literacy, anti-discrimination, and access to education in Romania. This summer, she will join the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, pursuing initiatives which address democratic backsliding, rule of law, and refugee rights.
Caroline Hoover – Sjúkratryggingar (Iceland Government Health Agency) / Health Care Institution of North Iceland, Iceland
Caroline Hoover is a lifelong resident of western North Carolina, who attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she majored in Medical Anthropology and Peace War and Defense before attending Cambridge University for her MPhil in Health, Medicine, and Society. Informed by her experiences growing up in a small Appalachian community, her interests center around how the law can be leveraged to better access to responsible health care in rural areas. Here at Harvard she is also completing a Masters of Public Health at the Harvard Chan School. As a Chayes Fellow, Caroline will spend her summer working for the Icelandic government, focused on their national rural health care infrastructure and electoral transition.
Mara Kelly – British Institute of International and Comparative Law, United Kingdom
Mara is a first-year law student who graduated from Northwestern University in 2021 with a B.A. in American Studies and Religious Studies. Prior to law school, she worked as a communications staffer for a U.S. Member of Congress, before completing an MPhil in U.S. History at the University of Oxford. Mara’s thesis examined the transnational ideological influence of U.S. Christian nationalism, and she is thrilled to contribute to legal research on democracy and the rule of law through her position at BIICL this summer. At HLS, she is involved in the Harvard International Law Journal and the Harvard Journal of Law & Gender. Outside of school, Mara is passionate about food and wine. She worked full-time at a wine bar in the year before attending HLS, and she currently runs weekly wine tastings at a wine shop in Cambridge.
Leena Khan – European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, Germany
Leena Khan is a first-year law student who grew up in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Prior to law school, Leena was a CASA I and CASA II fellow in Amman, Jordan, conducting research on neo-colonialism in international law in Arabic. Prior to that, she was a paralegal in Washington, D.C. She holds a B.S. from Georgetown University. At Harvard Law, she is involved in the International Law Journal and HLS Advocates for Human Rights. This summer she will be working at the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights on issues of international criminal accountability.
Katherine Owojori – British Institute of International and Comparative Law, United Kingdom
Katherine is a first-year student from Los Angeles, California. She graduated in 2023 from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. Prior to law school, she worked in education, civil rights, and public interest advocacy. At HLS, Katherine is a Law & Social Change Fellow and is involved with the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review and the Harvard Plaintiffs Law Association. This summer, she will work at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law in London, researching international humanitarian law, human rights, and cultural heritage law.
Vaishnav Rajkumar – European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, United Kingdom
Vaishnav is a second-year law student. Originally from India, he was born and raised in the U.A.E. He graduated with a B.A. in European politics from Kings College London, and then completed an M.Phil. in Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge. Vaishnav has previously worked as a Chayes Fellow at TRIAL International in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and has also assisted a U.N. Special Rapporteur at the International Law Commission. At HLS, he is a Salzburg-Cutler Fellow, Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard International Law Journal, and Project Coordinator for HLS Advocates for Human Rights. Vaishnav will spend the first half of his summer researching international humanitarian law in peacekeeping at the CMI — Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation in Helsinki, Finland, and for the second, will advise on post-conflict investment strategies at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London, U.K.
Shireen Salam – World Food Programme, Italy
Shireen is a first-year student who grew up in Kuwait but spent the last six years in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Before law school, Shireen spent several years working as a legal assistant in the criminal division at the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan. She holds a B.A. from Grand Valley State University. This summer, Shireen will be working on issues related to the delivery of humanitarian aid, including contracts between IGOs and private vendors, supply-chain risks, and remedies in the event of breaches at the World Food Programme in Rome, Italy.
Sahaj Singh – Pan African Lawyers Union, Tanzania
Sahaj Singh is a first-year student from Dallas, Texas. They graduated from Harvard College in 2023 with an A.B. in Philosophy and in Social Studies (Political Theory and Economics), a minor in South Asian Studies, and received language citations in Hindi, Urdu, and Panjabi. Prior to law school, Sahaj worked in civil litigation in London and as an organizer in Delhi and Patna. At HLS, Sahaj serves as the co-editor-in-chief of Volume 40 of the Harvard Human Rights Journal and as co-president of the Law & Political Economy Students Association. They also volunteer with Harvard Defenders and HLS Advocates for Human Rights. This summer, Sahaj will support the Pan African Lawyers Union in their litigation efforts before the East African Court of Justice and the African Court of Human and Peoples Rights.
Ifeanyi Umunna – Public Defender Service, United Kingdom
Ifeanyi is a first-year law student from Boston, MA. She graduated with a B.A., summa cum laude, in Political Science from American University. Prior to coming to Harvard Law School, she served constituents as a District Representative in the Office of U.S. Congressman Stephen F. Lynch, and earned an M.Phil in Criminology from the University of Cambridge, where she was a Gates Cambridge Scholar. At the Law School, she is a Student Advocate with Harvard Defenders, a proud member of the Black Law Students Association, and the incoming Student Body Co-President. Ifeanyi is passionate about advocating for indigent people accused of crimes and improving the criminal legal system. This summer, she will work on defense strategies, client services, and public policy campaigns at the Public Defender Service.
Marin Vasseur – Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa, The Gambia
Marin is a first-year student from Nantes, France. Prior to law school, Marin worked at a non-profit in France doing social and legal work for asylum seekers and refugees. He holds a B.A. from Sciences Po Paris and a degree in classical piano performance from the Reims Conservatory. At Harvard Law, Marin is involved in Lambda, Parody, and the Harvard Human Rights Journal. This coming summer he will be working with the strategic human rights litigation department of the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa, where he will assist attorneys litigate various lawsuits in African international courts.
Ellen Yates – Southern Africa Litigation Centre, South Africa
Ellen is a first-year law student originally from Charlottesville, VA. She graduated from the University of Virginia in 2021 with a major in Political and Social Thought and a minor in Religious Studies. Before coming to law school, Ellen spent two years working as a paralegal for Judge Lisa Lorish in Virginia’s Court of Appeals, a year coordinating a mentorship program for young adult refugees in Nashville through the AmeriCorps VISTA program, and a year working as a paralegal with the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee. Ellen has pursued her interest in public interest legal work while at HLS through Advocates for Human Rights and the Prison Legal Assistance Project. This summer she will be supporting SALC’s litigation efforts to address human rights issues in southern Africa.
Tenzin Yonten – UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Switzerland
Tenzin is a first-year Tibetan law student from India. At HLS, he currently serves as the co-President of the Harvard Law School Student Government. He graduated from Hobart and William Smith Colleges with a triple major in English, History, and Asian Studies. Prior to Harvard Law, he worked for two years as a teacher in Mongolia, India, and Laos through fellowships like Princeton in Asia and TibetCorps. This summer he will be working at the UN OHCHR on the Indigenous Fellowship Program as well as the UN Voluntary Fund for Indigenous People.