Stephen M. Rivers Memorial Fellowship

2021

Natalie Omodt went on to become CEDA’s Program Associate after serving as CEDA’s 2021-2022 Stephen M. Rivers Memorial Fellow. Natalie graduated magna cum laude from Elon University in 2020 with a BA in International Studies and Political Science and minors in Latin American Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, and Spanish. Through involvement in her university’s Periclean Scholars program, Natalie worked on a multimedia project called Sin Embargo: A collection of Cuban stories, which collected interviews with Cubans and shared conversations between Cubans and Americans, encouraging viewers to imagine subsequent interactions “without the embargo.” Following her first trip to Cuba in 2015, Natalie also worked on projects coordinating and distributing wheelchairs in Cuba in 2017. Her enduring interest in Cuba led to four subsequent visits including a summer abroad through Tulane University in 2017 and semester abroad at the University of Havana in 2019.

2020

University of Havana and at Casa de las Américas. She was previously a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Intern in the House of Representatives for a Florida Congressman. Before that, Laura interned with the Bloomberg Philanthropies Education Team in New York City. Laura now works as an Associate with the Albright Stonebridge Group's Americas Practice in Washington, DC.

2019

Sarah Coker went on to become CEDA’s Development and Communications Coordinator. Sarah graduated from Skidmore College with a BA in Spanish and minor in Latin American Studies. She previously interned at CEDA and with the Cuba and Communications teams at the Washington Office on Latin America. She co-authored a paper on non-traditional channels for mobilization as related to Cuba’s draft constitution with CEDA’s previous fellow Luis Carlos Battista. Her interest in Cuba began with a travel seminar to the island in 2015, and was furthered through a second trip in 2017 and a semester abroad in Havana in 2018.

2018

Luis Carlos earned a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Havana Law School and a B.A. in International Relations from Florida International University. He also holds a Masters in Law in International Business and Economic Law from Georgetown Law. Luis Carlos has published several articles about Cuba, Latin America and U.S. Foreign Policy towards the region. He focuses his career on the intersection of Rule of Law and foreign investment. He has worked in different capacities including with the United Nations Association of Cuba; Georgetown Law’s Center for the Advancement for the Rule of Law (CAROLA) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

2017

Joey most recently worked in the Consumer Marketing Department at the Washington Post. He graduated from Miami University with degrees in International Studies, Latin American Studies, and Spanish. His interests include U.S. foreign policy towards Latin America and comparative politics. He previously served through AmeriCorps at Louisville’s Americana World Community Center, as well as interned at the Center for International Study and Development and the World Affairs Council of Kentucky. In January 2015, Joey traveled to Cuba with a university course, sparking his desire to work with the island in the future.

2016

Sara received her Master’s in International Affairs from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Her thesis, “Alternative Futures for the Civil Military Relationship in a Post-Castro Cuba,” was awarded the “Best Work of 2014” in her program. It was also published on the Director of National Intelligence’s Virtual Americas Network, and widely circulated in the White House and the Department of Defense. Sara completed her undergraduate work at Washington University in St. Louis with a focus on visual culture and gender relations in the Mexican drug trade. Sara majored in Spanish and speaks beginning Portuguese.

2015

Emilia went on to become CEDA’s Cuba Travel Program Manager. Emilia is a Washington native proud of her Cuban and Mexican heritage. In 2014, Emilia spent seven weeks in Cuba studying small-scale agricultural practices and helping to implement a permaculture garden project led by Fundacion Antonio Núñez Jiménez de la Naturaleza y el Hombre and the Urban Farmer at a University in Sancti Spiritus. She previously interned at the US Department of Agriculture, Engage Cuba, and La Fundación Para La Paz in the Dominican Republic. She graduated from the University of Virginia, after completing a unique distinguished majors program in Political and Social Thought.

2014

Cullen graduated from American University, where he studied International Relations with a focus on Global Political Economy.

His research on economic sanctions was named “Best Undergraduate Research Paper” by the American University Library. Before starting his university studies, Cullen spent a year traveling and working in Central America. During his time as a student, he traveled to Cuba three times on student-organized cultural exchange trips, two of which he led.

2013

Jaime has worked for Reuters in Havana, for Insight Cuba, an NGO that leads people-to-people delegations to Cuba, and as Director of Communications and Outreach for Engage Cuba. Jaime holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy and Latin American Studies from Hampshire College and spent a year in Cuba conducting field research for her undergraduate thesis.

“[After] leaving CEDA, I continued leading delegations of Americans to Cuba, helping to bridge the gap between the two nations. I [also] pursu[ed] a career in journalism, where I hope [I] shed light on injustices and the faces behind the issues. Into th[at] field, I carr[ied] with me the importance precision, integrity, and objectivity instilled in me as a Rivers Fellow.

I am forever grateful!”

2012

Emma went on to work as CEDA’s Research and Communications Associate.

“Although I was not in school while I was a Rivers intern, CEDA became a classroom of its own. My internship was most of all a learning experience, and gave me a unique perspective on my academic work studying twentieth-century Latin American history, making me all the more conscious of the great complexities at play in every moment of history, most of all in moments of great historical change, like the one we see taking place in U.S.-Cuba relations right now.”