Meet ABA ROLI's 2020 Fall Interns!

This fall ABA ROLI welcomes the following interns to its team: 

Rebecca Contreras, Min Young Park, Hannah Tyler, Itiel Wainer, Elyse Wanzenried, and Jamie Wise.

During her time at ABA ROLI, Rebecca Contreras supports our work with the Rodrigo Lara Bonilla Judicial Training School program in Colombia and the Justice Sector Reform Project and the Justice Sector Strengthening Program in Peru.

Hannah Tyler works alongside ABA ROLI’s LAC Program Officer, Brenda Maldonado on ROLI’s Mexico, Central America, and Caribbean programming. Specifically, she provides general grant support, mostly in the Mexico program, Panama program, and an upcoming trafficking in persons project in Barbados; and conducts research for ongoing business development in the region.

While at ABA ROLI, Itiel Wainer’s portfolio consists of ABA ROLI’s Colombia programming. Specifically, he assists with the Human Rights Support Mechanism (HRSM) project targeting migrants and returnees in Colombia and also works on the first steps of a program focused on protecting human rights defenders in Colombia.

Min Young Park is an intern with ABA ROLI’s Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Division (MEL) to develop training materials and assist with ABA ROLI’s DevResults roll-out and materials related to ABA ROLI’s Internet Freedom programming. DevResults is a web-based performance monitoring platform that ABA ROLI staff members use for their programs.

Elyse Wanzenried is an intern with ABA ROLI’s Asia Division and works on a variety of portfolios, including the Regional Anti-Corruption Adviser program, the Vietnam Trial Advocacy program, the Improving Trafficking in Persons victims’ access to quality legal services in the Vietnam program, the Access to Justice and Support for the Rule of Law in the Philippines program, as well as general work on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing. Her workload includes copyediting, research, drafting sections of reports and contracts, and data analysis and verification.

Jamie Wise is working on ROLI’s MEL Division with a primary focus on consolidating ABA ROLI's institutional knowledge on atrocity prevention and transitional justice from it’s past programs and projects.

Read below more about our current interns!

Rebecca Contreras

Preferred Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Rebecca Contreras recently joined the ABA Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) on October 5, 2020 as an intern for the Latin America and the Caribbean Division (LAC). She is a recent graduate of Davidson College, with a dual degree in Political Science and Latin American Studies. Her academic coursework focused on conflict resolution, human rights and development in Latin America. She has extensive in-country research experience examining the impacts of transitional justice and peacebuilding, and modes of dispute resolution in Guatemala and Colombia. Prior to interning at ABA ROLI, Contreras served as an intern at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and worked on human rights and migration issues at Casa del Migrante and Centro Internacional para Investigaciones en Derechos Humanos in Guatemala. Originally from Guatemala, Rebecca is part of the ALDEA Young Professionals Council and recently started an English teaching initiative with MAIA Impact School.

Spanish: Rebecca Contreras se unió recientementa a ABA ROLI el 5 octubre de 2020 como pasante en la división de Latinoamérica y el Caribe. Se graduó recientemente de Davidson College con una doble licenciatura en Ciencias Políticas y Estudios Latinoamericanos. Sus estudios se enfocaron en la resolución de conflictos, derechos humanos y desarrollo en la región. Tiene una amplia experiencia de investigación de campo en Guatemala y Colombia examinando los impactos de la justicia transicional y la construcción de paz, y los modos de resolución de conflictos. Antes de unirse al equipo de ABA ROLI, Contreras fue pasante en la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos y trabajó en temas de migración y derechos humanos en Casa del Migrante y en el Centro Internacional para Investigaciones en Derechos Humanos en Guatemala. Originaria de Guatemala, Rebecca forma parte del Consejo de Profesionales Jóvenes de ALDEA y recientemente inició una iniciativa de educación en inglés con la Escuela de Impacto MAIA.

Hannah Tyler

Preferred Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Hannah Tyler joined ABA ROLI as an intern with its LAC Division in October 2020. Tyler has experience working on immigration and refugee issues, diplomatic issues, human rights issues, and public policy issues. Concurrent with her work at ABA ROLI, Tyler works as an Advocacy Intern at Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service focusing on climate migration, and as a Research Assistant for Professor Katrin Sieg at Georgetown University focusing on cultural diplomacy and policy. Before joining ABA ROLI, Tyler worked at Dafero, an NGO focused on providing education and job training to refugee and vulnerable women. She is fluent in English and German and conversational in Spanish. She received a B.A. in History and Theatre from Rice University (minor in Politics, Law, and Social Thought) and is a second-year Master’s Student in German and European Studies at the Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service. At Georgetown, she is focusing on refugees and humanitarian emergencies and diplomatic studies and concentrating on human rights and democracy in the transatlantic relationship.

Spanish: Hannah Tyler, interno, se unió a ABA ROLI el octubre de 2020. Tyler tiene experiencia trabajando en asuntos de inmigración y refugiados, asuntos diplomáticos, asuntos de derechos humanos y asuntos de políticas públicas. Paralelamente a su trabajo con ABA ROLI, Tyler está trabajando con el Servicio Luterano de Inmigración y Refugiados como Interno de Abogacía que se enfoca en la migración climática, y como Asistente de Investigación de la Profesora Katrin Sieg que se enfoca en la diplomacia cultural. Antes de unirse a ABA ROLI, Tyler trabajó en Dafero, una ONG centrada en brindar educación y capacitación laboral a mujeres refugiadas y vulnerables. Habla inglés y alemán con fluidez y es conversacional en español. Recibió un B.A. en Historia y Teatro (especialidad en Política, Derecho y Pensamiento Social) de la Universidad de Rice y es estudiante de segundo año de maestría en estudios alemanes y europeos en la Escuela de Servicio Exterior Walsh de la Universidad de Georgetown, donde se centra en refugiados y emergencias humanitarias y estudios diplomáticos.

Min Young Park

                                                                    Preferred Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Min Young Park is a MA candidate at Sciences Po concentrating on Research Methods and the Middle East and North Africa. Prior to her studies, she worked as an evaluation consultant at the International Republican Institute (IRI) and litigation paralegal for Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP. She graduated with High Honors in International Studies and Arabic from Emory University in 2017. Her topical interests include forced displacement, stabilization missions, and ICT4AD. Min is also an Arabic and Spanish speaker.

Spanish: Min Young Park es una estudiante de maestría en Sciences Po que se concentra en los métodos de investigación y el Oriente Medio y África del Norte. Antes de sus estudios, trabajó como consultora de evaluación en el Instituto Republicano Internacional (IRI) y asistente legal en litigios para Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP. Se graduó con Altos Honores en Estudios Internacionales y Árabe de la Universidad de Emory en 2017. Sus intereses incluyen el desplazamiento forzado, las misiones de estabilización y la ICT4AD. Min también habla árabe y español.

Arabic: مين يونغ بارك هي طالبة ماجستير في مدرسة باريس للشؤون الدولية حيث تركز على طرق البحث والشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا. وقبل دراستها، عملت كمستشارة في التقييم في المعهد الجمهوري الدولي و قبل ذلك مكتب قانون . وتخرجت في العام 2017 بمرتبة الشرف العالي في الدراسات الدولية والعربية من جامعة إيموري. هي تستطيع أن تتكلم باللغة العربية والإسبانية.

Itiel Wainer

Preferred pronouns: He/Him/His

Itiel Wainer is a 2020 fall intern with ABA ROLI’s LAC Division. Prior to interning at ABA ROLI, Itiel was a Research Assistant at the US Department of Defense’s Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, where he assisted on projects related to civil-military relations and the rule of law. He also has internship experience at the National Security Archive’s Mexico Project focused primarily on human rights, clandestine graves, and forced disappearances. Itiel has native/bilingual fluency in Spanish and is a 2020 graduate with a B.A. in International Affairs from the George Washington University.

Spanish: Itiel Wainer es un pasante de otoño 2020 en la División de ABA ROLI LAC. Antes de ser pasante en ABA ROLI, Itiel fue asistente de investigación en el Centro de Estudios Hemisféricos de Defensa del Departamento de Defensa, donde ayudó con proyectos enfocados en las relaciones cívico-militares y el imperio de la ley. También tiene experiencia como pasante en el Proyecto México del Archivo de Seguridad Nacional centrado principalmente en derechos humanos, fosas clandestinas y desapariciones forzadas. Itiel tiene fluidez nativa/bilingüe en español y es un recién graduado con un B.A. en Asuntos Internacionales de la Universidad George Washington.

Elyse Wanzenried

Preferred Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Elyse is originally from Minnetonka, Minnesota, and graduated from Carleton College in 2019 with a degree in International Relations/Political Science and English with a minor in French and Francophone Studies. Elyse’s professional and academic experience includes working for the French Coordination of the European Women’s Lobby in Paris and the American Society of International Law in Washington, D.C. She conducted research in Senegal about the evolution of feminism in the colonial and post-colonial periods through interviews with three generations of women associated with the École normale de Rufisque. She also conducted research on the intersection of environmental conservation and indigenous representation in national and tribal parks in the United States. Most recently, she worked as an English language volunteer with the Peace Corps in Kyrgyzstan in the Naryn region. After being evacuated due to the onset of COVID-19, she worked on contract for Arcus publishing in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan as the editor in chief of the eighth and tenth grade national English textbooks and workbooks that were published at the end of summer 2020.

Jamie Wise

Preferred Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Jamie Wise recently graduated with her B.A. in International Studies and Sociology from the Ohio State University. Her research focuses on transitional justice and atrocity prevention, and she has conducted qualitative fieldwork on the legacies of mass violence in Rwanda, Syria, and Cambodia. Previously, Jamie has interned at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC. She is passionate about producing policy-relevant research to help address the aftermath of mass atrocities, which is the subject of her TEDx talk, Our search for justice in a violent world. At ABA-ROLI, Jamie is excited to join the MEL team and learn more about justice-focused development programming.