Class XXI (2022-2024)

Clause Okwoku Obote is an Assistant County Commissioner with seven years of professional experience in administration and security in Kenya. He is passionate about a secure society and among his core duties is to spearhead the fight against terrorism and organized gangs, initiate dialogue and reconciliation in conflict-prone areas, and participate in peace-building and social cohesion in Kenya.

He is also a Young African Leaders Initiative alumni. This Obama Foundation Leadership program trains young people in leadership and governance. Obote is a beneficiary of the program’s transformation fund that he used to successfully run a project in 2021 about Women’s Role in Countering Violent Extremism on the Kenyan-Somalia border. Over 200 women were sensitized during the project.

Clause looks forward to forming mentorship programs in peace and conflict resolution targeting youths in Kenya. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences majoring in Criminology. His sponsor district is 9212.

Daniela Patricia Sánchez Duque has worked at the Presidential Council for Stabilization and Consolidation in Colombia with the team in charge of boosting the Frame Plan of Implementation, which is the instrument that will orient public politics required for the fulfillment of the Final Peace Agreement for the coming 15 years. She has contributed to boost and monitor transversal topics of the Agreement such as rural integral development, political participation, victims, reinstatement and solutions to illicit drugs issues.

Daniela hopes to continue working for vulnerable communities, transforming their realities and having a positive impact and, therefore, to participate in the construction and implementation of public policies as a public servant.

She has a degree in International Affairs from Universidad del Rosario, Colombia, and a Master in Homeland Security from the National War College and Defense of Colombia. Her Rotary sponsor district is 4281.

Davis Makori is a campaigner who formerly worked as the Advocacy and Campaign Manager at Crisis Action, an organization that is a catalyst and coordinator for coalitions working together to protect civilians from armed conflict.

Later, he has worked at Oxfam on humanitarian advocacy. Based in Nairobi, Davis helped coordinate global campaigns by engaging coalitions and networks of civil society organizations to protect vulnerable civilians in conflict situations across Africa. In this role, Davis helped coordinate strategic and innovative campaigns and advocacy initiatives involving grassroots civil society organizations as well as regional and global civil society to convince policymakers to take action to protect civilians.

He received a Bachelor's degree from the University of Nairobi, and is an alumnus of the Bucerius Summer School on Global Governance and the University of Oslo's International Summer School. His sponsor district is 9212.

Eva Patricia Rodriguez Bellegarrigue has extensive experience working in international development in El Salvador. She started her career working for the Human Rights Ombudsman after the peace accords, and then served as the Rule of Law Specialist for USAID/El Salvador, and directly implemented numerous projects to improve the justice system, promote mediation, transitional justice and create spaces for dialogue and policy reform in favor of vulnerable populations.

Eva is passionate about dialogue and philosophy. She is a member of the Aspen Leadership Global Network and a pro bono advisor to the International Organization New Acropolis where she leads a project on SDG implementation particularly on Peace (SDG16).

In 2012, Eva founded a Nonprofit Fundacion Iris de C.A. (now Partners El Salvador), which is a member of a global peacebuilding network, Partners Global. In 2017, this NGO was selected by USAID and Counterpart International to co-implement the Rights and Dignity Project (2017-2024). Eva led this project until 2022 when she was awarded with the Rotary Peace Fellowship.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in law and has studied human rights and mediation in the US. Eva is sponsored by the Southern Caribbean District 7030 and the El Salvador Rotary Club 7210, as well as by Club Country 4240.

Joseph Augustine is a fellow from Nigeria with a strong desire to contribute to finding sustainable solutions to problems stifling development in Africa. He has over eight years volunteer and professional experience working with youth movements and NGOs.

He served as the national coordinator for youth digital engagement for Actionaid Nigeria (YDE). Joseph is skilled in youth mobilizing, project management, data collection, and graphics design, and has a strong passion for youth development. Through the organization Verve Megaminds Network, he implemented a project called Making Education Sustainable and Accessible, which allowed 500 children in eleven communities across three states in Nigeria to continue learning during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020. Joseph is committed to building a world where people have the freedom to pursue their dreams without any form of discrimination or restriction from any person or entity.

Joseph has a Bachelor in Economics from the Federal University Lokoj, Nigeria. He is sponsored by Rotary district 9125, Abuja Nigeria.

Katherine Ronderos is an international consultant and NGO director from Colombia with a demonstrated history of over 15 years working in the sector of women’s rights, peace, security, and development. She has broad professional experience in the U.K., Honduras, and Colombia working with women victims of war, leading initiatives for the elimination of violence against women, women’s empowerment and political participation in peace-building processes.

Katherine contributed to the inclusion of the gender perspective in the Colombian peace negotiation process, as Director of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom in Colombia (LIMPAL in Spanish). She has also worked for U.N. agencies to deliver training to former combatants, military, government, and U.N. personnel on the prevention of sexual violence in the context of armed conflict, as well as providing technical advice on security and risk analysis with a gender perspective in the context of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration processes.

She holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Saint Thomas University in Colombia and an MSc in Development Studies from the London South Bank University in the U.K. Katherine is sponsored by district 4281 and Rotary Club 85293.

Musawenkosi Mpofu is a Zimbabwean fellow and a development practitioner by profession with over five years’ experience in non-governmental organizations. His interests are on advocacy, youth development, peace building, research, natural resource governance and advancing climate justice.

Musawenkosi has advanced skills and experience in designing and implementing development programs, monitoring and evaluation, project management and research. He worked as the Monitoring Evaluation Research and Learning Officer at Zimbabwe Christian Alliance. His roles were overseeing the implementation of the Evaluation and Performance Monitoring Plan for the peace building and social accountability projects and led all performance measurement, assessment and evaluation activities.

Musawenkosi has served as a volunteer in international organizations such as United Network of Young Peace Builders and is part of the African Youth Advocacy Team working on the localization of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2250. He is also part of the European Union Delegation to Zimbabwe Youth Sounding Board, which is advising and ensuring the inclusion of young people in the EU projects across Zimbabwe.

He holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences in Development Studies and a postgraduate Special Honors Degree in Monitoring and Evaluation from Lupane State University in Zimbabwe. Musawenkosi is sponsored by Rotary Club 9210, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

Ornella Corsant-Colat is a French fellow with 4 years of professional experience working as a security analyst in the Central African Republic (CAR). She first worked for the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSCA providing strategic and operational advice to support decision-making of senior leadership. Then, Ornella worked with the International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO), providing advice and analysis to over 100 partner humanitarian organizations operating across CAR. She was in charge of monitoring and analyzing the security context of Central African Republic, armed groups dynamics, and identifying potential threats to the mandate of MINUSCA.

During her more recent experience at INSO, Ornella managed a team of 11 staff and helped NGOs improve their overall situational awareness and ensure safe access to remote location in order to deliver aid to people in need. Another central aspect of her work was the use of database and coding standardized incident data at INSO via the Conflict & Humanitarian Data Centre (CHDC) to better identify trends on the ground and inform both operational and policy responses.

Her research interests focus on data and diplomacy; mainly, on how data-driven approach can enhance decision-making in peacekeeping missions. Additionally, she is interested in armed groups dynamics and projecting armed conflicts.

Ornella holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Drew University, New Jersey, USA. Her sponsor district is 1570 in The Netherlands.

Vanessa Lanteigne is a Canadian fellow who was first introduced to Rotary through the Rotary Youth Leadership Award and a Rotary Youth Exchange to Mexico in 2008. Since then she completed her studies at the University of Victoria with a Major in Political Science and has worked in a variety of roles within non-profits.

In Tanzania, she worked to secure funding sources for a children’s rights organization, which had programs to reduce unwanted teenage pregnancy, child marriage and female genital cutting/mutilation. In Ghana, Vanessa was a training facilitator to promote youth livelihoods through employment and entrepreneurship training programs and was responsible for the design and implementation of the first Innovation Fund at her training centre, which was replicated in five other countries.

After returning to Canada, she continued to work in social justice with her latest occupation as the National Coordinator at the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace. Vanessa is sponsored by district 5040.