Nia Kamau is a U.S. State Department Pickering Fellow and MPP candidate at the Jackson School, focusing on human rights and diplomacy. Nia's work has concentrated on international and U.S. children's issues and intercultural relations. Before coming to Yale, Nia worked for the SMU Human Rights Program, where she co-taught and co-developed a class on race, storytelling, and social change. Nia is a summa cum laude graduate of Southern Methodist University with a BA in human rights and international studies, with minors in Arabic, public policy and international affairs, and economics. Her undergraduate research analyzed the relationship between female policymakers and child marriage in Uganda. While her work primarily focuses on children's rights and racial reconciliation, Nia brings experience in spheres that include economic development (The Market Project), justice reform (Lone Star Justice Alliance), refugee support (Texas Muslim Women's Association), and anti-human trafficking (Traffick 911). After Yale, Nia will join the State Department as a foreign service officer through the Pickering Fellowship.