PAAIA Announces Summer 2022 Public Service Fellows
Washington, DC – PAAIA is proud to announce our 2022 Summer Public Service Fellows!
Through programs such as the Ansari Public Service Fellowship, generously supported by Bijan and Fariba Ansari, and PAAIA’s overall efforts to support young professionals through fellowships, we encourage and empower young Iranian Americans to pursue careers in public service. Our programs provide financial support to young Iranian Americans for participating in public service-oriented summer internships, as well as provide mentorship opportunities via access to a network of Iranian American public servants and policy experts.
Meet our summer public service fellows!
Nadia Akbari is a rising senior at UC Berkeley pursuing a degree in Political Science. She is incredibly passionate about law, international relations, and human rights and hopes to make an impact in the world by advocating for those without a voice. Nadia has interned for Congresswoman Katie Porter and worked as a Research Assistant for the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law. She was also recently awarded the Travers Scholarship in Ethics and Politics at UC Berkeley. This summer, Nadia will be interning for the United States Department of State.
Emma Shahabi started on her path to environmental law with degrees in Marine Biology and Political Science from UCLA. After graduating, she returned to her hometown of Boston to work in marine conservation before beginning law school at Duke. In law school, Emma serves as the co-president of the Middle Eastern and North African Law Student Association and the Social Justice Chair of the Womxn of Color Collective. Emma is passionate about environmental justice and plans to practice public interest environmental litigation upon graduating. This summer, Emma will be joining the Environmental Crimes Strike Force at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.
Sarah Shahabi is a dual-degree student pursuing a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University as well as a J.D. from the Boston University School of Law. Sarah hopes to use her education and experience to strengthen environmental laws and policies as well as address environmental injustice. Her past experiences include working on environmental policy for representatives at the State and Federal level as well as at the Wildlife Conservation Society. This summer, Sarah is working for the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) Region 1 Office of Regional Counsel as a Law Clerk.
Since launching our fellowships, PAAIA has helped over thirty young Iranian Americans to jumpstart their careers in public service, and we are just getting started! We are currently accepting applications for this fall’s Capitol Hill Internship Program, so if you know a young Iranian American who could be interested in a paid opportunity to intern this fall in Congress, please apply as soon as possible!
