Tokeshi headshot

Leland Fellow

Casey Tokeshi

11th Class, 2021-2023

Casey is from Los Angeles, California. She graduated from the University of Washington in June 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in both Medical Anthropology and Global Health, and Political Science, and from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in May 2021 with a Master of Health Science in Environmental Health with certificates in Food Systems, Public Health, and the Environment; and Climate Change and Public Health. Between undergraduate and graduate school, Casey was a Peace Corps volunteer working as an English Teacher and Teacher Trainer in Bangil, Jawa Timur, Indonesia. As a graduate student, Casey worked as a research assistant under Dr. Anita Shankar working on research surrounding personal agency in international development and assisted in projects involving the effects of clean cookstoves and empowerment training interventions on gender based violence. Her master's thesis explored the socio-ecological health impacts of U.S. militarism and imperialism in Korea. Casey's primary interests are in sustainability and justice.

Host Organization: Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT

First Year Placement
Nairobi, Kenya

Casey was based in Nairobi, Kenya, working with the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT as a Food Systems Specialist within the Food Environment and Consumer Behaviour Team. For her first-year placement, Casey’s work was centered on providing qualitative analysis support to research initiatives focused on community-led projects. This included leading a community-based participatory evaluation of a larger two-year agri-nutrition project in Vihiga county studying diet diversity through traditional leafy vegetable agricultural initiatives. She also coordinated a food environment baseline study in Kisumu County which included vendor mapping and conducting in-depth interviews with community members and local policy makers. This study contributed to the understanding of food accessibility, availability, and consumer behavior within the region.

Second Year Placement
Nairobi, Kenya

Casey continues with the same projects into her second year in Nairobi. In the Kisumu project, she managed the value chain baseline study that looked to assess five different actors in both ALV and fish value chains. This included editing and coding tools, training enumerators, and supervising data collection. Casey also will be involved in data analysis and report writing of the data collection she was involved with. Additionally, she will continue in the projects by collaborating with local stakeholders in policy workshops and assisting with agri-nutrition education activities.