5th Class, 2009-2011
Field Placement: Action Group for Health, Human Rights, and HIV/AIDS (AGHA), Kampala, Uganda
Sonia Lee worked with AGHA, a local advocacy group promoting the right to health in Uganda. Sonia’s work at AGHA involved both research and advocacy, as well as coordinating the activities of the Health Workforce Advocacy Forum, a coalition of health professionals seeking to solve Uganda’s crisis in human resources for health. Additionally, she coordinated a new research project on sexual minorities and their access to heath care services in Uganda. Sonia provided organizational support through fundraising and facilitating AGHA’s strategic planning process.
Policy Placement: Fonkoze USA, Washington, D.C.
For her policy year, Sonia worked with Fonkoze USA, the US-based affiliate of Fonkoze, the largest microfinance institution in Haiti. There, she advised Fonkoze’s Health and Education Teams in Haiti on content development, strategic planning and program evaluation. Her primary responsibilities included the development of a strategic framework for the Health Program and refining the program design of Fonkoze’s new Community Health Worker Program. Additionally, Sonia represented Fonkoze USA within the Haiti Advocacy Working Group to engage the organization in US-based advocacy efforts around policies on Haiti.
Pre-Fellowship Education/Experience:
Sonia worked as a Program Coordinator for violence prevention at Prevention Institute. A native of San Francisco, Sonia holds an MPH in Global Health from Yale University and a BA in Politics from Mount Holyoke College. Prior to completing her graduate studies in May 2007, Sonia lived and worked in Haiti for seven years. As the Director of Programs for Fonkoze, a grassroots-based, microfinance institution in Haiti, she was responsible for implementing various educational programs aimed at empowering rural women and their families through social and economic development. These programs included literacy, business skills training, and sexual and reproductive health. From 1994-97, Sonia worked for Global Exchange, a human rights organization based in San Francisco where she organized delegations to Cuba and Haiti. Sonia is fluent in Haitian Creole.