Experts on countries of origin by country

Jordyn Haime is a skilled China-focused journalist and researcher whose work sheds light on religion, civil society, and human rights under complex political conditions. Her field reporting and academic research bridge the gap between investigative journalism and policy insight. With deep regional knowledge, Mandarin proficiency, and practical training experience, Jordyn is a valuable asset for organizations covering East Asia’s most sensitive social and political issues and empowering ethical, fact-based reporting on China’s global impact.

Rommel St. Hill is a rare expert who brings both depth and breadth to complex legal, trade, and governance matters across the Caribbean and international development spaces. From drafting laws and managing treaty negotiations to advising on AML/CFT and environmental governance, his fingerprints are on some of the region’s most important policy reforms. His leadership, versatility, and unmatched technical knowledge make him a go-to expert for institutions seeking real impact through legal reform. Rommel doesn’t just know the system, he helps build better ones, and any project would benefit from his strategic legal insight and regional fluency

Dr Imam brings more than two decades of experience in mixed methods international social science practice, research, and teaching around the world, focusing on East and West Africa, South Asia, USA, and Central Asia. Her interests involve research, development, and instruction on advanced issues of human rights, international conventions on human, civil, and political rights, and against torture; police service, judicial and quasi-judicial institutions, and persecution; grievance redressal arrangements; gender analysis, gender equality, gender-based violence, forced marriages, and sexual abuse; child abuse, child marriages, and violence against children; climate-related issues; and more. She has written books and scholarly articles about public administration, employing quantitative data and qualitative streams of historical changes in socioeconomic, judicial, political, and administrative institutions.

Her work employs innovative research methodologies, focusing on getting to the crux of socio-cultural and institutional situations to deliver efficient solutions that take into account complex dynamics involving human rights, child rights, gender equality, sustainability, and other such standards, in diverse socio-political contexts.

Michelle Johnson is Associate Dean of Faculty for the Social Sciences and Professor of Anthropology at Bucknell University. A cultural anthropologist specializing in religion and ritual in Africa and the contemporary African diaspora (i.e., Africans in Europe and the United States), she has conducted extensive fieldwork in Guinea-Bissau and with Guinean immigrants in Portugal. She has held grants from the Social Science Research Council, the U.S. Department of Education (Fulbright-Hays), and the Institute for Citizens & Scholars (formerly the Woodrow Wilson Foundation). Her articles have appeared in the Journal of Religion in Africa, African Studies Review, Anthropology Quarterly, and Food and Foodways. She is author of Re-making Islam in African Portugal: Lisbon - Mecca - Bissau (Indiana University Press, 2020) and co-author (with Edmund "Ned" Searles) of Reciprocity Rules: Friendship and Compensation in Fieldwork Encounters (Lexington Books, 2021). She also provides expert testimony on asylum cases pertaining to West Africa and the contemporary African diaspora on topics such as genital cutting, forced marriage, and religious persecution and freedom. She teaches courses on cultural anthropology, the anthropology of religion, African Studies, and the life course and was… Read more

Dr. Maria Khwaja's work spans many years conducting research in urban Pakistan across ethnic and political lines with a focus on the violence faced by children who inherit conflict political spaces. She is currently an assistant professor at Salem State University and holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge. Dr. Khwaja's areas of expertise include children's rights and children's agency, political violence by state and non-state actors, terrorism, stateless peoples and internally displaced refugees, schooling and education of children, gender, ethnic and religious discrimination, and military and political governance and violence. Dr. Khwaja is a published academic author with a chapter on her ethnographic work with adolescents published in 2013, a forthcoming article on research methodology in the Global South pending revisions, and several articles forthcoming.

Dr. Allysha C. Maragh-Bass is a clinical trials scientist, educator, and board-certified health and wellness coach. She has expertise in HIV prevention and adolescent health primarily in Black and Brown Communities globally. Dr. Maragh-Bass has 20 years of research experience in HIV/AIDS, substance use, qualitative, and quantitative methods in clinical, translational and community-based research and programs. She navigates seamlessly between international development spaces and academia and has experience in over 10 countries working in global public health and development with funding from NIH, CDC, USAID, and others. Domestically, she has worked in health care settings from primary care to surgery and with individuals marginalized by race, sexual orientation/gender identity, and/or disability. In addition to her nonprofit-based role, Dr. Maragh-Bass is also a highly experienced lecturer and educator, who has held adjunct faculty positions for 15+ years. 

Suzanne Menhem is a Professor and Researcher at the Lebanese University, Institute of Social Sciences, and an independent consultant with extensive expertise in Social Sciences, Anthropology, Demography, and Migration. She is renowned for her leadership in managing and implementing complex research projects and has made significant contributions to international initiatives such as Towards a Cultural Understanding of the Other (TOGETHER), Mediterranean Youth, NEETs and Women Advancing Skills, Employment, and Awareness in the Blue and Green Economy (MYSEA), and Viral Circulations and Social Dynamics. Her work has included conducting surveys, interviews, and focus groups to explore issues related to these projects, providing critical insights into global social dynamics. Dr. Menhem’s research interests encompass migration, gender equality, and socioeconomic development, with a strong focus on human rights-based inquiry. She has led key projects such as the National Study on Child Sexual Abuse in Lebanon, New Migrants in Lebanon, and The Syrian Youth Refugees’ Social and Economic Engagement in Lebanon, addressing the needs of vulnerable populations and tackling urgent social issues.As Head of the Department of Methodology, Epistemology, and Techniques at Lebanese University, Dr… Read more

Dr. Mariangela Mihai is Assistant Professor of Anthropology and WGSS at Western Washington University. She holds a PhD in anthropology and film from Cornell University and has served as a Postdoctoral and a Gender+ Initiative Fellow at Georgetown. With fieldwork experience spanning over a period of 12 years, Dr. Mihai looks at Indigenous resistance, borderland disputes, parastatal violence, as well as migration, refugee, and LGBTQIA+ issues on the India-Bangladesh-Myanmar-China borderlands, "the Balkans,” and the U.S. As a co-founder of Ethnocine, an Impact Filmmaking collective, she engages in collaborative films and grassroots human rights campaigns across transnational borders, addressing refugee, environmental, labor, LGBTQIA+, and healthcare issues. Dr. Mihai's NGO collaborations include the International Rescue Committee, United Way, and the Romanian Association Against AIDS.

Alexander Parini is a dynamic educator, policy communicator, and regional expert on U.S.-Asia relations with significant teaching and advisory experience across Vietnam and China. As a lecturer, columnist, and editor, he excels in translating complex global affairs into accessible narratives for students, policymakers, and international audiences. His written work and public commentary featured by My Asia Connections and BBC Vietnamese have examined education diplomacy, trade shifts, and post-pandemic geopolitics, making him a valuable contributor to discourse on Asia’s evolving regional role. With deep academic credentials from SOAS and Peking University, and a solid grounding in U.S. and UK institutional contexts, he represents a rare blend of academic, editorial, and intercultural insight. Alexander’s ability to bridge Western and Asian perspectives through public speaking, writing, and classroom leadership marks him as an influential figure in global education and policy circles.

Anonza Priyadarshini is an intellectually rigorous and socially conscious legal scholar, blending strong academic credentials with a commitment to legal reform. Her diverse body of publications reflects a forward-thinking engagement with contemporary legal challenges, including AI, corruption, and reproductive rights. With extensive moot, research, and judicial experience, Anonza is poised to contribute meaningfully to international human rights law, legal tech policy, or criminal justice reform research initiatives.

Christian Reed is a Medical Anthropologist and Epidemiologist who specializes in sub-Saharan and East Africa. He has extensive research experience in Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia and speaks Portuguese, Swahili, Lunda-Ndembu, and Bemba. His single-authored book "Landscapes of Activism" pertains to pharmaceutical treatment access and HIV/AIDS activism with the matrilineal and Muslim tribes of northern Mozambique. He specializes in the social ramifications of infectious and communicable disease and rural and urban global health. Christian also studies religion with interests in traditional religion and healing, Pentecostalism, Catholicism, Santaria, Voodoo, and spirit possession.

Gabriel Velázquez is a legal strategist with a policymaker’s mind and an educator’s heart. His hands-on experience in litigation, policy design, and public-private partnerships gives him a 360° view of the legal and development world. Whether drafting constitutional defenses or designing trade strategies for Parliament, Gabriel consistently delivers with precision and clarity. He blends legal acumen, multilingual communication, and deep regional expertise—making him an ideal candidate for roles that demand intellectual rigor, cross-sector collaboration, and global awareness.

Dr. Sandoval-Cervantes is a cultural anthropologist from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. He is an UDLAP alum, and obtained his PhD from the University of Oregon in 2016. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the Department of Anthropology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). In the Spring 2022 semester, He will be a Visiting Research Fellow at the Animal Law and Policy Program at Harvard Law School where he will be working on his project “Dead Letter”: Animal Law, Activism, and Mexican Politics," which is part of a new research on the animal rights movement in urban Mexico. 

His research interests can be divided into two overlapping sub-fields. The first sub-field includes the anthropology of migration, particularly the analysis of internal and transnational migrations, gender (masculinity and femininity), indigeneity, kinship, and care. The second sub-field includes multi-species ethnography, legal anthropology and the anthropology of social movements, particularly through the study of activism and animal rights in the Mexico-U.S. borderlands.

Samantha Serrano earned her Sc.D. in Collective Health from the Federal Medical School of São Paulo. Her research was the Bolivian immigrant women’s experiences in motherhood and family healthcare in São Paulo, Brazil. She has an M.A. in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Her Master’s thesis was an institutional ethnography on the perceptions and treatments of the sexuality and sexual abuse of people with intellectual disabilities and mental illnesses in urban Guatemala. 

Samantha has multiple international and domestic publications and has conducted fieldwork in the United States, Guatemala and Brazil. Her areas of specialization include: the social determinants of health, health systems and policies, immigrant healthcare, intercultural healthcare, primary healthcare access, healthcare and disability, transnational motherhood, sexual violence, domestic violence, ethnography and qualitative research methods.

Dr. Rano Turaeva-Höhne brings a rare combination of academic excellence and hands-on field expertise across post-Soviet, Central Asian, and conflict-affected regions. Her fluency in multiple languages and deep cultural insight make her exceptionally effective in navigating complex socio-political landscapes. With over 200 expert reports, a rich portfolio of publications in leading journals, and a strong record in policy advisory and teaching, she delivers both analytical depth and actionable solutions. Her work on migration, identity, and informal economies is internationally recognized and directly informs policy and practice. Dr. Turaeva is not only a subject-matter expert but also a dynamic and reliable professional who adds strategic value to any team. She would be an outstanding asset to any organization looking for deep regional knowledge, intellectual rigor, and real-world impact.

Carlos Treviño Vives is a deeply experienced legal expert and human rights defender who has contributed significantly to Mexico’s justice reform and human rights architecture. His career spans the highest levels of public service, NGO leadership, and litigation across Mexico’s courts and the Inter-American system. As a thought leader and author, he has shaped policy discourse on forced disappearance, environmental rights, and community media. Fluent in legal systems and civic engagement, Carlos continues to drive impact through both institutional channels and grassroots platforms. His commitment to justice, backed by intellectual rigor and legal innovation, makes him a standout expert in human rights advocacy in Latin America.

Neha Vora is Associate Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology & Sociology at Lafayette College. She received her PhD in anthropology from the University of California, Irvine. Her areas of expertise include migration, citizenship, higher education, South Asian and Muslim diasporas, gender, labor, race, liberalism, political economy, and the state, in the Arabian Peninsula region and in the United States. She is the author of Impossible Citizens: Dubai’s Indian Diaspora (Duke University Press, 2013) and Teach for Arabia: American Universities, Liberalism, and Transnational Qatar (Stanford University Press, 2018). She has also published a co-authored book with Ahmed Kanna and Amelie Le Renard, Beyond Exception: New Interpretations of the Arabian Peninsula (Cornell University Press, 2020).

Leah Zani, Ph.D. (she, ze, they) is a public anthropologist, author, and poet. Zani earned her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of California, Irvine, where she studied the effects of air warfare in Laos. She trained as a researcher with the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley, in partnership with the Nobel prize-winning Mines Advisory Group. She has presented her research in Laos to the United States Congress. Recently, she held the Human Rights Seat of the American Anthropological Association, where she advised leadership on global issues of academic freedom. Zani currently serves as a Scholar Rescue Fund Ambassador, assisting displaced scholars as they seek asylum in the United States. She has written for Cultural Anthropology, Kenyon Review, Consequence, and SAPIENS, among others. She is the author of Strike Patterns, winner of the 2023 IPPY Gold Prize for Creative Nonfiction.

Dr. Tara Rava Zolnikov focuses on aspects of culture in a global health setting. Dr. Zolnikov earned a Ph.D in Developmental Science from North Dakota State University and an M.S. in Environmental Health from Harvard School of Public Health and a second M.S. in Industrial Hygiene from Montana Tech of the University of Montana and is currently studying her third MS degree in Sport Psychology at NorthCentral University and is expected to graduate in 2024. She also earned a B.S. degree in Biological Sciences from Montana Tech of the University of Montana.  She has been a professor of global health and environmental health for the last decade.  She also has chaired and been on committees in over 400 doctoral projects; to date, she has graduated over 150 PsyD’s under her guidance and tutelage. She was also recently accepted as a fellow of ultra elite The Explorer's Club.  Dr. Zolnikov’s research primarily focuses on global health issues in low and middle-income countries, including Kenya, Ghana, India, Colombia, and Brazil. She has worked with the Kenya Red Cross on a variety of public health projects, ranging from infectious diseases (E.g. Ebola and HIV/AIDS) to access to water projects. She is primarily a qualitative researcher and concentrates on providing… Read more