MISSION
Yale UNICEF is comprised of Yale students with a wide array of backgrounds, interests, and talents—all of whom are united by their love for children.
Yale UNICEF is a member group of the United Nations International Children’s Fund Campus Initiative that aims to raise awareness about children’s issues—including poverty, development, safety, rights, health, education, and inclusion in their communities. Additionally, Yale UNICEF strives to contribute to efforts made on behalf of children both locally and internationally. Yale UNICEF hopes to inspire and empower members of the Yale community by providing them with both opportunities and tools to engage in student leadership, activism, and community service work on behalf of children worldwide.
EVENTS & OUTREACH
Yale UNICEF holds fundraising and advocacy events throughout the school year. Additionally, we have been expanding our involvement in the local New Haven community. While our events and programs vary every semester, below are some of our staples that you can look out for throughout the year!
Arts for Healing
Year-Round
A new connection with Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital, small groups of Yale UNICEF members volunteer in the Pediatric Emergency Waiting Room twice a month to provide arts and craft activities to patients and their families. This is our first community outreach program, started last year, that we hope to expand as more students get involved.
Interested in volunteering? Please email yaleunicef13@gmail.com
Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF
October-Early November
Yale UNICEF continues the tradition of Trick-or-Treating for UNICEF (collecting change instead of candy) on campus in a variety of ways. From dorm trick-or-treating to hosting Halloween parties to collecting change from local stores, we love to get into the spirit of Halloween and raise money for UNICEF at the same time.
Tap Project
March-April
Joining UNICEF's efforts to advocate for access to clean and safe water for all children, Yale UNICEF gets the word out about the Tap Project on campus. In more recent years, UNICEF has developed an app where for every 10 minutes you don't use your phone, a child is provided 1 day of clean water. Yale UNICEF has hosted "Anti-Study Breaks," during which we offer a quiet place for students to study during busy midterm season and not get distracted by their phones that are set aside to raise funds for UNICEF through the app.
Check out the app here: http://tap.unicefusa.org/
OUR TEAM
Anaheed Mobaraki
President
Anaheed is a junior in Pauli Murray college and is very excited to be co-president this year in UNICEF! She is a Political Science major with specific interests in American Politics, Law, and Race Relations. In the years she's been with UNICEF, she was able to teach a course through Splash, collaborate with the Yale Children’s Theater to conduct a Novel Writing Workshop for children, and still be a part of classic activities such as Trick or Treat for UNICEF. She is looking forward to a new year of working with New Haven children and spreading UNICEF’s mission even further.
Melat Lulseged
President
Melat is a junior in Benjamin Franklin College from Los Angeles, California. She is majoring in Global Affairs and History. As a co-president, she looks forward to facilitating engaging discussions and promoting human rights activism within our local and global communities through our annual conference. She is passionate about children’s rights, with a particular interest in refugee rights, and is excited to be a part of the Yale UNICEF team!
Ilayda Orhan
Vice President
Ilayda is a junior majoring in Cognitive Science from Istanbul, Turkey. She joined Yale UNICEF as a Community Outreach Coordinator and has now become vice president. Her primary focus in Yale UNICEF is to hopefully make a positive impact in the lives of New Haven kids through various community outreach projects. She is especially interested in working with victims of child-trafficking, and she has high hopes for what UNICEF can achieve this year!
Allison Chun
Treasurer
Allison is a junior in Berkeley who plans to study economics. She's excited to be working with UNICEF as a part of the finance team. She's looking forward to working with others who are also dedicated to helping children. Apart from UNICEF, Allison is a violinist in YSO, plays squash, and loves to travel, dance, and eat at the Berkeley dining hall.
Sarah Baskin
Publicity Director
Sarah is a junior in Benjamin Franklin College and is excited to be this year's Publicity Director in UNICEF! She is majoring in Comparative Literature with a focus in French and Korean literature. She is eager to build Yale UNICEF's presence on social media. Apart from UNICEF, Sarah works as an academic instructor for middle school students around the country wanting tutoring in essay writing and manages the social media for Dwight Hall. She is excited to work more with the New Haven community and is eager to see what will be in store for Yale UNICEF this year!
Chen Lin
Conference Director
Chen is a sophomore in Pauli Murray College, and he has been involved with UNICEF since his high school years. In the past, Chen had the privilege to serve as a national leader with UNICEF USA. This year, he looks forward to leading the conference planning efforts and collaborating with everyone to put children first. Outside of UNICEF, Chen mentors low-income and high-achieving high school students through Matriculate and serves on the Yale Daily News's Business Team. During his leisure, Chen enjoys reading, swimming, and cooking food with friends.
Audrey Yeung
Conference Director
Audrey is a sophomore in Branford College. She is studying Neuroscience at Yale and has great interests in social mobility and inequality, especially concerning girls’ access to education around the world. Audrey had her first exposure to UNICEF with the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF in sixth grade, and she has done it up until her senior year of high school. She was also involved in working with the Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation since elementary school and volunteering in hospices and retirement centers. She taught elementary school kids various topics in science for her community outreaches in Science Honor Society, and now she is inspired to raise awareness for the lack of education, especially in STEM subjects, in underdeveloped countries. She is also passionate about the issues with water availability around the world.
Gema Martinez Castillo
Outreach Director
Gema is a junior in Davenport College from East Los Angeles, California. She is an Architecture major under the Urbanism track and is very excited to connect with the children of the New Haven community. Having been a member and employee of the Upward Bound Program, she has worked with students from low-income backgrounds and wishes to continue this work through UNICEF. She believes that bringing awareness to the issues regarding children's education and poverty is an important step towards change. She hopes to have a positive impact on children, whether big or small.
Vinicius J da Silva
Outreach Director
Vini is a junior in Yale College and is excited to work with UNICEF as a co-director of the Community Outreach committee. While new to Yale UNICEF, Vini is eager to work more with the New Haven community and get involved in more activities. As co-director, he plans on integrating himself and Yale UNICEF more fully into the surrounding community.
Yuka Saji
Advocacy Director
Yuka is a sophomore in Ezra Stiles College from Tokyo, Japan who is excited to join the UNICEF Board this year. She is passionate about human rights and looks forward to campaigning for the rights of children on both a global and a local level as Advocacy Director. Having lived in the U.S., Germany, and the U.K. in addition to Japan, she is an experienced traveler who loves to try new things. She also enjoys playing piano, knitting, and spending time with friends at Stiles.
Shirley Shi
Advocacy Director
Shirley is a sophomore in Silliman College from New York City and a prospective Global Affairs major. She is excited to join UNICEF Board this year! Last year, she volunteered with the UNICEF Community Outreach Team. She hopes to continue to build a greater connection between Yale and the New Haven Community through the Advocacy Team this year. Outside of UNICEF, Shirley is also a Cultural Chair for Yale's Asian American Students Alliance and a student worker for the Yale Center for International and Professional Experience.
John Daoud
Fundraising Director
John is a junior in Pauli Murray College and is excited to be Fundraising Director for Yale UNICEF this year! Besides spending his time raising funds for children, John also enjoys teaching them how to read with New Haven Reads. He is very excited to kickstart a new year of Yale UNICEF with classic traditions such as Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF and holiday grams! John is also an avid fan of Grey's Anatomy and Middle Eastern languages.
CONFERENCE 2020
Innovating for the World's Children
Details to come...
PAST CONFERENCES
2019
Speakers:
- Joanna Rubinstein, President and CEO of World Childhood Foundation USA
2018
Speakers:
- William Casey King, Director of the Capstone Program and a lecturer at Yale’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs
- Zoë Root, Policy Counsel at the Justice Programs Office
- Yvette Young, Licensed Professional Counselor
- Victoria Curbelo, U.S. Fund for UNICEF (UNICEF USA), Fair Trade USA, the International Rescue Committee, and Jabalna
- Sarala Nagala, Visiting Clinical Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School
- Kirsten Bechtel, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine at Yale School of Medicine
- Jillian Gilchrest, Director of Health Professional Outreach for the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence
- Raymond Bechard, Author, Producer and Human Rights Advocate
- Norma Flores Lopez, Governance and Development/Collaboration Manager at East Coast Migrant Head Start Project
- Wendy Bowersox, FBI’s Violent Crimes Against Children Squad
- Erin Williamson, US Survivor Care Program Director for Love146.
2013
Speakers:
- Dr. Nicholas Alipui, Former UNICEF Director of Programmes
- Dr. Rafael Pérez-Escamilla, Yale School of Public Health Professor
- Dr. James Leckman, Yale School of Medicine Professor
- Mick Hirsch, refugee trauma specialist
- Othman Shibly, dentist and humanitarian
- Maya Prabhu, Yale psychiatry professor and refugee mental health specialist
- Claudia Connor, President, the International Institute of Connecticut
- Jennifer Nagda,lawyer at the Young Center & University of Pennsylvania professor
- Selcuk Sirin, NYU Applied Psychology Professor
- Chris George, Director of IRIS
2015
Speakers:
- Richard Skolnik, Professor of Global Health at Yale University
- Deidre Moskoff, Humphrey Fellow (South Africa) at Syracuse University
- Rami Nakhla, Syrian Activist and Yale World Fellow
- Andrew Beer, Board of Directors for UNICEF USA
2014
Speakers:
- Dr. Stephanie Goins, Executive Program Director of Love146
- Dr. Monzer Yazji, Founding Member of the Union of Syrian Medical Relief Organizations
- Dr. Ehsan Hoque, Founder and Executive Director of Distressed Children and Infants International
2013
Speakers:
- Ishmael Beah, Founder of the Ishmael Beah Foundation
- Nicholas Rees, Policy Analysis Specialist at UNICEF New York HQs
- Joanne Goldblum, Founder and Executive Director of National Diaper Bank Network
- Cheryl Perera, Founder and President of One Child Network and Support Systems Inc.
- Dr. Joan Kaufman, Director of Child and Adolescent Research and Education (C.A.R.E) at Yale School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry
- Contact Us
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