Student Advisory Board

Members of the Student Advisory Board for the academic year 2025/2026: 

Ameena Aali is a second-year MIA student specialising in International Security. Prior to joining the Hertie School, she completed a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences at Humboldt University of Berlin. Her academic and professional work spans democracy promotion, international social policy, and parliamentary research, including positions at the DeZIM Institute and within the German Bundestag.

Aruna Anderson is an Indonesian Australian first-year MIA student. She has experience working in the public sector and in the non-profit sector, where she focused on deforestation and Indigenous land rights. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics and currently works on platform regulation, online harms, and digital threats to democracy.

Sofia Confalonieri is a second-year MIA student from Milan, Italy. She holds a Law degree and a Ph.D. in Legal Science, and she practices as a criminal defence lawyer in Milan. Previously, she completed an internship at the European Court of Human Rights. 

Daniela Forero Dueñas is a second-year MIA student, specialising in Human Rights and Global Governance. She holds a Bachelor of Laws from Colombia and currently works as a human rights and migration advisor at an NGO in Germany. 

Valeria Gerganova is a first-year MIA student, concentrating in International Security with a focus on non-conventional threats such as disinformation, grid resilience, and resource dependence, particularly in the context of the CEE region. 

Francesca Jacke is a second-year MIA student specialising in Human Rights & Global Governance. She has a background in human rights and children’s welfare non-profit organisations, as well as an internship in diplomacy. Growing up in South Africa, Germany, Mauritius and around the globe, Francesca has a special interest in how art activism intersects with human rights. She is currently on exchange at the Geneva Graduate Institute, where she also serves as a board member of the Peacebuilding Initiative. 

Katharina Kölbl is a first-year MIA student with a background in International Relations and Social Sciences, focusing on migration, Human Rights and statelessness. She has gained previous work experience in Oman and Jordan and is particularly interested in European-Arab cooperation from a Postcolonial perspective.

Tomas Moreno Ocampo is a MIA candidate at the Hertie School, concentrating on Human Rights and Global Governance. He holds a Law degree from the University of Buenos Aires and has experience in international criminal law.

Ana Julia Pansani is a MPP student from Brazil. She is currently completing her Professional Year at GIZ with the GovStack initiative, where she focuses on advancing inclusive and interoperable digital public infrastructure. She is also an active member of the Hertie Latin American Club and has contributed to the Hertie School Digital Verification Corps and The Governance Post podcast.

Jaime Paredes is a first-year MIA student from Peru and the United States. With a background in civil rights, Jaime has worked for leading nonprofit organisations in the U.S., focusing on Immigrants' rights, democracy, and racial discrimination at the intersections of public policy and law. He completed his undergraduate education at the University of California, Berkeley.

Samuel Perez R. is a second-year MPP student from Chile and Colombia. Before joining the Hertie School, he studied political science and worked in education and technology. He is a member of the Hertie School Digital Verification Corps and has a special interest in forced displacement and disappearance.

Aida Sanjush is a first-year MIA student and Human Rights Scholar at the Hertie School. She holds a B.A. with distinction in Political Science from the University of British Columbia. Her work focuses on advancing rights-based policy reform at the intersection of migration, global governance, and fundamental rights. 

Aiman Zehra is a second-year MIA student from Pakistan. With a BA in history and background in policy research, journalism and consulting, her main interests lie in intersectional feminism, digital governance, anti-colonialism and minority rights and safety. Currently, Aiman is involved with the Hertie School chapter of Amnesty’s Digital Verification Corps.