The Annual Washington DC Alumni Chapter Scholarship aims to promote awareness of the Graduate Institute in the United States and help the Institute attract graduate students of a high callibre.

For the fifth time, the alumni community based in Washington succeeds in raising the amount of a scholarship of CHF18’000 for a first year master’s or doctoral student, irrespective of nationality, entering into studies at the Institute from a university in the USA. The scholarship is awarded based on academic achievement with economic need as a secondary criterion with no restrictions on the area or field of study.

The scholarship winner for 2014-2015 is Mrs. Shahla Naimi, a US national of Afghan heritage who is entering the Masters in Anthropology and Sociology.

Shahla has a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from Yale University. Her motivation for graduate studies is to deepen her understanding of migration and development and build upon informal learning in architecture and urban planning.

Shahla has been active in Afghan and Iraqi refugee causes. In addition to acting as a researcher, she has served as a program officer and manager for the Afghan Cultural Initiative of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in Kabul and has had several consultancies and internships in the field and has some publications for international organizations to her name.

The Institute is grateful to its alumni from Washington who participate in this fund raising.