Myra Kraft Awards

Rebecca Cai graduated from Columbia College in 2020 with a double-major in Human Rights and Economics. In her coursework at Columbia and at the University of Oxford as an Oxbridge Scholar, Rebecca specialized in development economics and comparative politics.  Her independent undergraduate research focused on women’s economic rights in Sub-Saharan Africa. Rebecca is currently working as a research associate for Development Data Lab, analyzing data on economic development in India. She plans to pursue graduate study and further research on the intersection between economic development and gender. In her free time, Rebecca enjoyed art history, performing as a member of Columbia’s Raw Elementz dance group, and hiking as a COÖP leader.

Valerie Comenencia Ortiz, originally from Caguas, Puerto Rico, graduated from Columbia College in 2014, majoring in Human Rights with a concentration in Sustainable Development. As part of the Five-Year Dual Degree Program, she completed a Master’s in International Affairs with a Concentration in Economic and Political Development and a specialization in Gender and Public Policy from the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) in 2015.

During her time at Columbia, Valerie led various human rights student groups, including Columbia University Students for Human Rights and the Human Rights Working Group. She also worked as a research assistant for Professor Elazar Barkan, focusing on truth commissions and reconciliation in Latin America.

Valerie subsequently earned a law degree from Yale Law School in 2018. She will begin her legal career at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, a plaintiff-side firm in San Francisco.