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This cash prize is awarded to the rising Columbia College senior majoring in Human Rights who submits the best proposal for a summer or term-time human rights internship, and is intended to be used to help defray the expenses of the internship.
This prize is awarded annually to the Columbia College student majoring in human rights who has the highest grade point average and a superior record of academic achievement in Human Rights.
This cash prize is awarded to the rising Columbia College senior majoring in human rights who submits the best proposal for a summer or term-time human rights internship, and is intended to be used to help defray the expenses of the internship. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year, with priority admission dates of December 1 for Spring term submissions, and April 1 for Summer submissions. Alternatively, for general research or internship funding, students should review ISHR's undergraduate financial resources page. Please apply here: APPLICATION: Myra Kraft Human Rights Prize
Carrie Montgomery graduated from Columbia College in 2013, with a double major in History and Human Rights. During her time at Columbia, she co-founded the Public Service Initiative which offered personal statement and scholarship essay workshops to local high school students. She was also a member of the Intercultural Resource Center and Multicultural Recruitment Committee. Carrie studied abroad at Columbia University Middle East Research Center/University of Aquaba in Amman, Jordan. She plans to pursue a career in law.
Erica Bower graduated magna cum laude from Columbia College Class of 2014, with dual majors in Human Rights and Sustainable Development. Her research interests lay at the intersection of these disciplines -- the human rights implications of climate change for people displaced on the frontlines. Building on field work conducted in the Nepali Himalayas while studying abroad during her Junior year, her Honors Thesis focused on the relationship between climate change impacts and human mobility patterns, and what legal and policy frameworks exist to protect the rights of these populations on the move.
Outside the classroom, she was a member of GreenBorough Sustainability Living Community, Consilience Journal of Sustainable Development, SEEJ (Students for Environmental and Economic Justice), Columbia University Photography Society, and a hiking leader with COOP (Columbia Outdoor Orientation Program).
Since graduation, she has continued work inspired by her undergraduate research interest in climate change and displacement, including research and policy roles for UN Agencies, NGOs and a government-led consultation process known as the Nansen Initiative. Most recently, she worked to advance policy, legal and practical solutions to protect the rights of people forced to flee their homes after disasters, as the Climate Change and Disaster Displacement Specialist at the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Geneva Headquarters. She also completed a Master of Science in Forced Migration Studies from Oxford University Department of International Development's Refugee Studies Centre.
The Myra Kraft Prize for Exceptional Practical Experience in Human Rights Advocacy was, in retrospect, the catalyst that has shaped her career trajectory ever since. Interning for the UNHCR in summer 2013 cemented her professional interests in addressing climate change impacts on displaced populations, helped her to build a network of actors in this field, and has indirectly led to every position she has held since.
