2025 GLOBAL STUDIES AWARD RECIPIENTS
2025 - Marinella Stollenwerk Cavallaro
Farm development initiatives in Oaxaca, Mexico
Marinella have been conducting research in Oaxaca, focusing on the mezcal industry, development, and cultural heritage. She has been visiting palenques (mezcal distilleries), speaking with producers about their cultural attachment to mezcal and their relationship with the global market.
Marinella also joined the founder of SACRED, a nonprofit that works with rural agave-producing communities, on a trip through Jalisco. We visited raicilla and tuxca producers. She also attended the inauguration of a community well in Chacala, which will provide running water to a water-insecure area, and visited a library that SACRED had funded. These experiences gave Marinella a tangible view of development efforts in action and how larger companies and organizations can partner with local communities to support sustainable growth and access to resources.
2025 - Michael Ogundipe
Economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa
Michael's Master’s thesis focuses on understanding the relationship between economic globalization and economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Specifically, he is examining how trade and financial globalization affect employment across the region, incorporating how these global trends influence employment outcomes differently for men and women. This research builds on his broader interest in gender and labor.
2025 - Matthew Kinsella-Walsh
Anti-hunger initiative in Brazil
Matt traveled to and is conducting research in São Paulo, Brazil. He working as a graduate fellow for the think-tank, i3T, which focuses on Latin American green economic transformation. He is preparing a policy report on Brazil’s Food Acquisition Program.
The program buys and allocates produce from small family farmers towards anti-hunger programs in urban food deserts. Research has shown that female farmers participating in the Food Acquisition Program experience a 17% increase in per capita income, improved health outcomes for women and children, and greater economic independence from their spouses.
Matt had this to say about the experience:
"Living and working in Brazil has been a dream come true, and has expanded my professional horizons. My work with i3T was made possible solely because I received the award."
2025 - Paula Gonzalez
Maternal healthcare in Colombia
Paula is conducting fieldwork in Riohacha, La Guajira, Colombia, in collaboration with the grassroots organization OneThread Collective. Her research focuses on understanding how Indigenous Wayuu women and Venezuelan migrant and refugee women experience maternal healthcare
Through focus groups, community workshops, and interviews with local women and health organizations, she is learning about the challenges these communities face, from navigating health systems that overlook cultural practices to overcoming barriers related to documentation and discrimination.