Barbara Frey Human Rights Fellowship

Léocadia Tchouaffé is a 2025 Master of Human Rights graduate. She is the Barbara Frey Fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a nonprofit organization that is a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of all people. 

Natika Kantaria is a 2024 Master of Human Rights graduate. She is the Barbara Frey Fellow at the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), a well-respected NGO based in Geneva and New York that facilitates global civil society engagement by connecting human rights defenders on the ground with international human rights systems and policy makers.

Hortense Minishi is a 2023 Master of Human Rights graduate and an aspiring Diplomat from Kenya. She was the Barbara Frey Fellow at the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), a well-respected NGO based in Geneva and New York that facilitates global civil society engagement by connecting human rights defenders on the ground with international human rights systems and policy makers. According to Hortense, “This fellowship significantly accelerate[d] my international career prospects by offering a unique opportunity to view the United Nations human rights system at work.”

Hortense worked on environmental human rights, helping to draft an amicus brief to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights as well as an individual communication to the African Commission Working Group on the Environment and the UN Special Rapporteur on Environment.

After her work with ISHR, Minishi began a full time position with KELIN Kenya, a human rights NGO in Kenya that focuses on health rights.

Socorro Topete also graduated from the University of Minnesota in May 2023 with her Master of Human Rights, focused on carceral policies, race, and justice. Having been so impressed with the students who applied for the Fellowship, the ISHR brought on Socorro as an intern supported in part by the Frey Fellowship.  Socorro worked remotely with the UN Anti Racism Coalition to support the work of human rights defenders who are seeking remedies at the United Nations. She also documented the humanitarian crisis in Israel/Gaza, tracking updated posts or statements by humanitarian organizations, mapping states positions.

Veronica Cadavid Gonzalez was the 2022 Inaugural Barbara Frey Fellow. Master of Human Rights 2022 graduate she was hosted by The Advocates for Human Rights, an organization that Frey helped to found and directed in its first decade. Prior to joining The Advocates Verónica built an impressive background as a human rights lawyer, researcher, and advocate, serving as a researcher at the Museum of Human Rights Memory (Casa de la Memoria), a professional intern with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, and as a Research Consultant on economic and social rights issues with the Human Rights Center in the University of Minnesota’s Law School.

After completing her 2022 Fellowship with the Advocates, Veronica was hired  on as a full-time staff member with the International Justice and Advocacy programs at the organization. Veronica has worked to adapt the Advocates’ client-based work into reports for regional and United Nations mechanisms.