Chelsea Estevez is a junior at Dartmouth College double-majoring in Arabic and French Language, with a minor in Government. She hails from East Norwich, New York where she graduated valedictorian of Portledge School. Because of her fervid passion for languages, she started taking Arabic as a freshman while continuing her study of French. During her junior fall, she studied at the University of Jordan in Amman researching changes to the new Press and Publication Law and Political Transformations in the Middle East. She has also spent a term in Paris studying French culture, history and

civilization at the height of France’s presidential elections. Her true ambition lies in promoting democracy, development, and women empowerment in disenfranchised regions. After graduating, Chelsea hopes to pursue these causes and enact change the Middle East and North Africa either through direct service or institutional policy reform. Chelsea was funded by the Rockefeller Center for a summer 2013 internship, with generous support from the Class of 1954 in honor of Ronald A. Jabara ’54. Executive Summary from Chelsea’s final report: The Washington Institute is a non-profit think tank that strives to promote an accurate understanding of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for policy makers and the

general public alike. As a Research Assistant, I was in charge of conducting research and collaborating with the Senior Fellows who publish articles pertaining to that research. The New York Times, Washington Post, Foreign Policy, and other prominent media outlets frequently picked up these articles, so the ideas we generated were dispersed to a large portion of the population. We also had meetings with top officials

who informed us of the situation on the ground. This was incredibly interesting because we

“Carrying out daily research at TWI

about the current affairs in the

Middle East and North Africa

elucidated a great deal and gave me

a foundation upon which I can better

compose my thesis research.”

[THE RONALD A. JABARA ’54 ROCKEFELLER CENTER INTERNSHIP PROFILE]

heard information about certain issues usually before it had become public knowledge. This also contributed to TWI being one of the go-to organizations for U.S. policy recommendations pertaining to the MENA region. Through my research, I was able to indirectly assist in stateside policy reform. As well as being a Research Assistant, I was also part of the Fikra Forum team. Fikra (meaning “idea” in Arabic) Forum is an Arabic-English online community that promotes dialogue between Arab democrats and U.S. policymakers on the topics of reform and democracy. I was responsible for finding contributors, editing the English and Arabic articles, posting them, tweeting about them, and more. I met various democrats from the Arab World who came to TWI and who wrote for our publication. The mutual exchange of ideas on “Fikra Forum” helped enact change domestically and internationally. In addition, I worked with Executive Director, Dr. Robert Satloff. He is writing a new book, so I conducted research on Algerian Jewry and on members of the World War II Algerian Resistance Movement. Many of these documents and testimonies were in French, so I was tasked with translating them and subsequently compiling reports. I also did administrative tasks such as setting up for events, answering phone calls, and making trips to the library. Carrying out daily research at TWI about the current affairs in the Middle East and North Africa elucidated a great deal and gave me a foundation upon which I can better compose my thesis research. Plus, having a strong knowledge of the region will definitely advance my career because any career I go into will necessitate knowing not only Arabic and French language, but also the culture, history and background of the regions that speak these languages.

Chelsea Estevez ’14 during her internship at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in Washington, DC in Summer 2013.