Duke Engage Announcements




Naman Parikh, 2021 Decadminada Fellow.

July 20, 2021

DukeEngage independent project participant Naman Parikh ’24 was chosen as the first-ever Chelsea Decaminada Memorial DukeEngage Fellow, which recognizes a passion for international service and doing good in the world. The fellowship was established by the Decaminada family in memory of their daughter, Chelsea ’15, who was part of the 2013 DukeEngage-Kolkata (India) program.

May 27, 2021

Wesley Pritzlaff’s love of teaching and empowering others–and a desire to experience a completely new culture–inspired him to apply to DukeEngage-Zhuhai in 2019. Little did he know the program would help him discover a new career path. After graduating early, Pritzlaff has been working as a physical therapy aide and will matriculate this fall at Duke’s Doctor of Physical Therapy Program as part of the Class of 2024.

Raisa Chowdhury

April 21, 2021

Like many Duke students, Raisa Chowdhury came into Duke as a premed major— until she did a DukeEngage Independent project in Chilmari, Bangladesh. Since then, she returned to Dhaka, Bangladesh and later Washington, D.C. to work on projects across a range of topics including rights of vulnerable populations, peace-building, and digital development. She’s now a master’s student focused on international development at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs.

March 10, 2021

Adam Petty has worn just about every DukeEngage hat that exists. He participated in the Uganda-Kaihura program in 2013 and returned as a site coordinator in 2016. He’s presented to the DukeEngage Advisory Board, volunteered at the Fortin Foundation DukeEngage Academy, and worked as a program coordinator with ACE, a DukeEngage-like program for student-athletes.

Zhao Ma headshot

July 31, 2020

Zhao Ma can’t get enough of Detroit. He participated in DukeEngage-Detroit in 2017 and returned to continue working with his DukeEngage community partner, Tech Town, in summer 2018 through DukeEngage’s Brodhead Service Program.

Wendy Xiao

January 8, 2020

Wendy Xiao got a taste for teaching in 2012 when she co-taught cooking classes at Lettuce Link, which ran a giving garden at Marra Farm in Seattle’s South Park neighborhood. Since graduating from Duke in 2014, she’s taught literacy and dance at a school for children with learning differences in Washington, DC.

November 26, 2019

Although Melissa Benn spent her 2012 DukeEngage summer in Thailand, her post-Duke path has focused on Africa. From working as a project manager for a food security monitoring program in Ethiopia and Sudan to her current role supporting sustainable agricultural and economic diversification in Malawi, Melissa continues to make a difference by empowering the communities she serves. Read more.

Ashley Dunfee Kane.

November 26, 2019

Ashley Dunfee Kane is an Internal Medicine and Pediatric resident at the University of Rochester Medical Center. After graduating from Duke, she completed her MS and MD at the University of Michigan. Ashley wrote a poem about her experience working with Social Entrepreneur Corps through DukeEngage-Guatemala in 2008. Have questions for Ashley?

Ibrahim Maali.

July 24, 2019

A Duke course with Grammy-winning producer 9th Wonder and sociologist Dr. Mark Anthony Neal inspired Ibrahim Maali to create Solidarity Studios, a mobile music production arm for artistically-oriented community groups who wish to incorporate original music.

DukeEngage alum Dalbert Chen in Greece.

July 24, 2019

Participating in DukeEngage-Kakamega, Kenya, solidified Dalbert Chen’s goal of becoming a physician. Now he’s a first-year medical student at McGovern Medical School in Houston, Texas, who hopes to one day return to Kenya to serve on medical mission trips. Read about Dalbert’s project, the friendships he formed, and what kept him inspired during his time in Kakamega.

What do you think? graphic

April 29, 2019

The second-ever DukeEngage Alumni Survey is an opportunity to share how your DukeEngage experience has influenced you after graduation, during professional education, in your career, or your civic and philanthropic efforts. It's also an opportunity for you to reconnect with DukeEngage and share valuable insights with the National Advisory Board and the DukeEngage staff about the long term impact of participating in a DukeEngage program or project.

Eneka Lamb.

December 5, 2018

Eneka Lamb participated in DukeEngage-Kenya-WISER in 2011 as a way to experience what she learned in the classroom at work in an actual community. Her passion for global health has taken her around the world, from conducting medical education research at Duke-NUS in Singapore to working at remote hospital in Guyana with the Peace Corps. Eneka is now in Washington, DC, where she is pursing a graduate certificate in advanced biomedical sciences.

October 19, 2018

DukeEngage welcomes Adria Kinney '13 as the new assistant director for training and development. In this role, she oversees the Fortin Foundation DukeEngage Academy, the Brodhead Service Program, and DukeEngage's student leadership programs. After graduating from Duke, Adria taught English in Beijing and Madrid, earned a masters degree in international education, and worked as a College Adviser at Duke and a College Liaison at Durham Tech. 

October 14, 2017

Duke alums in Northern California volunteered at Goodwill on October 14, 2017. Thirty alumni turned out for this event hosted by Duke Engage and Women's Forum.