By Howard University Newsstaff
Howard University graduating senior Sumaya Elkashif has been awarded a 2023 Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Fellowship. A distinguished panel selected her out of almost 900 outstanding candidates in the highly competitive contest. Elkashif is the first Rangel Fellow selected from Howard University since 2019.
Funded by the U.S. Department of State and administered by Howard University, The Rangel Fellowship supports extraordinary individuals who want to pursue careers in the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Service. The fellowship will support Sumaya through a two-year master’s degree in an area of relevance to the Foreign Service and provide extensive professional development opportunities, including internships, mentors, and skills training.
Elkashif will graduate from Howard University with a bachelor’s degree in International Affairs and French and Arabic minors in May 2023. Her topics of interest are human rights, conflict, and Afro-diasporic issues.
“I am honored to have been selected for this prestigious opportunity to make my post-graduate and diplomatic career dreams come true and to represent my Sudanese heritage. My time at Howard challenged me to think critically about domestic and global issues, provided me with a supportive tribe, and gave me access to a rich network of professors, students, and alumni,” said Elkashif. “In my career, I look forward to being a Political Affairs officer in the U.S Foreign Service and, after my diplomatic career, working in human rights organizations and the UN abroad working on Afro-diasporic and decolonial issues.”
As part of the Rangel Program, Elkashif will work for a member of Congress on issues related to foreign affairs in summer 2023. The following summer, the U.S. Department of State will send her overseas to work in a U.S. Embassy or Consulate to get hands-on experience with U.S. foreign policy and the work of the Foreign Service in 2024. Upon successful completion of the program in summer 2025, she will become a U.S. diplomat, working to promote peace, prosperity, and human dignity around the world.
“The entire Howard University community is proud to congratulate Sumay Elkashif on being selected as a 2023 Charles B. Rangle International Affairs Fellow,” said Wayne A.I. Frederick, MBA, PhD president of Howard University. “Sumaya’s commitment to human rights and diplomacy, coupled with her academic achievement, will serve her well as she joins the legacy of Howard graduates working in international affairs.”
“The Rangel Program is thrilled to welcome Sumaya into our program. Her outstanding background, including her strong academic credentials from Howard University, made her a highly competitive candidate. I have no doubt that she will excel in her graduate program and will contribute to promoting peace, prosperity, and human dignity around the world as a Foreign Service Officer,” said Patricia Scroggs, director of diplomatic fellowships at Howard University.
Elkashif has remained highly engaged throughout her undergraduate career at Howard University, having served as an intern for the World Bank and the French Embassy in the United States. In 2022, Sumaya was awarded a U.S State Department Gilman Scholarship and a full grant from the Netherlands America Foundation to travel to Amsterdam to intern at Justice for Prosperity, an international NGO.
During her internship, she supported the organization’s efforts to advocate for human rights and social justice through grant writing, social media content curation, and strategic engagement with stakeholders from the European Union. At Howard, her greatest mentors and professors include David Dixon, PhD and Ben-Fred Mensah, PhD along with the entire faculty of the French Department and Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs and Study Abroad Center.
A Sudanese-American, Elkashif’s diverse background and her early high school academic exposure to the culture, history, and politics of the Afro-French Diaspora sparked her initial interest in international affairs. In addition to her native English and Arabic language skills, Elkashif is also fluent in French through 11 years of academic studies and personal immersion– including her Paris study abroad experience with IES Abroad in Fall 2023.
Elkashif also serves as both a study abroad advisor and student volunteer for the Bunche Brigade, a student group of Howard University’s Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center that supports event coordination and student engagement.
Though internationally-minded, Elkashif has remained dedicated to supporting local communities in Maryland through previous roles supporting the Johns Hopkins Peabody Preparatory Wind, Brass, and Percussion Congregation and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s OrchKids – an initiative to expand accessibility to music education and developmental support to disadvantaged students.
Elkashif has also thrived outside the classroom as a member of Black Professionals in International Affairs (BPIA), Howard University’s Wind Ensemble and Showtime Marching Band, and the Howard University International Pals (iPals), an organization fostering community and mentorship for incoming international students. Elkashif’s dynamic academic and extracurricular journey has now led her to the Rangel Fellowship. She is excited to prepare for her next journey to a graduate program at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Bologna, Italy and a career in diplomacy and human rights.
