Jehan Shamsid-Deen

A Charlotte, N.C. native, Jehan graduated from Davidson College in 2001 with a major in political science and a concentration in international studies. She was honored as a Davidson Presidential Scholar, a Leadership Davidson Scholar, a Coca-Cola Scholar, and a Craig G. Wall Fellow.

While at Davidson, she studied abroad in London, worked at an orphanage in Haiti, and did research in Belgium under a Smith-Richardson Security Studies Fellowship. She also served as freshman class president and as a class senator in Student Government during her freshman, sophomore, and junior years. She was a member of the Black Student Coalition, the Union Board, the Presidents Advisory Council on Minority Affairs, and the Committee on International Affairs.

Jehan interned at Wachovia Bank in the summers of 1997-1999, and in the summer of 2000, she completed an internship in the Student Leadership Network for Children division of the Children’s Defense Fund, where she worked to increase the involvement of young people in efforts to address educational access, juvenile justice, and access to health care.

During her time as an Autry Fellow, Jehan received broad exposure to all of MDC’s work. She worked on the site selection for the Program for the Rural Carolinas, provided technical assistance to youth-serving organizations in Jacksonville, FL, assisted with research and data analysis for the Shadows Revisited and State of the South reports, assisted with the start-up of the Latino Pathways, and helped coordinate the Southern Grassroots Leadership Development Program.

She has particular interests in poverty alleviation, youth development, and increasing access to health care, both in domestic and international contexts. She currently serves as a program officer with the Sisters of Mercy of North Carolina Foundation where she helps direct funding to address critical needs in underserved communities in North and South Carolina.