Development Advisory Team

Engineering2Empower
The E2E Development Advisory Team is a dedicated group of students from different fields of study at Notre Dame who share an interest in exemplary international development practices. Together we possess a variety of unique experiences in areas such as urban housing, development policy, and sustainable development. We have all worked with E2E in the past and are excited to collaborate with the organization again as they continue to address the problem of sustainable housing in Haiti.

Deandra Cadet: I am a junior Political Science major and Peace Studies minor. My time and experiences through Notre Dame have led me towards a strong belief in a need for social justice and human development. As a Kellogg International Scholar working on human rights and violence prevention, I have experience and skills in qualitative and quantitative analysis. I have worked with a poverty alleviation organization in Santiago, Chile in the education sector. I also have a strong, personal interest in development work in Haiti and the many projects that seek to help those in need after the earthquake. I am very enthusiastic about working with E2E again this semester researching the possibility of how this organization can influence and work with the Haitian housing policy. Through this experience I hope to better my skills in consulting, understand the politics of development and my own role in the international development field. Erik Jensen: As a senior Civil Engineering major, I have been influenced by the immense need for engineering solutions in the developing world. I have experience working on development projects in various settings, including nongovernmental, governmental, and academic sectors. In Guatemala, I worked with an NGO focused on housing and poverty alleviation through education, including immersion in a community in Antigua. At Notre Dame in collaboration with Harvard, I worked in a team to explore renewable energy policies to reach marginalized communities in the northern region of Chile. I am thrilled to work with E2E looking at public housing policy and taking ideas to scale, especially as a means of dignity and social justice. Megan Reineccius: As a fifth year Architecture major and International Development Studies minor, I have had the opportunity to study architecture while always looking for ways to apply this knowledge toward possible creative solutions to use in the developing world. My experiences over the past three summers of living, teaching, and researching in a rural village and then the UNESCO world heritage site of Stone town in Tanzania have allowed me learn how the built environment plays a role (both positive and negative) in the lives of people in these communities. I am very interested in continuing this research, focusing especially on the vernacular built environment which the community interacts with every day, most especially in their personal homes. Working with E2E again will be an exciting opportunity to learn about the process and implementation of a housing project, especially where architecture and engineering overlap with broader housing policy.