CIPE Fellowships Staff

Fellowship Programs

The Fellowship Programs team at the Yale Center for International and Professional Experience (CIPE) offers advising to current Yale students and recent alumni of Yale College about a wide variety of Yale-specific and outside fellowships to support domestic and international experiences before and after graduation. Working collaboratively with faculty, deans, and other partners across campus, we seek to foster students’ academic and professional development through a range of resources, workshops, and individual counseling.

We offer guidance throughout the fellowship process, to help you match your goals and enhance your learning. We look forward to meeting you at a workshop and to talking one-on-one about what you hope to do.

Office Hours & Location

The CIPE Fellowships office is open Monday through Friday, from 8:30am to 5pm.

(203) 432-8685

55 Whitney Avenue, 3rd Fl.
New Haven, CT 06510

Rebekah Westphal (she/her/hers)

Director, Office of Fellowship Programs; Assistant Dean of Yale College

Office: 55 Whitney Ave., 3rd Fl., New Haven, CT 06510
Email: rebekah.westphal@yale.edu
Phone: (203) 432-8685

Rebekah joined CIPE as the Director of Fellowships after 11 years in Undergraduate Admissions for Yale College. Originally from the U.K., she completed her B.A. in Music and English Literature at Bennington College, and has an M.A. in Musicology from McGill University. Rebekah was on the faculty at The Music School of the Rhode Island Philharmonic and performed professionally with vocal ensembles across the US before she joined Yale’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions in 2005. She was the Director of International Admissions (with particular emphasis on Africa and Europe), and lectured regularly around the world on issues surrounding international student recruitment and support. She is also the co-founder of the HALI Access Network, a group of organizations that support high-achieving, low-income African students in their search for higher education. Rebekah is a Freshman Advisor and Fellow in Berkeley College.

Julia Bakes (she/her/hers)

Richard U. Light Fellowship Assistant

Office: 55 Whitney Ave., 3rd Fl., New Haven, CT 06510
Email: light.fellowship@yale.edu
Phone: (203) 432-8675

Julia Bakes supports the Richard U. Light Fellowship by serving as a first point of contact for students, faculty and staff in processing fellowship application materials.

Kripa Bhagat (she/her/hers)

Assistant Director, Richard U. Light Fellowship

Office: 55 Whitney Ave., 3rd Fl., New Haven, CT 06510
Email: kripa.bhagat@yale.edu
Phone: (203) 432-8685

Kripa (she/her) helps manage and advise on the Richard U. Light Fellowship. She joins the CIPE after receiving her M.A. in Chinese Linguistics from the University of Hawai'i. She has contributed to language education communities by serving as Resident Director of the National Security Language Initiative for Youth Program in Kaohsiung, Taiwan and as an Educational Ambassador in Yiwu, China for the Ameson Year in China program. Kripa also holds a B.A. from Barnard College and spent time working and learning in language immersion environments.

Jill Carrera (she/her/hers)

Associate Director of Fellowships and Funding

Office: 55 Whitney Ave., 3rd Fl., New Haven, CT 06510
Email: jill.carrera@yale.edu
Phone: (203) 436-1698

Jill (she/her) joins the CIPE as Associate Director of Fellowships and Funding after working in Yale Undergraduate Admissions as Director of Recruitment. She completed her B.A. in Theatre Studies at Yale University and worked in administrative theatre in NYC before joining Yale Undergraduate Admissions in 2018. She helps manage and advise students for various fellowships, namely the Fulbright US Student Grants & Henry S. Truman Scholarships, and also oversees the ISA process. For the past two years, Jill served on the FSY Advisory Committee, where she was able to continue cultivating her professional interests in increasing opportunities and engagement amongst students from underrepresented backgrounds She is a first-year advisor and fellow for Jonathan Edwards College and is passionate about helping students reach their own personal goals.

Ruth Clifford (she/her/hers)

Senior Administrative Assistant, Study Abroad & Fellowships

Office: 55 Whitney Ave., 3rd Fl., New Haven, CT 06510
Email: ruth.clifford@yale.edu
Phone: (203) 432-8685

Ruth works closely with advisers on both the Fellowship Programs and Study Abroad teams at the CIPE. She supports administrators and students to facilitate fellowship opportunities and study abroad through the Year, Term, and Non-Yale Summer Abroad programs. Ruth joined CIPE in September 2016 while completing her M.S. in Human Services at Albertus Magnus College. She received her B.A. in Education from Trinity College, Ireland where she worked as a primary school teacher and student teacher supervisor.

Mya Fisher (she/her/hers)

Director, Richard U. Light Fellowship

Office: 55 Whitney Ave., 3rd Fl., New Haven, CT 06510
Email: mya.fisher@yale.edu
Phone: (203) 436-8144

Mya joins Yale as Director of the Light Fellowship after more than 20 years successfully developing and launching innovative, international programs for a variety of education, non-profit, and government entities across the U.S. and East Asia. She is passionate about international exchange and bring extensive experience studying and working in Japan notably as founding administrator of the Watanabe Study Abroad Scholarship, and alum of the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program and the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language studies (IUC). Mya holds degrees from Williams College (B.A. Psychology and Sociology), New York University (M.A., International Education) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (M.S. and PhD, Sociology).

Ivona Pankova (she/her/hers)

Senior Administrative Assistant

Office: 55 Whitney Ave., 3rd Fl., New Haven, CT 06510
Email: ivona.pankova@yale.edu
Phone: (203) 432-8684

Ivona oversees communication and outreach for the Office of Fellowships and Funding and assists with administrative tasks related to Fellowships Programs. Ivona joined CIPE in April of 2022 from a similar position within the Office of Fellowships at Northwestern University. She holds a B.A. in Global Affairs and East Asian Studies from Yale University (2013) and an MPhil in International Relations and Politics from the University of Cambridge (2018).

Emma-Jane Rose (she/her/hers)

Associate Director of Fellowships

Office: 55 Whitney Ave., 3rd Fl., New Haven, CT 06510
Email: emma.rose@yale.edu
Phone: (203) 432-8685

Emma-Jane Rose oversees the Yale College Fellowships and advises students through the application process and pre-departure preparations for their fellowship projects.

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