By Peggy McInerny, Director of Communications
The three award winners of 2026 are living proof that the idealism of IDS students is paired with a deep commitment to doing the work on the ground and in the classroom that prepare them to make significant contributions to the world.
UCLA International Institute, June 5, 2026 — International development studies (IDS) majors at the UCLA International Institute are a special breed. Passionate, energetic and dedicated to making the world a better place, they typically engage in a great deal of volunteer work as undergraduates while earning academic accolades. Last week, three IDS majors who graduate from UCLA this June received awards from the IDS program: one for activism, and two for academic achievement.
Aya Ibrahim (UCLA 2026, IDS and political science double major) received the
2026 IDS Activist Award in recognition of her commitment to making a difference on issues significant to international development through activism, service and leadership. The award honored her internships with
JusticeCorps, a local LA nonprofit;
Insan Association, a nonprofit in Beirut, Lebanon; as well as her work with the student-led
UCLA Mizan Legal Initiative.
“[T]hrough JusticeCorps,” she explained, “[interns] provide guidance on legal procedures, assist with paperwork and help litigants understand their rights at no cost. This includes support for restraining orders involving domestic violence, civil harassment and elder abuse, as well as requests for orders related to child custody and unlawful detainer cases involving evictions.” Ibrahim expects to complete 350 service hours with the organization this month.
In addition to providing direct services, she said that interns at JusticeCorps identified shortcomings within the legal system and worked to develop solutions for them, including the expansion of language translation services and referrals for immigration-related issues.
“Insan [the Beirut-based nonprofit for which she worked remotely] serves vulnerable populations through a range of services, including education, legal aid and psychosocial support,” explained Ibrahim.
“My work with the organization began earlier this year, when I assisted with logistics and financial operations. About a month into my internship, the war in Lebanon escalated and Insan shifted its operations toward emergency relief and humanitarian support. The organization began delivering food, water, shelter and other forms of aid to nearly one million displaced people.
“I contributed by writing emergency grant proposals, navigating international funding processes, coordinating fundraising campaigns and developing proposals for projects Insan could undertake to support affected communities.
“These experiences have shaped my understanding of activism as both supporting marginalized communities and communities in crisis, while also challenging and transforming the systems that contribute to their oppression,” she said of her service work.
Ibrahim also honed her research and writing skills at UCLA, participating in the two-month Summer Research Incubator in 2025 and winning a UCLA Keck Research Fellowship. The latter supported her in writing a senior honors thesis, “Roots Uprooted: Environmental Degradation as a Tool of Occupation in Palestine,” which won both a Dean’s Prize for Excellence in Research and Creativity, as well as the UCLA Library Second Prize for an undergraduate research paper at Undergraduate Research Week in May.
The senior looks back fondly on her IDS studies. “My favorite class in the IDS major was Introduction to International Development Studies with
Hannah Appel, which first introduced me to the field and ultimately inspired me to pursue the major,” she said. “I also loved the interdisciplinary aspect of IDS, especially the opportunity to take courses across different departments. One of my other favorite classes was Public Affairs 112: Social Movements with UCLA
Amy Ritterbusch, which expanded my understanding of grassroots organizing and social change.”
As for the future, Ibrahim plans on going to law school and pursuing a career in international human rights. “I hope to use legal advocacy to address issues of inequality, displacement and human rights violations while contributing to efforts that promote justice and dignity worldwide,” she said.
Graduating IDS seniors
Emma Joyal (UCLA 2026, IDS major) and
Sofia Fernandes Martins (UCLA 2026, IDS major) both received the
2026 IDS Academic Award for their exceptional academic achievement in the International Development Studies major.
Joyal, whose far-reaching interests include minors in Arabic & Islamic studies and Middle East Studies, enjoyed the flexibility of the IDS program. “I touched every department at this school at least once, taking classes from Islamic philosophy to Black geographies to a class on feminist movements,” she noted. That she made the dean’s list 8 times in her first three years at UCLA is testament to her academic ability to do well in a broad variety of disciplinary courses.
“The main things I liked about this major all revolved around the openness in our academic environment created by faculty, the curriculum and the students,” she said. “We all learn in our first Introduction IDS course that you are not going to be right about development decisions. There will always be a variable you did not account for, so do not go into this field to be right or wrong; join this field to find effective and ethical solutions.”
Overall, said Joyal said, “My IDS experience can be best explained as an ever-evolving learning curve. This major’s requirement to learn a language up to level 6 encouraged me to step outside of my comfort zone and get an Arabic minor without having any basis or experience in the language.” She went on to become the social media director for the UCLA Al-Arabiyyah club, which promotes Arabic language learning and Arabic culture.
“The IDS major [also] allowed me to get my first academic research position in my GEOG 191 class, looking at situations of displacement in Los Angeles County for black families. All in all, with the openness of the major, I built the college experience of my dreams, and I cultivated skills that I will forever use... I feel as if curiosity was consistently rewarded throughout my four years in this major.”
Her favorite professors in the program were
Jennifer Jung-Kim and
Joseph Wright, whom she said, “through conversation and interaction… [helped make] me into a better student and even better academic.”
In her free time, Joyal spent three years as a member of the UCLA Model United Nations student organization and played different intramural sports every quarter during her four years at UCLA.
“While not in Model UN or studying, I spent the majority of my time as a member of the
Den Operations Club on campus (the official student section for UCLA Athletics), which by far was the most rewarding club I ever joined. The connections, the family and the experience that the club offered me allowed me to flourish as a Bruin,” she shared. “Because I joined the Den, I got the opportunity to become a manager of the UCLA Women's Basketball team for a year, which offered many life-changing experiences.”
Joyal will spend the next few months completing a Data Science Certificate through UCLA Extension, and begins a master’s of technology policy at the Rand School of Public Policy in Santa Monica in the fall. She hopes to pursue a career in policy analysis upon completion of the program.
Sofia Fernandes Martins, the other winner of the
IDS Academic Award, is graduating cum laude as a member of the Dean’s Honor List. Fluent in Portuguese and English, she also speaks Spanish and French.
“As an international student from Brazil,” she said of her choice of the IDS major, “I was interested in learning about international issues, but being able to improve people’s quality of life was my biggest priority... I got into UCLA as a pre-IDS major and from my first class, I knew that was [the program] I would graduate from.
“I loved all of the IDS classes for different reasons, but my favorites [were] IDS 110: Culture, Power and Development with
Jennifer Chun, and IDS 191: Senior Seminar-Community-Engage Development with
Joseph Wright. Both of these professors were essential to shaping my understanding of international development and motivating me to make a meaningful impact with my degree.”
In her first quarter, Martins took IDS 1: Introduction to International Development Studies with Wright who, she says, “has been with me throughout my career at UCLA… His passion for the subject inspired me to think about the impact that international development could have, and motivated me to continue with the major.
“Now, during my last quarter, I am finishing my last requirement by taking IDS 191 with Professor Wright. Under his guidance, I have been able to apply all of the knowledge I acquired through IDS classes to write an international development intervention [for] my hometown in Brazil.”
Professor Chun’s “discussion about the concept of discourse within the international development field made me understand how development is even defined, and the several ways in which it can be conceptualized depending on who has the power to shape it,” continued Martins. Her conversations with Chun during office hours, she related, made her “think deeper about the power structures present in the very definition of development.”
Martins maintained the breadth of her studies by studying abroad twice: attending a two-month program at the University of Cambridge in summer 2024 and the Global Studies travel/study program in human rights at The Hague, The Netherlands, in summer 2025.
Apart from her studies, the graduating senior spent three years as an active member of the United Nations Association at UCLA, which promotes the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in the UCLA community and local Los Angeles area.
She also worked for several years as and reporter and
columnist at The Daily Bruin. “My main contributions [there] were in the opinion section,” she said. “Being an opinion columnist allowed me to be in tune with the campus discourse, as well as connect with students, faculty and staff to inform my pieces. I am especially proud of my [piece] on
UCLA’s Time, Place and Manner Policies and its impact on Bruins’ public expression.”
As she finishes up her UCLA undergraduate studies, Martins already has her eyes on her next goal: doing a law degree at King’s College London, starting this September. “In the future,” she shared, “I plan on pursuing international law, particularly international criminal law and international human rights law.”
IDS majors at UCLA dream of changing the world, but their idealism is paired with a deep commitment to doing the work on the ground and in the classroom that prepare them to make significant contributions to the world. We look forward to keeping track of the future career trajectories of these impressive students.
Published: Friday, June 5, 2026
