Lia Messinger graduated from American University with a B.A. in International Studies and minors in Public Health and African American & African Diaspora Studies. Originally born in China, she was adopted and grew up in the United States. Lia discovered her passion and love for international development when studying abroad in Nairobi and interning in Kibera with CFK Africa as a community outreach intern in the fall of 2019. She continued to gain experience with the organization by supporting its communications and development office. In 2022, she wrote a technical report supporting the memorandum of understanding between the WHO and UN-Habitat on Noncommunicable Diseases. At the start of 2023, with an old Kenyan rugby teammate, Lia established the Women Warriors Development Programme, a community-based organization in informal settlements in Nairobi focusing on empowerment through sports for development, teaching adolescent girls rugby and life skills. She chose the MDP program due to her passion for shaping a more equitable development ecosystem. Through the program, she hopes to learn more about movements on decolonizing aid and creating more equitable dynamics between the funding actors and grantees. Her academic interests include looking at the intersection of LGBTQ+ persons and their access to water, sanitation, and hygiene in urban areas in East Africa, as well as empowering the next generation of female rugby athletes.