“Once I decided I wanted to study public health, I looked for opportunities that would allow me to combine my passions,” she said. “The Payne Fellowship does just that. It provides me with the theoretical and practical skills I need to become a health foreign officer.”

The Donald M. Payne International Development Graduate Fellowship Program awards up to 15 fellowships valued at up to $48,000 annually for a two-year program, including up to $22,000 per year toward tuition and fees for a two-year master’s degree at a U.S. institution, as well as covering other expenses. Payne Fellows are expected to earn a degree in international development or other areas relevant to the work of the USAID Foreign Service, at a U.S. graduate or professional school approved by the Payne Program. 

Adounvo plans to pursue a Master of Public Health degree at Emory University, with a concentration in global health and a certificate in humanitarian emergencies.

Fellows who successfully complete the Payne Program and entry requirements will receive appointments as foreign service officers with the U.S. Agency for International Development.

“A population, health and nutrition officer designs, implements and evaluates health and nutrition programs in a variety of subject areas such as primary health care, population and family planning and infectious diseases,” she said. “A PHN officer also coordinates with other U.S. agencies in country to achieve U.S. foreign policy objectives.

“What attracts me to this track is the flexibility it offers. I am excited at the prospect of working on a variety of complex health issues in key populations around the world.”

“Finding out that Sandra was awarded the Payne Fellowship was very exciting,” said Andrus G. Ashoo, director of the Office of Citizen Scholar Development. “We worked together years ago when she was a fourth-year student applying for the Fulbright and the Peace Corps. She was delightful and earnest in her pursuits, but she was uncertain about where to direct her energy in the long term.

“I love the way that her experience with the Peace Corps helped to clarify her commitment to public health. The Payne Fellowship now presents Sandra with entry into a career and a series of excellent development opportunities. It is a great fit, and I am thrilled that she is the first Payne Fellow from the University of Virginia.”

Robert Fatton Jr., Julia Cooper Professor of Politics, who taught Adounvo in two classes, described her as dedicated, articulate and intelligent.

“I was greatly impressed by her commitment to her work and her unusual capacity for research,” Fatton said. “In addition, she is mature and self-assured.”

Fatton noted that Adounvo is fluent in French and widely traveled.

“After completing my Peace Corps service, I spent the next five months backpacking through southern Africa, and western and southern Europe,” Adounvo said. “Unfortunately, my trip was cut short by the pandemic, so I had to return to the States earlier than planned.”

Adounvo is currently working a claims adjuster at Government Employees Insurance Company, investigating liability accidents, reviewing property casualties and tracking discrepancies in payments.  

“All in all, Sandra has demonstrated that she is a responsible young woman of integrity and talent,” Fatton said. “She is idealistic, thoroughly dependable and gifted of an easy-going personality. It is clear that she is now ready and fully committed to pursuing her graduate studies. I cannot think of a student who works harder than her. She is disciplined and eager to have a career in public health. She has the credentials of our best students.”

Adounvo pursued more than her classes at UVA. She participated in the University Guide Service, the Organization of African Students, was a Madison House volunteer, and worked toward establishing the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers. She served as president of Phi Eta Sigma, was on the finance committee of the Black Student Alliance and worked as an education abroad intern in the International Studies Office; she also provided technology support in the Office of Dean of Students and the McIntire Department of Art. She was a residential and teaching assistant in the Summer Undergraduate Research Program and a residential assistant in the Summer Medical and Dental Program. She is a recipient of a Dorothy Wolf Scholarship and a Graebel International Movers Scholarship.

The Payne Fellowship now puts her on a path to her life’s work.

“I know that in order to create lasting health care change, we need to understand how to better serve certain populations so that they may have improved health outcomes in the future,” Adounvo said. “Most importantly, I hope to use the wealth of knowledge I’ll gain to later become a crisis stabilization and governance officer, a response officer that coordinates humanitarian assistance, democracy, human rights and stabilization operations.

“Ultimately, I want to give different communities the health, policy and socioeconomic tools they need to create the future they want.”