Stella was born in New York City and raised in Long Hill, New Jersey. As a student at Watchung Hills Regional High School, Stella had a first exposure to migration-related conflict through an ongoing partnership between her beloved human geography teacher and a recently immigrated Syrian family. Through the Syrian Supper Club program, and as part of an organized community support effort, she collaborated with the family in acclimating to their new home.

Stella completed her undergraduate studies at Tulane University where she majored in International Relations and Latin American Studies in addition to minoring in Urban Studies. During her time in New Orleans, Stella worked on the Anti-human Trafficking Team at Covenant House, where she designed and implemented professional development activities related to personal growth and resident care. She later interned for The Center for Peace Diplomacy where she analyzed immigration and conflict patterns and trends pertaining to ongoing international occurrences and conflict in Russia, Ukraine, Syria, and similarly related regions. In addition, Stella investigated potentially electorally violent organizations in the United States, collecting and plotting qualitative data. Following her graduation in December 2022, Stella’s dedication to migration and human rights led her to Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans, where she worked as the Family Literacy Coordinator, ESL Site Facilitator, and Citizenship Instructor. Most recently, Stella returned from three months of travel through South and Central America, where she worked to grow her conversational Spanish.

It is Stella’s goal to research gender-based violence within the refugee or migrant experience and examine its role in the lives of women fleeing conflict and humanitarian crises. As someone who has dedicated her formative years to community building initiatives, Stella has decided to seek out higher education at Georgetown in the guiding principles of international migration in order to better prevent and mediate conflict, while upholding the rights of marginalized groups.