Samantha Lakin, M.A., is a Ph.D. candidate at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Clark University. She holds a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School, Tufts University, and a B.A., Magna Cum Laude, from Brandeis University. Lakin was a Fulbright scholar in Switzerland (2011-2012), where she researched the rescue of Jewish children to Switzerland during World War II. She has worked in Rwanda since 2013, researching local perspectives of memory and justice in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide that took place in the country.

Lakin also researches civil society engagement in peace and justice, and gender-sensitive research, in Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, and Northern Uganda. Lakin currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Survivors Fund (SURF), and the Advisory Board of the Genocide Survivors Support Network (GSSN). She has held positions at organizations including Aegis Trust and the Kigali Genocide Memorial, Refugee Law Project, Never Again Rwanda, and the U.S. Embassy in Kigali. Lakin has recently been featured on Voice of America-Afrique, and gave a Ted Talk, “Exploring Stories of Genocide and Justice after Conflict” at TEDxFulbrightSantaMonica in September 2015. She is a published author and is an active public speaker on academic and social justice issues.