Makara Poy 

Attending

Academic Major

Government and Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies

​Class of 2024

Makara Poy is our second scholar to win the fully-funded King Scholarship at Dartmouth College. As a gender advocate and international development enthusiast, she is eager to continue working for gender, political, and international development. 

During her freshman year at Dartmouth, she got offered a job to be a member of the Student Advisory Board for the Sexual Violence Prevention Project (SVPP). Through this project, she had the opportunity to interview students and provide insights to improve the sexual violence courses that all Dartmouth undergraduate students need to complete. She was also selected as a Great Issues Scholar where she discussed international issues related to security, health, and environment with other students and different faculty members and experts. In the summer of 2021, she received the Sophomore Research Scholarship, and she is currently working with a professor to conduct her research on menstrual health in Cambodia. She will be producing a report before she starts her sophomore year. 

Starting sophomore year, she will continue working for the SVPP and starting her new position at the Student and Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault (SPCSA). At SPCSA, she will work closely with the administration and the faculty to implement initiatives tackling sexual violence on campus. As a War & Peace Fellow, she will also learn and discuss issues related to war and peace with other students, faculties, and others, including experts, activists, authors, and journalists. This summer she taking these skills to the Seeds of Peace Summer Camp where she is working as a counselor. 

Before joining SHE-CAN, she participated in nine Model United Nations (MUN) conferences as a delegate, chair (student officer), and assistant advisor in Cambodia and Vietnam. Makara has also organized two summits on gender and LGBTQ+ issues in Cambodia, bringing students from provinces and the capital city to engage in discussions of equality, social and cultural norms, and violence. Through these summits, she hopes to inspire youth to tackle gender inequality and create positive change in their communities. Because of her knowledge and passion for gender justice, Makara was selected to attend a round-table discussion with senior leaders in the U.S. Embassy to discuss consent and ways to respond and prevent gender-based violence. During her senior year of high school, she was a communication intern at PACT's WE Act Cambodia, a project that supports and empowers women entrepreneurs. Regardless of where she is in the world, Makara hopes to continue fighting for and supporting gender and international development. ​

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Mentors 

Nisha Krishnaiah, Owner, Aesthetic Dentistry of Noe Valley 
Karen Lee, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer, Mercer Advisors
Maryann LoRusso, Freelance Writer and Editor
Dina Morell
Christine Wan, Director of Analyst Relations, Oracle Corporation
Stefani Wedl, MD, Executive VP, Pacific Inpatient Medical Group