So when she thought about spearheading a new club at Fordham in her sophomore year, a UNICEF chapter seemed like a perfect fit. Under her leadership as president since 2016, the club has successfully engaged in fundraising and advocacy to advance the U.N.’s efforts for children.

Graduating from Fordham College at Rose Hill with an international political economy degree in the French language track, Olveira credits Fordham’s West Wing, an integrated learning community, with nurturing her as a student and a social justice activist.

“It gave me a sense of community, but we were also talking about public policy, international relations, and local issues,” she said of the West Wing, which focuses on Ignatian leadership and civic service. She also gained confidence in her public speaking abilities, which she needed to pursue leadership roles.

“Just looking at who I was sophomore year versus now, I know that the program was a catalyst for so many things for me,” she said.

Olveira’s aspirations for peace building and public service have flowered through internships she pursued, including positions with the U.N.-affiliated Religions for Peace, UNICEF USA, and most recently, Pencils of Promise, which helps build educational infrastructure in Ghana, Guatemala, Laos, and Nicaragua.

In 2017, she was elected to represent UNICEF USA as one of six National Council Members at the college level; in this role she has advocated on Capitol Hill for the human rights of children.

Olveira received a Tobin Travel Fellowship from Fordham to fund a research trip to England, France, and Germany following her junior year. She studied how governments in these countries are helping refugee children transition to new schools after their educations have been disrupted.

“That really connected with me because I know how important it is, after having moved my whole life, to be at a school that can welcome you and create an environment where you feel like what you are doing is important, and also help you catch up with the work,” she said.

Through school visits and interviews, Olveira learned that while some schools, particularly in Germany, have many resources for these children, others are severely lacking. She hopes to publish her findings as part of an expanded project.

While in England, Olveira learned of a University of Cambridge M.Phil. program in education and international development. She applied and was accepted, but decided to defer enrollment to pursue a prestigious UNICEF USA Global Citizenship Fellowship, which she has just been awarded.

The two-year program prepares individuals working on behalf of children for effective leadership in public service. As the New York Community Engagement Fellow, Olveira will lead partnership development and grassroots implementation of UNICEF initiatives.

Ultimately, she aims for a career with a worldwide view.

“I would love to be an ambassador and do foreign service work, or if not, be in an organization like UNICEF working on a larger leadership scale,” she said.

–Nina Heidig

What began decades ago for two Fordham employees as a commitment to volunteerism culminated this year in leading one of the world’s foremost service organizations.

This month, Thomas E. DeJulio, FCRH ’73, LAW ’77, Fordham’s general counsel, and Rosemary DeJulio, Ph.D., GSAS ’90, GSE ’00, assistant to the president, will conclude a year of international service as president and first lady of Kiwanis International. The couple worked with Kiwanis chapters from around the world to further the group’s primary endeavor, the Eliminate Project.

A joint effort between Kiwanis International and UNICEF, the Eliminate Project seeks to eradicate maternal/neonatal tetanus (MNT) worldwide. This deadly and excruciatingly painful disease claims the lives of 60,000 infants and of a significant number of women each year. The goal of the Eliminate Project is to vaccinate 100 million women worldwide to protect mothers and their babies, who contract MNT during birth—often from exposure to contaminated soil.

In April, the DeJulios traveled to Haiti to oversee the project’s campaign to vaccinate 1.2 million women there. The couple visited six sites both in Port-au-Prince and in several remote, rural villages.

“In our two days there, we saw close to 1,000 women get vaccinated,” Tom DeJulio said. “The idea was to help them understand that if they receive this vaccine, they’ll have a better chance at delivering healthy babies.”

The clinics that they visited were often no more than a single-room building with a dirt floor, tucked into the side of a mountain.

“You see the faces of the children you’re helping, and it’s a feeling that stays with you for the rest of your life,” Rosemary DeJulio said. “And when you see these children, you realize that every child has the right to be born healthy, no matter where they’re born.”

As president and first lady, the couple traveled to sites as far as Japan and the Philippines to share the results of the Eliminate Project to date. They succeeded in raising $40 million toward Kiwanis International’s $110 million capital campaign.

The DeJulios are longtime members of Kiwanis, with Tom beginning his tenure as a member of Key Club, the high school branch of Kiwanis. He continued with the group as part of the college group, Circle K, which he helped to bring to Fordham in 1970. Rosemary officially joined when Kiwanis began accepting women in 1987 (though she said she always participated actively alongside Tom), and the pair formed Fordham’s Kiwanis chapter in 1989. Today, the Fordham chapter has 62 members.

Following his year as president, Tom will continue serving on the board of Kiwanis International.

“We’re trying to impart the lessons we’ve been receiving for years, giving back to our community and transforming the lives of young people,” Tom said. “Because that is the broader goal of Kiwanis—to be advocates for the health, safety, and education of the children of the world.”

What began decades ago for two Fordham employees as a commitment to volunteerism culminated this year in leading one of the world’s foremost service organizations.

This month, Thomas E. DeJulio, FCRH ’73, LAW ’77, Fordham’s general counsel, and Rosemary DeJulio, Ph.D., GSAS ’90, GSE ’00, assistant to the president, will conclude a year of international service as president and first lady of Kiwanis International. The couple worked with Kiwanis chapters from around the world to further the group’s primary endeavor, the Eliminate Project.

A joint effort between Kiwanis International and UNICEF, the Eliminate Project seeks to eradicate maternal/neonatal tetanus (MNT) worldwide. This deadly and excruciatingly painful disease claims the lives of 60,000 infants and of a significant number of women each year. The goal of the Eliminate Project is to vaccinate 100 million women worldwide to protect mothers and their babies, who contract MNT during birth—often from exposure to contaminated soil.

In April, the DeJulios traveled to Haiti to oversee the project’s campaign to vaccinate 1.2 million women there. The couple visited six sites both in Port-au-Prince and in several remote, rural villages.

“In our two days there, we saw close to 1,000 women get vaccinated,” Tom DeJulio said. “The idea was to help them understand that if they receive this vaccine, they’ll have a better chance at delivering healthy babies.”

The clinics that they visited were often no more than a single-room building with a dirt floor, tucked into the side of a mountain.

“You see the faces of the children you’re helping, and it’s a feeling that stays with you for the rest of your life,” Rosemary DeJulio said. “And when you see these children, you realize that every child has the right to be born healthy, no matter where they’re born.”

As president and first lady, the couple traveled to sites as far as Japan and the Philippines to share the results of the Eliminate Project to date. They succeeded in raising $40 million toward Kiwanis International’s $110 million capital campaign.

The DeJulios are longtime members of Kiwanis, with Tom beginning his tenure as a member of Key Club, the high school branch of Kiwanis. He continued with the group as part of the college group, Circle K, which he helped to bring to Fordham in 1970. Rosemary officially joined when Kiwanis began accepting women in 1987 (though she said she always participated actively alongside Tom), and the pair formed Fordham’s Kiwanis chapter in 1989. Today, the Fordham chapter has 62 members.

Following his year as president, Tom will continue serving on the board of Kiwanis International.

“We’re trying to impart the lessons we’ve been receiving for years, giving back to our community and transforming the lives of young people,” Tom said. “Because that is the broader goal of Kiwanis—to be advocates for the health, safety, and education of the children of the world.”

Since 2011, Kiwanis International has been working to raise $110 million for The Eliminate Project to eliminate the centuries-old disease, which kills one baby every nine minutes. The group, which has been serving the needs of children since 1915, has raised $30 million so far.

MNT results when tetanus spores, which are present in soil everywhere, enter the bloodstream. It is mainly caused by a lack of access to sanitary birthing conditions, unclean instruments used to cut the umbilical cord and unclean post-partum cord care.

MNT is easily prevented by giving women of childbearing age a series of three vaccine doses, which costs roughly $1.80. This cost includes vaccinations, syringes, safe storage, transportation and more.

The countries that have eliminated MNT are Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, China, Comoros, The Republic of Congo, Cote d’ Ivoire, Egypt, Eritrea, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Iraq, Liberia, Malawi;,Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Timor Leste, Turkey, Togo, Uganda, Vietnam, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

The countries that are still working toward elimination include Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kenya, The People’s Democratic Republic of Laos, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Yemen.