Alice Paul Merit Award: Nancy Polutan-Teulieres ’88

Nancy Polutan-Teulieres received the Alice Paul Merit Award at the Dinner Among Friends on Alumni Weekend. At the time of her recognition, Nancy was the Deputy Coordinator with the Global Protection Cluster which is led by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), based out of Geneva, Switzerland. The Global Protection Cluster (GPC) is a network of non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and United Nations agencies engaged in protection work in humanitarian crises including armed conflict and disasters. GPC staff deal with child protection, gender-based violence, housing, land and property issues, and action on mines. Nancy worked on legal, protection, and managerial matters for staff stationed in Africa, Asia, and Europe, often in tough situations. Nancy was recently appointed to a new position based in Dakar, Senegal, as the Senior Policy Adviser with the UNHCR Regional Bureau for Central and West Africa.

“We were taught at MFS to not forget that we live in a community and that our actions can impact others,” reflected Nancy. “From my perspective, social justice and the importance of individuals embodies the Quaker perspective that I learned throughout my six years at MFS from the time I started in the seventh grade.”

Many stateless people are denied citizenship because of discrimination on the basis of their age, gender, where their parents came from, their religion, ethnicity, or skin color. Nancy’s dedication to the rights of refugees, particularly women and children, is  one way in which she has “let her life speak,” expressing the Quaker value of equality. Today, there are over 150 million people in the world in need of protection, to whom she has devoted her life’s work.

“The Quaker values of peace, integrity, community, and equality I learned from MFS teachers informed the path that I’ve taken over the last 20+ years,” said Nancy. “Education was key to the path that led me to my interest and work with the United Nations, from my elementary school in Cherry Hill to the time when I moved to MFS during my Middle School years. I learned from the incredible English and social studies teachers at MFS – Mitzi Kade, Margaret Mansfield, Will Perkins, and Bill Blauvelt, and advisors like Mary Williams.”

Following studies at Penn (B.A. in History) and The London School of Economics and Political Science (M.A. in International History), Nancy earned her J.D. from American University and practiced law for a time before finding her life’s calling. Nancy joined the United Nations as a Junior Officer, stationed in Zambia. Later, she became part of the United Nations High Commission on Refugees. In 2011-2012, on sabbatical from the UNHCR, she was a Fellow at The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. Her research there resulted in an important policy paper, “Children and their Search for a Home: What it Means to be Stateless in the 21st Century.”

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