Graduate Programs
2012 Second Year M.P.A. Student Bios
Ayokunle (Ayo) Abogan
Hobart & William Smith College, 2006
Economics/Public Policy, BA
Field II - Development Studies/HHP
Oyo State, Nigeria
Ayo was born and raised in Nigeria. His passion for solutions to international development challenges and public policy issues started during his childhood when he followed his mother, then a midwife, to monthly community development programs in villages where she provided basic pre- and post-natal care and education to poverty-stricken women who lacked access to basic health care facilities. After college he moved to New Jersey to work in Princeton, and eventually, the NYC offices of Goldman Sachs in their asset management division. In 2010, he moved back to his home country, Nigeria, to work with one of the southern state governments. Witnessing the myriad of problems of poverty, infrastructure decay, and high youth unemployment while he was there, only furthered his passion to find solutions that will improve the economic conditions of the country and welfare of the less privileged. At WWS, he is focusing his studies on economic development, international economics, and health policy concerns. During his free time, Ayo enjoys winetasting, cooking, travelling, volunteering, watching his favorite TV shows and sports teams. This past summer, Ayo was in South Africa as a malaria elimination volunteer analyst at the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) supporting both the National and Provincial Departments of Health in their vision to eliminate malaria from the country by 2018. After the MPA program, he would like to work as a consultant in the public sector on projects in developing countries, or as a policy analyst for an international organization in areas related to rural development, poverty eradication, and microfinance.
Vera Bersudskaya
University of California, Berkeley, 2008
Political Economy/French, BA
Field II - Development Studies
Moscow, Russia
Vera grew up in Moscow and immigrated to California the summer before starting high school. She attended UC Berkeley where she majored in International Political Economy and French. As a junior, she spent a year in Paris, working on her French and studying the European Union at Sciences Po. After graduation, she joined Lumni, a Latin-American based start-up that offers income-contingent financing to college students. At Lumni, Vera tried to quantify individual and social benefits of higher education as well as identify factors associated with success in college. Looking to maintain her international focus, she simultaneously worked on the Europe and CIS team at the Global Fund for Women, where she learned about grant making and women’s rights organizing. Before coming to WWS, she researched equity and achievement issues in K – 12 and postsecondary education at an education consulting firm. Outside work she studied Spanish, volunteered with various organizations to promote women’s economic empowerment locally and in West Africa, mentored high-school students, and occasionally performed at belly dance festivals. Last semester, Vera interned with Family Care International, an NGO that promotes women’s health and reproductive rights in Africa. She spent the summer at the UN Office in Burundi researching the challenges of peace consolidation. Vera loves foreign languages, ethnic dance, travel, live music, and all kinds of fruit except for pineapple.
Laura Blumenthal
New York University, 2006
Marketing/International Business, BS
Field IV - Economics and Public Policy/OPR
Albany, NY
Disenchanted with the notion of spending her career hawking consumer products to the masses, Laura took her international business degree to the US Peace Corps. As a Small Enterprise Development Volunteer in Senegal, West Africa, she consulted with local artisans, food vendors and non-profit organizers on accounting, product promotion, and developing distribution networks. In exchange, she learned (among countless other things) the glories of Senegalese cuisine and the Maggi™ cube. With a heightened interest in the issues affecting low-income populations domestically upon her return to the US, Laura continued her government service in DC at the US Census Bureau; where she was a health insurance coverage analyst researching the uninsured and Medicaid-eligible populations. Her first foray into state government, Laura spent the summer of 2012 as a Legislative and Policy Intern at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services and doing Spanish language immersion in Guatemala. On the bittersweet day she departs from the WWS, she plans to work on health care implementation at the state or local level.
Shannon Brink
Princeton University, 2009
Public & International Affairs, AB
Field II - Development Studies
Denver, CO
Born and raised in Denver, Shannon left Colorado’s sunny skies behind for Princeton, where she quickly drank the orange kool-aid and immersed herself in undergrad life. After falling in love with South America on a trip to Peru with the Princeton chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), she returned to the continent for additional EWB projects, study abroad at the Pontificia Universidad Católica in Chile, research for her thesis on the Inter-American Foundation, and any other excuse she could come up with. Shannon graduated in 2009 after majoring in the Woodrow Wilson School with certificates in Latin American Studies and Environmental Studies. A Scholar in the Nation’s Service, she interned at the Millennium Challenge Corporation in Washington, DC and Nicaragua. After graduation, she truly left sunny skies behind when she headed to Lima, Peru, where she spent the past two years working on economic growth and environment programs with USAID. Despite Lima’s persistently cloudy climes, she loved her life there so much that it was hard to imagine coming back to Old Nassau. Nevertheless she returned to new adventures at Princeton and as a Residential Graduate Student in Whitman College debunking the rumors that grad students are sketchy. An avid runner and recently reconverted soccer player, Shannon also enjoys eating delicious food, cooking delicious food, travel, theater, and anything related to Latin American culture. After Princeton, she hopes to continue her work promoting sustainable economic growth and environmental policies in developing countries.
Jennifer Browning
University of California, Berkeley, 2006
Development Studies/French, BA
Field II – Development Studies/HHP
Washington, DC
Before coming to Princeton, Jennifer worked in Senegal for three years. As the Program Manager for the Department of Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program at the US Embassy in Dakar, she worked with African militaries in Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea Bissau to support their HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs. Prior to working at the Embassy, she served as a John Gardner Fellow in Public Service on the Gender Team at United Nations Development Program (UNDP) headquarters in New York, and moved with UNDP to Senegal to work on gender issues at the UNDP regional office in Dakar. However, she really integrated into Senegal- listening to mbalax, eating thieubujenn and yassa, and learning Wolof- by starting an NGO, Ladies’ Turn ( www.ladiesturn.org ) which is dedicated to promoting women’s soccer and gender equality in Senegal. This past summer, Jennifer traveled to Senegal to release the documentary on Ladies' Turn and then continued on to Mozambique to gain more international health experience. After completing her MPA, she plans to pursue a career in reproductive health advocacy.
Jean (Jean-Marie) Callan
Seattle University, 2007
Economics/Philosophy, BA
Field IV - Economics and Public Policy
Portland, OR
Jean-Marie was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, where she cultivated a strong appreciation for the great outdoors, sustainable living, and community activism. She continued her love affair with the Pacific Northwest by studying economics and philosophy at Seattle University. After graduation, however, she defected to the East coast, joining the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in New York. While there, she worked with formerly homeless and low-income tenants in a 652 unit Common Ground permanent supportive housing building. Most recently, she lived and worked in DC, where she contributed to research for the Brookings Institution on a wide variety of domestic economic policy issues, from recent housing legislation to Social Security reform. This past summer, she worked on program planning and evaluation for the City of New York in the Department of Homeless Services and as a part of the Mayor's Interagency Task Force on Truancy, Chronic Absenteeism & School Engagement.
Sebastián Chaskel
Tufts University, 2007
Anthropology, BA
Field II – Development Studies
Bogota, Colombia
Sebastian was born in Bogotá, Colombia to a Jewish family that had left Europe during World War II. After living in Colombia for 16 years, he finished high school at The Lawrenceville School (down the road from Princeton), and then attended Tufts University where he studied anthropology and international relations. At Tufts, Sebastian founded the Community Language Bank in Somerville, researched the Central American peace process, and studied the transnational religious traditions of Central Americans who had migrated to Massachusetts. Upon graduation, he worked as Research Associate for Latin America Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York for two years. He then moved back to Colombia where, after a short stint as an independent researcher, he managed local capacity building and democracy strengthening projects at the Cerrejón Foundation for the Institutional Strengthening of La Guajira. During his first year at Princeton, he (and Cam Forero) led a group of 20 Woos who went to Colombia during Fall Break. In the summer, Sebastian worked in Bogota with the Colombian National Agency for Extreme Poverty Alleviation (ANSPE), supporting the State Services Management Unit. Concentrating in development studies, Sebastian has particularly enjoyed taking classes on social entrepreneurship, urbanization and development, and science and climate change at WWS. A biking fan, he can be spotted on his red bike on the paths around the Princeton area.
Logan Clark
Brigham Young University, 2007
International Relations, BA
Field IV - Economics and Public Policy/STEP
Princeton, NJ
Conscious of international issues from an early age, Logan’s pursuit of a career in international and development economics began as an undergraduate, when he took two years off to serve a mission among the people of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Hooked, he later returned to the country to conduct research for an Honors Thesis on energy policy. After graduating from Brigham Young University in 2007, Logan spent three years in Washington, DC working as an evaluation consultant for USAID and the World Bank, where, most notably, he helped conduct an impact assessment of USAID’s global Trade Capacity Building program that was awarded the Agency’s Excellence in Evaluation distinction. The year prior to graduate school, he took a position with the Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) in India, assisting the government in piloting several innovative environmental regulatory and energy efficiency policies in the state of Gujarat and throughout the country. Logan split time over the summer between Washington, DC, working for the State Department’s Bureau of Economic Affairs, and Amman, Jordan, working with the country’s Ministry of Finance.
Cheryl Cooper
Washington University, St Louis, 2008
Economics/Anthropology, AB
Field IV - Economics and Public Policy
Rockville, MD
Born and raised in a suburb outside of Washington DC, Cheryl developed an early interest in politics and government. As an undergraduate at Washington University in St. Louis, she immersed herself in the social sciences, double majoring in economics and anthropology. Determined to work in government after graduation, Cheryl moved back to Washington DC, taking a position as a research assistant at the Federal Reserve Board. In this position, she analyzed mortgage lending, credit cards, and other consumer credit markets to help inform consumer protection policymaking. Before attending the Woodrow Wilson School, she was a research associate at the Urban Institute, a social policy think tank in DC. Cheryl is interested in consumer protection, financial regulation, and economic policy, as well as learning more about public finance and government management. She spent the summer working at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Washington, DC.
Megan Corrarino
University of Chicago, 2007
International Relations, BA
Field II - Development Studies
Portland, OR
Megan was born and raised in Oregon, where she learned how to dig razor clams, mushroom hunt, and silently judge unnecessary umbrella use. After graduating from the University of Chicago in 2007 with a BA in International Studies and Latin American Studies, her love of languages led to a job with a language education initiative in the Department of Defense. She also worked at the US Embassy in Portugal and for human rights organization in Nicaragua, Peru, and Brazil. Megan returned to Brazil as a Fulbright Scholar to research various community development models in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Currently a joint JD student at Yale Law School, Megan is interested in international human rights law; using technical and legal resources as tools for community empowerment; and the relationship between legal protections for traditionally vulnerable workers and economic development. She spent two summers working at Legal Aid Services for Migrant Farmworkers in Woodburn, Oregon, and doing international transactional law at Cleary Gottlieb in New York and Milan. This summer, she worked with a coalition of civil society organizations in Brazil that aims to increase accountability and rule of law in the planning, development, and implementation of mega-events, including the Olympics and World Cup. Her primary focus was minimizing the negative impacts of mega-events on informal workers and people in informal housing settlements.
Marco De León
Stanford University, 2006
Political Science, BA
Field III – Domestic Policy
Corpus Christi, TX
Christened after the Venetian explorer in a small port city on the Gulf, Marco spent his early years in search of adventure along Texas highways and coastlines. This early travel exposed stark social and economic contrasts that activated an interest in government. While at Stanford University, he grew interested in concepts of distributive justice and compared political economies while studying abroad in Argentina, Chile, and at Oxford University. Upon graduation, Marco turned his studies to the institutions of American governance by managing legislative portfolios and working on political campaigns for Members in the House of Representatives and the United States Senate. He was selected for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s Public Policy Fellowship where he served in two separate Congressional Offices, and subsequently, went on to serve on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Now at Princeton, Marco is the Co-Chairman of the Woodrow Wilson Action Committee, Associate Editor of the Journal for Public and International Affairs, a consultant of the Graduate Consulting Group, an active member of the Graduate Student Government, and serves on the Priorities Committee of the Council of the Princeton University Community. This past summer he was selected for a competitive business consulting internship program with the National Park Service. He is interested in resource management, public finance, and economic revitalization.
Stephanie Durden
University of Virginia, 2008
Business, BS
Field III - Domestic Policy
Washington, DC
Stephanie grew up in Washington, DC and studied Commerce at the University of Virginia. After graduating in 2008, she moved to Manhattan and completed a brief stint as an investment banking analyst at Lehman Brothers. After surviving the largest bankruptcy in US history to date, she quit her job and entered the world of American education reform. In December 2008, Stephanie became a financial analyst at Success Charter Network, a charter school management organization that runs the nine Success Academies with plans to open approximately 30 additional schools throughout New York City. She spent her summer internship as an Education Pioneers Fellow at the New York City Department of Education. There she worked in the District 79: Alternative Schools and Programs office, which serves a variety of students including individuals seeking GED certification, students seeking career and technical education, student parents, students in drug treatment facilities, and students in correctional facilities. Aside from her passion for education reform, Stephanie enjoys dance and photography. After WWS, she hopes to apply the skills she attains at the Woodrow Wilson School to improve the state of public education in the United States.
Jane Farrington
Emory University, 2007
Interdisciplinary Studies, BA
Field I - International Relations
Walla Walla, WA
Jane is earning a joint MPA from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School and JD from Stanford Law School. At Stanford, Jane is a Senior Editor on the Stanford Law Review and the Director of Curriculum of the Afghanistan Legal Education Project, which publishes legal textbooks on the laws of Afghanistan. After graduating from Princeton and Stanford in 2013, she will work as a law clerk for the Honorable Thomas Selby Ellis, III on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and then for the Honorable M. Margaret McKeown on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Jane spent the summer of 2012 working in the U.S. Trade Representative Office of General Counsel as a Rosenthal Fellow in International Relations and at Debevoise and Plimpton LLP. During the summer of 2011, Jane worked at the State Department Office of the Legal Adviser and at Hogan Lovells’ Washington, D.C. office. During the summer of 2010, she worked for Legal Affairs at the U.S. Mission to the UN in Geneva. Prior to graduate school, she studied journalism as a Rotary Scholar in Morocco and interned at the U.S. Embassy in Rabat. Jane graduated from Emory University in 2007 with a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies and minors in Arabic and French, and she is originally from Walla Walla, Washington.
Kenneth (George) Gardner
Adelaide University, 2005
Economics, BEc
Field IV - Economics and Public Policy
Sydney, NSW, Australia
George grew up in a small town in rural South Australia but ultimately moved to the big smoke of Sydney to work for the Reserve Bank of Australia. During his five years at the Bank he delved into issues such as how to assess competition between credit card companies in the RBA’s payments policy department, wrestled with macroeconomic modeling in the economic research department, pondered how speculators affect commodity prices in the financial markets group, and spent a year as the RBA Governor’s research assistant (where he quickly learned how to make good coffee). For his summer internship he worked at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Office in Mexico City, Mexico. After his education at the Woodrow Wilson School, George intends to return to Australia, the fascinating world of monetary policy, and to his beloved cats Percival and Ignatious.
Emily Garin
Princeton University, 2002
Politics, BA
Field II - International Development
Clovis, CA
Emily’s parents swear that she’s always carried around her own soapbox, ready to rail against injustice at the drop of a hat. That tendency was only encouraged during eight years of high school and college debate, where she was happy to find a steady stream of similarly afflicted people. After graduating from Princeton in 2002, she worked as a policy advocate and lobbyist, fighting for working families and trying to stabilize California’s broken health care and budget systems. Seven years and countless your-governor-is-The-Terminator jokes later, Emily decided to take her background in social protection issues and apply it in an international context at WWS. Following her summer internship, she took two middle years out from Princeton to work with the Government of Liberia and UNICEF on the development of new social protection policies and programs. When not basking in the blue warmth of UN offices, Emily enjoys cooking, yoga, running, getting her passport stamped, and defending the merits of cash transfer programs.
Marjorie (Maggie) Haight
University of Washington, 2009
Economics, BS
Field IV - Economics and Public Policy/UPP
St. Paul, MN
After spending most of her life in the Minnie Apple (Minneapolis, MN), Maggie was excited to experience the Big Apple, at the Regional Plan Association spring semester and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in the summer. Prior to joining WWS, Maggie spent two years as an AmeriCorps VISTA in the Community Development department at multifaceted non-profit in southeastern Minnesota. There, she developed new revenue streams, managed development projects and directed communication strategy. Looking forward, Maggie is interested in pursuing a certificate in urban policy & planning at WWS, policy and program evaluation, and real estate finance. Before starting her second year, Maggie spent some quality time underwater with whale sharks in Honduras and around the backyard barbeque with friends and family.
Laura Hanson
Whitman College, 2007
Peace and Conflict Studies, BA
Field III - Domestic Policy
Tipp City, OH
The intersection of local food and community development first sparked Laura’s interest in cooperatives in 2004. As an undergrad, she founded the Daily Market food co-op in Walla Walla, WA, and studied abroad in Botswana, where her host mother was the first woman to lead the village cooperative. Laura graduated from Whitman College with a self-designed major in Peace & Conflict Studies. She then taught in La Réunion, which lent a Creole flair to her French and affirmed her love of backpacking. In 2008-09 she served as Director of Cooperative Development for Rwanda Knits, a Kigali-based project that helps vulnerable women establish their own craft cooperatives. Prior to the Woo, she returned to her roots in Ohio to organize Stone’s Throw Market food co-op. The journey home affirmed her passion for domestic issues. Laura has enjoyed her return to WWS after her 2006 stint as a PPIA fellow, participating in WWAC, JPIA, and SAOC in her first year. She continued her work with cooperatives this past summer as an intern with the Calvert Foundation in Washington, DC, where she focused on starting up a new Co-op Capital Investment Fund.
Kimberly Harris
Syracuse University, 2009
Policy Studies/Political Science/Magazine Journalism, BA
Field III - Domestic Policy
Aurora, IL
Kimberly was born and raised in Aurora, Illinois, the second largest city in the state and well known for its Wayne’s World fame. She enrolled at Syracuse University to become a journalist but quickly realized an affinity to public policy, focusing on the nation’s criminal justice and education systems. She engaged in public service via the University’s community service office, her sorority Delta Sigma Theta, tutoring programs, local internships, and University committees. She studied abroad in Israel and France to gain a comparative perspective on the countries’ policies concerning minority populations. In 2008, Kimberly attended the Public Policy and International Affairs’ Junior Summer Institute at Princeton University. Upon graduating with her BA in public policy, political science, and magazine journalism, she interned with the US Department of Justice in Washington, DC, where she learned about comprehensive community-based programs aimed at reducing and preventing crime. She then traveled to the west coast to serve with City Year Los Angeles at the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools, the most expensive public school ever built in the US. While working in a sixth-grade English classroom where many of the students could not read at grade level, she gained a greater appreciation for the complex struggles of youth, their families, and their teachers. This past summer, Kimberly interned with the Local Initiatives Support Coalition in Chicago and focused on Elev8, its academic enrichment program for underserved middle-school students.
Elizabeth (Betsy) Hoody
University of Chicago, 2006
Political Science/Russian Civilization, BA
Field II – Development Studies
Bemidji, MN
Betsy grew up in northern Minnesota and earned a BA at the University of Chicago, where she studied political science and Russian language. After graduating in 2006, she studied on a Fulbright grant in Russia, where she volunteered with a women's rights organization that addresses domestic violence and trafficking. Upon returning to the US, Betsy worked in San Francisco at Global Fund for Women from 2007-2011, where she helped make grants to women's rights groups in Europe and Central Asia. She sits on the Advisory Committee of FRIDA – The Young Feminist Fund. She studies international relations and development at the Woodrow Wilson School and is hopeful that this education will strengthen her future work for global feminist movements. Over the summer, Betsy interned with the women’s human rights program at the Advocates for Human Rights in Minneapolis.
Christopher (Chris) Johnson
New York University, 2011
International Relations/Latin American Studies, BA
Field IV – Economics and Public Policy
San Francisco, CA
Chris hails from San Francisco, CA; all of his friends can attest to the fact that he is its biggest promoter. Fortunately for him, his mother Alba, originally from Managua, Nicaragua, and his father George, originally from the US Virgin Islands and Miami, taught him the importance of intercultural dialogue at an early age. This inspired his current interest in international development, immigration policy, underserved communities, and human and civil rights. In 2011, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from New York University with a degree in International Relations and Latin American Studies. While in New York City, he worked as a tutor for underprivileged students, interned for congressional candidate Reshma Saujani, modeled in charity fashion shows, and even danced with a competitive hip-hop crew, HipTop. The past two summers he has interned for the Department of State in DC and Bangkok, Thailand. As a Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellow, Chris plans to serve as a Foreign Service Officer at the Department of State after his study at the Woodrow Wilson School.
Daniel (Dan) Joyce
Georgetown University, 2006
International Politics, BSFS
Field I - International Relations
Tucson, AZ
Enthralled by foreign policy since high school, Dan left Arizona to study International Politics at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. There he cemented his interest in Latin America while studying and exploring in Chile. Upon graduating magna cum laude in 2006, he worked on democratic governance issues as the program associate for the Andean region at the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington, DC center for policy analysis and exchange on issues in US-Latin American affairs. There he has organized conferences and observed elections in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Dan’s Scholars in the Nations Service fellowship was at the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the Department of State, with an initial rotation in the Office of Andean Affairs. In his spare time, he enjoys soccer, backpacking, and crosswords.
Naoaki (Nao) Kashiwabara
University of Tokyo, 2006
Law, BA
Field IV - Economics and Public Policy/STEP
Tokyo, Japan
After spending five years of the most precious time in life, teenhood, in Singapore (which turned him to be a big fan of Chinese food), Naoaki went back to Japan and studied public law at University of Tokyo. Upon graduation, he joined Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. So far, his jobs in the ministry ranged from designing the roadmap towards establishing a regional free trade agreement in East Asia, to negotiating the future international framework of addressing global warming, and to overseeing the budget implementation of the ministry. Naoaki’s experiences in trade policy and climate change negotiation opened his eye to the issues of regional economic integration and climate change. In a wider perspective, he is also interested in designing a solid growth strategy for his country, and it was a natural (yet ambitious!) choice for him to pursue further education at the Woodrow Wilson School. After the first year at Princeton, he spent his summer doing an independent study at Harvard. In his free time, Naoaki enjoys traveling, and bathing in hot springs.
Evan LeFlore
Haverford College, 2006
Mathematics, BS
Field IV- Economics and Public Policy
Silver Spring, MD
Born and raised just outside of Washington, DC, Evan was exposed at an early age to the impact that public policy can have on the lives of those in our society. As the descendant of those who lived through the trials associated with African American life prior to the Civil Rights Movement, he dedicated much of his extracurricular time both at Haverford College as well as in his professional life towards increasing the understanding of diversity and inclusion within his communities. His desire to make a positive societal impact drove him to find a job where he could utilize his academic training in mathematics and economics towards making a broad impact on the world. Evan was able to find such a position at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he spent his first three years working with economists on their monetary policy analysis and research projects. Being at one of the epicenters of the financial crisis instilled a strong desire to pursue a career in financial regulation, and thereby he spent his final year preparing for such a career through working for the Fed’s Commercial Paper Funding Facility and the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility. He is extremely excited to be part of the WWS family and to learn from the school’s renowned faculty as well as his amazing classmates; meanwhile, he is also pursuing a dual degree at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in order to hone his leadership skills and to shore up his understanding of finance, and will be in residence at WWS for the fall only. Evan spent the past summer performing economic research within the Monetary and Financial Affairs department at the Bank of Tanzania. In his spare time, Evan enjoys playing basketball, volleyball, football, and soccer, as well as more adventurous sports such as snowboarding.
Juan José Leguia
Universidad Nacional Agraria, 2004
Food Industries Engineering, BS
Pontificia Universidad Catolica, 2009
Social Management, MA
Field IV - Economics and Public Policy
Lima, Peru
Juan José was born and raised in Lima, Peru, where he spent most of his childhood and high school years developing his musical talent as a flutist and demonstrating athletic prowess as a soccer player. Upon graduating high school he enrolled on La Molina Agrarian National University to pursue a career in Food Industries Engineering. After graduating he was hired to work at Gloria, one of the largest dairy processors in Peru, as process engineer. At the same time Juan José was involving himself in development of underserved areas as a Christian youth leader. The outreach component of the Christian community gave him the opportunity to be thoroughly involved in social assistance activities in areas both urban and rural. These experiences in combination with a Master's Degree in Social Administration at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú led him to first discover his vocation for public service. In time he resigned from Gloria and co-founded a non-profit organization named Impacto Peru, which focuses on helping people through microfinance and capacity building programs. He is interested in the interaction among development, macroeconomic policy and financial markets. In the summer, he worked with the Agriculture and Rural Development Team for Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank in Washington DC. Upon graduation from WWS, Juan Jose looks forward to returning to Lima to work in government or a multilateral organization to promote and implement sound poverty reduction policies in Peru. He still occasionally finds time to perform as a flutist and singer, and also plays soccer with friends. Most of all, he enjoys being with his wife Giselle and son Sebastian.
Shelly Lyser
University of California, Berkeley, 2006
Environmental Sciences, BS
Field III - Domestic Policy/STEP
Sacramento, CA
After graduating from UC Berkeley with a Bachelor of Science, Shelly began her career on the rivers of California conducting aquatic ecology surveys as an environmental consultant. She later moved to Washington, DC to focus on environmental advocacy with an emphasis on climate and energy policy. Recently, she held a position at the Natural Resources Defense Council and spent a summer at a Spanish language immersion program in Mexico. For her summer internship Shelly worked at the US Department of Energy in Washington, DC. She intends to promote efficient, safe, and healthy energy policies after earning an MPA from the Woodrow Wilson School.
Chad Maisel
Emory University, 2007
Political Science/Spanish, BA
Field III - Domestic Policy
Princeton, NJ
A proud New Jerseyan, Chad went to high school down the street from WWS and is thrilled to be back. After graduating from Emory University with a double major in political science and Spanish, he hit the road, working for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign for nearly a year, and later serving as a regional field director for the Obama campaign in northeast Ohio. Eager to build on his experiences in rural communities while on the campaign, he joined the Office of the Deputy Secretary at the US Department of Agriculture. While at USDA, he worked on an initiative promoting local food systems as a tool for rural development. Immediately prior to Princeton, he served as a liaison between the White House and Federal agencies at the White House Office of Cabinet Affairs. Chad worked in Chicago this past summer as part of the Chicago Mayor's Fellowship program.
Carlos Marquez-Padilla
ITAM, 2007
Economics, BA
ITAM, 2009
Economics, MA
Field IV – Economics and Public Policy
Mexico City, Mexico
Carlos was born in Mexico City and has spent most of his life concerned about economic development in his home country. He attended ITAM in Mexico City where he studied Economics (both as an undergraduate and a master’s student) with a field concentration in Financial Economics. At ITAM he served as President of the Student’s Council. Throughout his career he has worked primarily within the public sector. During his third year in university he became a full time Junior Advisor in Mexico’s Ministry of Finance. After a short stint at Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking Decision, he became an Economist for the OECD in Paris specializing in innovation. In 2009 Carlos was appointed by Mexico’s Commissioner for Political Development as Chief of Staff, focusing primarily on Political Reform and Civil Society. He later became Senior Economic Advisor for the President of Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies. Since 2009, he has been an active member of Huatusco: Economists Going for Growth and one of the founders of Reelige o Castiga an NGO that seeks to strengthen political rights in Mexico. Before coming to Princeton he was a special columnist for one of Mexico’s national newspapers. Carlos is a great fan of sports, particularly soccer, baseball, and football. He looks forward to doing macroeconomic analysis related to the public sector in the near future. For his summer internship Carlos worked for the G20 through the Mexican Government which chaired the Group of Twenty for 2012.
Samantha Mignotte
Vassar College, 2009
Political Science/Economics, AB
Field II - Development Studies/STEP
Brockton, MA
Samantha completed her undergraduate studies in political science and economics at Vassar College in 2009. After graduating, she worked as a research and outreach associate at the Small Planet Institute in Cambridge, MA. There she provided research support on domestic food policy, hunger, and the environment. Prior to this experience, she interned at Rural and Migrant Ministry in New York, volunteered at the Scalabrini Centre for Refugees in South Africa, and worked on Representative John Hall’s 2008 campaign. She is also a Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) fellow, and participated in the University of Maryland’s Summer Leadership Institute. At WWS, Samantha focuses on international food policy and agricultural development. This past summer she interned with the International Fund for Agricultural Development examining the monitoring and evaluation systems of ongoing projects based in Malawi. Samantha enjoys yoga, spending time with friends, and all things food related.
Hassan Noura
University of Melbourne, 2004
Economics, BComm
Field IV - Economics and Public Policy
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Hassan was born in war-torn Beirut, Lebanon and, after a few close calls, later migrated to Australia with his family and grew up in the trendy city of Melbourne. After finishing college, he moved to the decidedly non-trendy – but still awesome – town of Canberra (Australia’s capital), where he spent four years working for the Treasury Department and building up his salsa skills. He then spent three years working at the World Bank Office in Jakarta, Indonesia analysing and advising on public expenditure issues, particularly in the areas of education, social assistance and fuel subsidy reform. Since commencing the MPA program, Hassan has taken courses on the Middle East and continued to hone his economic and salsa skills – the later thanks to his amazing Mexican MPA dance partner. This summer, Hassan worked on Middle East projects with the World Bank in Washington DC – a job he hopes will be a springboard to a longer-term career contributing to that region’s economic and social development.
Joshua (Josh) Owens
Vanderbilt University, 2008
Political Science/Religious Studies, BA
Field II - Development Studies
Union City, TN
Josh grew up in rural Tennessee and studied Political Science, Islam, and Arabic at Vanderbilt. As an undergraduate, he developed an interest in Africa and the Near East and researched Islamist political movements and the influence of religion on Middle East politics. After college Josh worked for a small NGO in North Africa. For two years he managed an early recovery and development program in a remote, volatile province of South Darfur in Sudan and researched the root causes of local conflict as part of a UNDP initiative. Following a second assignment in Egypt, Josh returned to the U.S. and worked as an economic development consultant for a large community bank in Tennessee, helping to shape rural development and job creation strategies for economically distressed areas. Finally, as a student at WWS, Josh joined UNDP Leotho during the summer of 2012, advising the government and the UN on economic and human development policy. Moreover, this year he is helping to design electoral security frameworks in sub-Saharan Africa as part of a WWS policy workshop. He plans to return to the Middle East or North Africa region after Princeton and focus on economic development and governance in fragile and post-conflict states.
Angel Padilla
University of California, Berkeley, 2007
Political Science/Sociology, BA
Field III – Domestic Policy
Los Angeles, CA
Angel was born in Los Angeles, California to undocumented immigrant parents from El Salvador. He graduated with high honors from UC Berkeley in 2007 double majoring in political science and sociology. During his time in NorCal he fully embraced the frequent use of “hella,” to his fiancée’s dismay. After graduating, he worked for the Center for the Study of Political Graphics (CSPG), a nonprofit whose mission is to use art to promote positive social change. From 2008-2009, Angel was a Public Policy Fellow with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute in Washington, DC where he worked for the Organization of American States, and for the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee in the House of Representatives. He explored the vibrant DC happy hour scene during his year as a fellow (read “intern”). He was hired in 2009 in Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez’ office where he learned more about US immigration policy and politics, and also advised his boss on a range of policy issues. To achieve a basic standard of living, he subsidized his Hill earnings with a part-time serving job at a DC beer institution. He spent most of his weekends developing a taste for IPAs and giving terrible service to customers. He was also a volunteer citizenship instructor at the Central American Resource Center in DC from 2009-2010. During his spare time, Angel enjoys watching terrible movies with predictable plots, preferably those shown on basic cable. He is trying to make more time to swim and play music while at the Woo. For his summer internship he worked at the US Department of Homeland Security in Washington, DC.
Maria Cristina (Mia) Parker
Scripps College, 2002
Latin American Studies, BA
Field II - Development Studies
New York, NY
Mia is pursuing a Masters in Public Affairs, a two-year program, at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School. During the summer of 2012, she interned at the Department of U.S. Treasury in the Middle East and North Africa office covering Egypt in Washington DC. Prior to enrolling at Princeton, she was a founding member of the Social Finance Group at J.P. Morgan, where she worked for a total of five years. This commercial initiative focuses on principal investment opportunities within the microfinance and broader social enterprise sectors. Previously, she worked in domestic microfinance at Accion in New York City as both a loan consultant and a lending team leader. Mia is the founder and former chair of the Accion USA Microfinance Council, an organization dedicated to promoting this non-profit to young professionals, providing strategic advice and assisting with fundraising activities with the support of the Board of Directors at Accion USA. Currently she is serving on the ACCION USA Board. Mia is fluent in Spanish and holds a BA in Latin American Studies from Scripps College in Claremont, California.
Anna (Lizzie) Phillips
Rhodes College, 2007
Economics & International Studies, BA
Field III – Domestic Politics/HHP
Little Rock, AR
While studying development economics at Rhodes College, Lizzie encountered new ways to express her concern for poverty issues. Microfinance work in India motivated her to conduct field research in the Philippines to better understand the relationship between development theory and practice. With a Fulbright grant, she examined the economic and social impacts of microsavings services. After her year in the Philippines, she joined Keybridge Research, an international economics and public policy research firm in Washington, DC. Outside of work, she enjoys encouraging young people to develop an enthusiasm for running and a palate for dried kale. Lizzie is trying to advance her understanding of behavioral economics and health policy at the Woodrow Wilson School, with the hope of contributing to public policy through applied economic research. For her summer internship she worked in the Health Policy Research Department at the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, conducting research on school-based wellness interventions.
Roberto Pitea
Bocconi University, 2007
International Economics & Management, BA
Field II - Development Studies
Milan, Italy
Roberto grew up in a small town in the South of Italy until 2002 when he was awarded a scholarship to study at the United World College of the Atlantic in Wales, UK. After finishing his undergraduate studies at Bocconi University in Milan, he moved to Cairo where he has worked on various issues related to migration in Egypt and the Middle East. When not dishing out unrequested expert opinion on the politics of the North and South Mediterranean, Roberto likes to cook, cultivate an old love for photography, and spend time with friends. For the summer of 2012, Roberto decided to put his career in international development temporarily on hold to try his hand at the Italian local government, where he interned in the Innovation and Economic Development Department of the Milan city government.
Elizabeth (Liz) Ramey
George Washington University, 2008
Economics/Sociology, BA
Oxford University, 2011
African Studies, MSC
Field I - International Relations/UP
Huber Heights, OH
Originally from Ohio, Liz ventured east for her undergraduate degree, studying economics and sociology at The George Washington University. After developing a passion for cities and urban poverty alleviation at home and abroad, she traveled further east, this time to Kenya, where she worked in one of Nairobi’s slums for more than two years. She then decided to return to the classroom, completing an MSc in African Studies at the University of Oxford before starting the MPA program at Princeton. Liz focuses on the intersection between governance and urban policy implementation, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. For her summer internship, she worked for the Civil Service Agency in the Government of Liberia. Apart from African and North American cities, about which she can talk endlessly, she loves photography, cooking, and the poetry of EE Cummings.
Sarah Ray
Tulane University, 2009
Political Science/Social Policy & Practice, BA
Field III - Domestic Policy
Memphis, TN
Sarah came to the Woodrow Wilson School in 2009 as part of the Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative (SINSI). During her two-year fellowship in government, she worked at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Domestic Policy Council, in the Mayor’s Office in Memphis, and at the Department of Education. At HUD, she was based in the Secretary’s Office in DC and was part of the White House Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative, an interagency effort to connect the Choice Neighborhoods and Promise Neighborhoods programs with public safety efforts at Department of Justice, health programs at Health and Human Services, and financial access programs at the Treasury. Sarah was then tapped to lead a team of 24 federal staff from 12 different agencies on the White House Domestic Policy Council Strong Cities, Strong Communities Initiative. She relocated to Memphis for the Initiative, a pilot program launched in 2011 in six cities across the country that brought teams of federal officials to city government to work directly with Mayors on projects related to economic development, government efficiency, and improving the way the federal government does business. In Memphis, Sarah focused on strategic planning, evidence-based decision-making, and streamlining bureaucracy. Her final position was at the Department of Education, in the Office of Innovation and Improvement, advising the agency on how to shift from a focus on programs, to a focus on places, results, and people. Sarah’s interest in community and economic development came from her experience in post-Katrina New Orleans, leading her to work in the New Orleans Mayor’s Office, for a rebuilding program out of the Louisiana Governor’s office, and for an entrepreneurial incubator. Her other time spent in federal government was at the Administration for Children and Families within the Department of Health and Human Services, looking at poverty and mobility policy. She also worked for the Obama campaign across the South and for local campaigns in New Orleans. Sarah participated in the 2008 PPIA Summer Institute at Princeton and is a 2011 Front Line Leaders Academy Fellow.
Her favorite part of her first year at WWS was the opportunity to work with the Greater Donnelly Initiative in Trenton, tutoring and mentoring youth, and advising through the Graduate Consulting Group about how to launch a food pantry in the Donnelly Homes public housing community. Sarah has studied abroad twice in Spain – in Barcelona & Granada – and is fluent in Spanish. A Truman Scholar, Sarah graduated from Tulane University Phi Beta Kappa & Summa Cum Laude. She loves to travel, cook, run, bike, and do yoga.
Gregory (Greg) Rosalsky
University of California, Santa Cruz, 2007
Politics/History, BA
Field IV – Economics and Public Policy
Sonoma, CA
Raised by a single mother in Northern California, Greg was instilled with values that pushed him toward political activism and public service. He studied American history and politics as an undergraduate, and his senior thesis argued for greater checks and balances in war-making and foreign affairs. The paper, for which he interviewed Republican and Democratic members of Congress, helped him graduate with highest honors for his political studies. He later worked in the communications office of a major antiwar organization. In the summer of 2007, Greg left the West Coast for the plains of Iowa to join the Obama presidential campaign. After working in Virginia during the general election, he served in the White House, where he did research and communications work until June 2011. He held political appointments first in the Office of Presidential Correspondence and then in the Office of Communications. His academic interests include labor and inequality issues, defense policy, checks and balances on bureaucratic institutions, and combating the influence of money on public policymaking. For his summer internship, he worked at The Huffington Post in Washington, DC. Greg hopes to continue working in the progressive movement after graduating from the Woodrow Wilson School.
Daniel Sanchez
California State University, Sacramento, 2008
Government, BA
Field III - Domestic Policy
San Jose, CA
Originally from San Jose California, Daniel graduated from California State University, Sacramento in 2008 where he studied Government. In 2007 he was a Public Policy and International Affairs Fellow at UC Berkeley. In 2008 he left California to become a New York City Urban Fellow at the NYC Department of Social Services/Human Resources Administration (HRA). He evaluated social service programs and demographics. Following the Fellowship he joined a small startup office within the New York City Mayor’s Office called NYC Service. He supported nonprofits and city agencies with services including improving nonprofit board management and increasing language access. Daniel did his summer internship with the City of Rancho Cordova in California. After graduation he hopes to return to return to both California and local government.
Madhurita (Madi) Sengupta
University of Texas, Austin, 2007
Electrical Engineering, BSE
Field I - International Relations
Houston, TX
At age eight, Madhurita came home from a visit to the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), and boldly declared she’d one day work in Mission Control & become an astronaut. Though the latter is still a work in progress, the former was achieved in 2008, when she accepted a full-time position at JSC as an instructor in the International Space Station Robotics Training group. Since then, Madhurita has trained both Space Shuttle and Space Station crews, working as lead Space Station Robotics Instructor on the STS-132, STS-135, and Expedition 22 missions. At the Woodrow Wilson School, she is focusing her efforts on understanding the drivers of domestic and foreign policy, in order to ultimately shape US space policy. This past summer, she worked at the Texas Workforce Commission, assessing the economic growth potential of commercial spaceflight in the State of Texas.
Julia Spiegel
Stanford University, 2006
Political Science, BA
Field I - International Relations
Menlo Park, CA
Julia is a Californian who misses Giants games and the foothills. She studied political science and economics at Stanford, where she focused on understanding the causes of ethnic conflict and war. Hoping to deepen her knowledge and become a more effective advocate, Julia worked as researcher for the International Crisis Group in Belgium and Washington, DC. She spent a year and a half in Sudan, Uganda, and Congo as an analyst for the Center for American Progress, where she assessed and advocated for ways in which the US and international actors could help end armed violence in the region. She then spent two years at Yale Law School further developing her understanding of domestic and international levers of power to respond to atrocities, and honing her persuasive abilities – a skill less appreciated by her family. In law school, Julia spent much of her time advocating on immigration and terrorism-related issues in the Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic, launching a conflict minerals campaign at Yale, editing comments for the Yale Journal on International Law, and representing refugees seeking resettlement in the United States through the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project. She spent her first summer in the Criminal Appellate Division of the US Attorney’s Office in Washington, DC, and her second summer working on an array of conflict and human rights issues in the State Department’s Office of the Legal Adviser and the Population, Refugees and Migration Bureau. At the Woodrow Wilson School, Julia is combining her legal knowledge with a practical understanding of the international politics of preventing and responding to armed conflict and mass atrocities. This past summer she worked with a human rights litigation non-profit in the San Francisco Bay Area. After graduation, she will clerk for the Honorable Judge Margaret M. McKeown on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Cara Stepanczuk
Case Western Reserve University, 2006
Economics/English, BA
Field III - Domestic Policy
Chicago, IL
Proud of her Midwest roots, Cara is an outdoor enthusiast and ambitious volunteer. She has participated in tutoring projects for Cleveland public schools and South African townships, post-Katrina cleanup in New Orleans, Philadelphia’s free tax preparation program, and nature conservancy in Utah. She channels her activism and creativity into the Norrie Disease Association, a small nonprofit established to support families affected by the rare genetic disorder. Cara served as an intern for the Health Insurance, Data & Analysis Branch in the Office of Management and Budget this past summer. She intends to use her degree from the Woodrow Wilson School to tackle issues in health insurance policy, income security, and consumer protection (a topic inspired by her work on banking legislation and policy at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia).
Laura Tatum
Bowdoin College, 2004
Sociology/Spanish, BA
Field III - Domestic Policy
Palo Alto, CA
Laura grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. She studied Sociology and Spanish at Bowdoin College, spending her junior year in La Paz, Bolivia. After graduating, she co-led a food stamp outreach project in Fresno, California, and then researched homelessness policy in Washington, DC as a Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellow. She then worked on the WakeUpWalMart campaign at the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), and her newfound passion for community organizing soon led her to then-Senator Obama’s campaign for president. After the campaign, Laura returned to Washington, DC to work for Secretary Solis at the US Department of Labor. This past summer, she interned at the Senate HELP Committee in Washington, DC.
Beza Tesfaye
Princeton University, 2009
Public & International Affairs, AB
Field II - Development Studies
Reidsville, NC
After graduating from Princeton in 2009, Beza spent a year in Kenya, working on refugee issues with the International Rescue Committee, as a Princeton in Africa Fellow. She later moved to Washington DC and joined Freedom House, an organization that advances democracy and human rights throughout the world, supporting their East and Horn of Africa programs. Originally from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Beza grew up in Guyana, New Jersey, and the small town of Reidsville, NC. Upon graduating from the WWS, she aspires to continue traveling and working on development issues in Africa. Beza was excited to work with UNICEF Liberia this past summer on youth empowerment and peace-building programs as well as traveling throughout West Africa.
Gloria Twesigye
Ohio Wesleyan University, 2007
International Studies/German, BA
Field II – Development Studies
Delaware, OH
Gloria is a product of the American Dream, being born to Ugandan immigrants and raised in central Ohio with her three sisters. She earned a Bachelor’s degree from Ohio Wesleyan University in 2007, having majors in International Studies and German and a minor in Economics. In 2008 she joined the Peace Corps and taught English at a high school in northern Cameroon. During her time in Cameroon, she perfected the art of bartering, baking with firewood, and became inspired to pursue a profession in public policy. She then received a Fulbright Grant and moved to Germany to study the country’s asylum policy. Gloria spent the summer of 2012 as an intern at the Center for Disease Control as a member of the research branch, where she contributed to the monitoring and evaluating efforts of the organization.
Ross Van der Linde
Rhodes University, 2007
Politics, Philosophy, and Economics, BA
University of Cape Town, 2008
Politics, Philosophy & Economics, BA (Hons)
Field III - Domestic Policy
Johannesburg, South Africa
Ross graduated from the University of Cape Town in 2008 with a BA (Hons) in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics. After a brief stint as a television reporter with South Africa’s largest independent news network, he took up a parliamentary research post with South Africa’s largest opposition party, and became the party’s parliamentary press officer in the run up to general elections in 2009. Later that year, he became National Media Director, and spearheaded the party’s high-profile media campaign against proposed new censorship laws. He ran the party’s national operation in Parliament in 2010, and then served as the party's Director of Communications the following year. Ross spent his summer internship in the Washington DC media office of US Senator Charles E. Schumer.
Sangita Vyas
University of Pennsylvania, 2007
Finance, BS
Field IV – Economics and Public Policy/UPP
Dallas, TX
After two years working in securities litigation at NERA Economic Consulting, Sangita decided she had learned her fill of Excel shortcuts and moved to India. After that, she worked with the Centre for Microfinance on a randomized evaluation studying the impact of an innovative agricultural insurance product on the well-being of farmers in Gujarat. Although she liked thinking of herself as an insurance salesman, she decided to go back to school to further develop her skills in evaluating development programs and to learn more about issues of urbanization in developing countries. This past summer, Sangita worked with the Indian Institute for Human Settlements in New Delhi on developing a strategy for a UNDP program on urban poverty and researching municipal, state, and national level policies relating to urban sustainability. She enjoys going on epic city walks, hiking, and cooking.
Rachel Weise
University of California, Berkeley, 2007
Political Science, BA
Field I - International Relations
Vashon Island, WA
Rachel is a joint degree student, also getting a law degree from NYU. Her passions are international security and non-proliferation. She lived in Egypt for a year and half prior to starting law school. Scuba diving, bargain shopping (and then reupholstering her finds), and cooking for friends are among her favorite past times, and her favorite study breaks involve dancing as if she wasn’t in the library. She spent the summer interning along the banks of the Danube at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in the Office of Legal Affairs. After finishing both degrees, Rachel wants to work in international non-proliferation law in the US government or at an international organization, like the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, where she previously interned.
Camila Zepeda Lizama
ITAM, 2007
Economics, BA
Field IV - Economics and Public Policy
Mexico City, Mexico
Originally from Mexico, Camila received the Bailleres fellowship to study Economics at ITAM in Mexico City. Upon graduation, she worked for the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit conducting macroeconomic analysis but soon realized she wanted to work more closely on poverty issues and took a job at the Ministry of Social Development (SEDESOL). There she did research on the economic and social impact of public policies on poverty. At SEDESOL she collaborated in a report on violence against women and became very passionate on the subject. She then went to work for CIAM CANCUN Shelter for Battered Women and Children to conduct research on the economic costs of domestic violence.After four years of experience, Camila joined the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University where she is majoring in Economics and Public Policy. During the summer of 2012, she worked at the World Bank in Indonesia with the Poverty Cluster. After WWS, she hopes to return to Mexico and work for the federal government designing and implementing social and economic policies with a gender perspective.