Hometown:
Stow, Massachusetts
Policy interests:
Community-based policy, housing policy, wealth redistribution, social justice
Consultancy:
Brown Policy Lab, RI Housing
Why did you choose to pursue your Master of Public Affairs at Brown after finishing your undergraduate study?
As an undergraduate, I thoroughly engaged Brown’s Open Curriculum. My academic experiences cover a wide breadth — I was a student-athlete and I pursued dual concentrations in biology and in gender and sexuality studies. I developed critical analysis skills by focusing on the biology of highly nuanced cellular and molecular networks. In my gender and sexuality studies concentration, I considered societal structures, contexts, and frameworks to better understand power, identity, and oppression. I’m pursuing my MPA at Brown because I want to put these experiences and perspectives I gained as an undergraduate to use. The program is giving me a policy toolbox, with tools like data literacy, regression analysis, program evaluation, and policy memo writing experience, as well as access to a network of policymakers, thinkers, researchers, analysts, and all types of doers in between. I look forward to engaging all my Brown experiences –– both my undergraduate perspectives and my graduate skillsets after graduation and in my career.
What kinds of skills did you develop during the summer sessions? What electives are you taking this fall?
Over the summer, I developed confidence in my ability to conduct quantitative analysis, which I’m continuing to develop in the data-driven policy track courses this fall. The program instills a value of context- and evidence-based policy. After three years as a teacher’s assistant within the biology department at Brown, I’m always thinking about ways in which technical information can be communicated in more accessible and relatable ways, which I’m learning is a very useful perspective in the field of policy. I’m looking forward to using the skills I’m learning in this program during my consultancy this winter, where I will be engaging with the Brown Policy Lab working on a project for RIHousing.
