Ahmad Shuja Jamal, Editor-in-chief
MPP’19 – Public finance, human rights, security policy, international development
Jamal is a Fulbright scholar from Afghanistan. He served as director of development at the American University of Afghanistan, where he was part of the team that helped reopen the university after the devastating terrorist attack of August 2016. Prior to that, Jamal was an associate researcher at Human Rights Watch, where he investigated human rights abuses, wrote reports and conducted advocacy. He co-founded Impassion Afghanistan, the country’s first digital media agency that supported democratic participation through technological empowerment. He also served as executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Foundation for Afghanistan, a nonprofit that aimed to develop Afghanistan’s human capital. He was assistant editor at Iran Times and a blogger for the UN Foundation-affiliated UN Dispatch. Jamal was a 2013-2014 Asia Society Young Leaders fellow. He researches and writes about issues of human rights and international security. He also offers commentary on these issues to international media, including BBC World, Al Jazeera English, The New York Times, the LA Times, The Guardian, the Associated Press, and the Wall Street Journal, among others.
Krista O’Connell, Managing editor
MPP’19 – Education & social policy
Krista came to McCourt after working for four years in the nonprofit sector, where she provided direct service to immigrant youth and supported various education advocacy campaigns. She is a proud Virginian and received her B.A. from the University of Virginia, where she won the Harrison Undergraduate Research Award. At McCourt, she works as a research assistant and is the head of community development for EduWonks. In her spare time, she enjoys playing the guitar, cycling, and volunteering in the community. In the future, she hopes to use her research, interpersonal, and management skills to advance equitable and inclusive public policy.
Peter Nouhan, Senior communications editor
MPP’19 – Social entrepreneurship
A Michigan native, Peter graduated with a B.S. in biochemistry from Michigan Technological University, but his passion for politics inspired him to move to D.C. to pursue a policy degree at McCourt. At McCourt, Peter is leading a project to pilot the first high school student-led tax prep initiative in Washington, D.C. – offering a new service learning opportunity for students to help low-income workers in their communities. In his spare time, Peter works on political campaigns for progressive candidates that he believes will institute more trustworthy and effective leadership in government. Peter wants to become a professional policy entrepreneur that works within civil society and government to promote progressive policy initiatives, reduce socioeconomic inequality, and foster innovation.
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Media team
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Spring team
Business team
Taylor Howard, Senior business manager
MPP’19- Energy and security policy
Taylor Howard is from the Atlanta area, and recently graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2017 from Auburn University with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Psychology. Taylor is interested in researching energy resilience planning and disaster preparedness. He hopes to remain in D.C. upon graduating the McCourt School in 2019.
Roxane Peloux, Associate business manager
MPP ’20- International development and trade policy, public-private partnerships, and corporate social responsibility
Roxane is from Paris, France, and is half French, half Persian. She has lived in five different countries: France, Uzbekistan, Iran, Canada, and the U.S. Upon her graduation from McGill University, she volunteered for a local charity called Shokoofeha Baluchestan in the Baluchi region of Iran, where she taught English at an all-girls school. She has spent the past year completing a program in international trade with a concentration in financial management at UCLA, and she has previously worked for the French American Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles. Whether at the public level or at the private/corporate level, her goal is to help organizations and corporations achieve their development objectives and make ethical and responsible choices that will have a lasting positive impact on people’s lives.
Media team
Carly Lenhoff, Senior media editor
MPP/JD’20 – Juvenile justice
Prior to enrolling in the JD/MPP program at McCourt, Carly earned dual bachelors from Brandeis University (philosophy and politics, with honors) and worked for three years as a paralegal at an organization dedicated to capital habeas appeals. Carly competes on the Georgetown University Law Center’s Barristers’ Council (trial advocacy division) and is the fundraising chair for Georgetown Youth Advocates. She is interested in becoming a juvenile attorney after graduation, and she hopes to practice large-scale policy advocacy and impact litigation. She is particularly interested in multi-system integration and holistic approaches of providing care to system-involved youth.
Adam Taube, Senior media editor
MIDP ’19 – International development policy
Adam came to D.C. from suburban New Jersey, with a passion for critical analysis and a desire to make a name for himself in a city that he felt was at the center of everything. He graduated from American University with a B.S. in economics and spent three years doing private survey research at PSB Research. After graduating from McCourt, Adam hopes to continue working in international development policy, while spending occasional stints across the globe for project fieldwork. His career goal is to forge a path connecting rigorous statistical methods with digestible analysis via informative data visualizations. He is particularly interested in the ability of a chart or a map to tell a story, deliver an argument, and provide perspective on how to enact effective public policy.
Chandler Dawson, Media editor
MSDSPP ’20- Quantitative methods
Chandler is a recent graduate from Texas A&M University, where he did extensive work as a research assistant to the Mosbacher Institute and the Project for Equity, Representation and Governance. He continue this work today at the Department of Commerce creating graphics and analysis for trade data. Chandler hopes to be at the intersection of data and public policy, doing work to help facilitate more effective use of data in the policy making process. He is particularly interested in how federal agency can better utilize their resources for more effective programs.
Victoria Ma, Media editor
MPP-EP ’21- Environmental and health policy
Victoria graduated from Georgetown University in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in healthcare management and policy. She currently works in the university’s Office of Advancement while attending McCourt MPP classes in the evening. Victoria is highly interested in studying how policy affects consumer behavior. Policy causes ripples and shifts in the economy, and patterns of consumption powerfully impact the health of people and the environment. Overall, Victoria wants to study underestimated and novel pathways of motivating individuals to consciously steward their own health, and that of the environment.
Madeline Pickens, Media editor
MSDSPP ’20- Urban inequality, economic development, and migration
Madeline is a recent graduate from the University of Arizona in Tucson, where she studied economics and Spanish. She is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and spent two summers in Brazil, studying abroad and interning with a development organization there. Madeline also spent a semester interning in DC at a think tank studying the ways that international migration can be leveraged for development.
Online team
Joe Albanese, Senior online editor
MPP ’19 – Budget policy
A Boston area native, Joe graduated from Georgetown University in 2014 majoring in international political economy. His research interests include the federal budget process and entitlement programs, and he has also written about political speech and campaign finance issues in various news outlets.
Caitlin Chin, Senior online editor
MPP ’19
Caitlin graduated from the University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in government and spanish. She also studied abroad in Spain, Chile, and Mexico. Caitlin has held public policy internships with Verizon and VMware, working on technology policy issues such as privacy, security, 5G, Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence.
Marisa Shenk, Senior online editor
MPP-EP ’20 – Methods and social policy
Marisa earned a BA in economics at the College of William and Mary, where she conducted experiments on work incentives. She worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond doing macro-labor research, focusing primarily on alternative measures of unemployment. Marisa currently works at Mathematica Policy Research doing policy research and program evaluation on topics including labor, education, nutrition, and disability policies.
Ryan Collins, Online editor
MPP-EP ’21- Economic and health policy
Ryan is a Colorado native, political junkie, and aspiring policy wonk. He is a former redistricting cartographer, campaign manager, and Hill staffer for Rep. Perlmutter (D-CO). Ryan is currently working the government affairs 9-to-5 at the Center for American Progress while enjoying the first year at McCourt. He is also a proud dog dad. Ryan is looking reacquaint himself with his economics background while writing (and inshallah) publishing some policy pieces focused on US domestic policy.
Pat Curran, Online editor
MPP-EP ’19- Labor economics and elections policy
Pat is a writer, editor and general communications professional from Montpelier, Vermont. He works for the university and is on his way to becoming a double Hoya (’14, ’19). Pat hopes to use his degree to help improve policy literacy in political communications.
Devin Edwards, Online editor
MPP ’20 – Urban policy
Devin is from the beautiful state of Oregon, where he worked as a data analyst and volunteer teacher. At Georgetown, Devin researches wealth-building policies for the McCourt Policy Innovation Lab and hopes to continue advocating for inclusive and empowering urban design in the future, whether in the nonprofit space or local government.
Emilie Hoffer, Online editor
MPP ’20- Development policy
Emilie is originally from Bronxville, NY ,and she spent her last four years in Baltimore for undergrad, graduating with a degree in political science from Johns Hopkins University. Emilie’s dream job is to work for the UN on issues in international development.
Ritika Iyer, Online editor
MPP ’20- International development policy
Rikita is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area and graduated from UC Davis in 2016 with degrees in economics and international relations. She previously worked as a finance management consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the strategic partnerships manager at the Asante Africa Foundation. In early 2018, while conducting research-based fieldwork with a non-profit organization in rural India, Rikita learned firsthand the heightened development challenges rural communities face, particularly in regards to lack of access to markets, institutions, media, and education. Rikita plans to work in the rural education space after graduation, specifically in evaluating impact of rural access programs.
Ayush Manandhar, Online editor
MPP ’20- International development policy with a focus on civil conflicts, poverty, along with foreign aid policy
Ayush Manandhar is from Kathmandu, Nepal. His experiences include working with both government and international institutions including the Embassy of Nepal in the United States, the United Nations Human Settlements Program, and Winrock International among others. Recently, he served as the Fellow for Intercultural Engagement at his alma mater, Westminster College, where he led events and improved policies for the college’s minority students. As a student, he was the editor-in-chief of “Westminster Journal for Global Progress”, the flagship journal of the college. Having traveled widely and having seen people face widespread poverty and disparity, Ayush is motivated to uplift the lives of the many underprivileged people around the world. He hopes to write more on policy and politics as a part of this journey.
Jack Ryan, Online editor
MPP ’20- Electoral politics
Jack hails from Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated from Miami University in 2018 with a BA in English Literature and Media & Culture, where he re-established a fraternity on a non-hazing platform, wrote for The Miami Student , and ran a student film production organization. Jack’s major interests include electoral politics, education policy, and foreign policy. Jack hopes to utilize his graduate education to help get responsible, intelligent people elected to positions where they can make positive change in their communities.
Aruj Shukla, Online editor
MIDP ’20- Research methods and international development policy
Aruj is from New Delhi, India, and previously worked for a social enterprise dedicated to delivering development solutions across India. Aruj majored in materials science and engineering from NTU, Singapore, and before his stint in in the development sector in India, he worked as an engineering consultant in the Oil & Gas sector in Singapore. After McCourt, Aruj plans to work in international development, doing policy research and impact evaluations especially in the area of nutrition, education, and employment.
Nate Witkin, Online editor
MPP ’20- Public policy innovation
While in law school and later practicing law in a small Rust-Belt town for nearly 10 years, Nate researched and wrote about a variety of innovations in lobbying reform, legal ethics, international law, mediation, arbitration, police-community relations, and physics. As part of a smattering of interesting hobbies, Nate has written a number of short science fiction stories and an unpublished novel. Nate hopes to research new ideas in public policy and eventually catch the eye of a think tank interested in innovation.
Podcast team
Enakshi Das, Senior podcast editor
MPP’19 – Health policy
Enakshi graduated with Economics from Presidency College in India and worked in Public Finance at PricewaterhouseCoopers, India, for three years before returning for her graduate studies at Georgetown. With an interest in health policy and finance, she is concerned about rising healthcare costs and is committed to cost-containment and quality improvement measures in health. She has performed and trained in Hindustani classical vocals over the last 23 years. In her spare time, Enakshi enjoys attending concerts and exploring the forest trails in and around Georgetown.
Erich Denk, Senior podcast editor
MPP’19 – Economic policy
Erich is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Wake Forest University as an economics and politics double major, winning the Excellence in Economics award. At McCourt Erich was a member of the winning team of the Georgetown Public Policy Challenge, which envisioned a mobile vaccination clinic that could supply free flu vaccinations to the most vulnerable neighborhoods in Washington, D.C. This year, he will serve as microeconomics teaching assistant for first-year McCourters. After he graduates, Erich plans to continue to write and record podcasts on policy while exploring government consulting.
John Barfiled, Podcast editor
MPP’20- Methods
John is an Army veteran with a background in mental health. For the past couple of years, he has worked for an organization that aims to reduce suicide rates in the military and veteran populations. Jack hopes to take the analytically rigorous methods learned at McCourt and use them to do research on ways to improve health outcomes for members of the military community.
Lucy Schmitz, Podcast editor
MPP ’20- Social policy and inequality
Lucy attended the dual BA Program between Columbia University and Sciences Po, where she focused on international relations, political science and Human Rights. After graduating in 2017, she taught self-advocacy to adults with developmental disabilities at ADAPT Community Network. She hopes to use the skills she learns at McCourt to become a more effective advocate for marginalized communities, and to learn what makes social policy effective.
Lauren Whittaker, Podcast editor
MPP-EP ’19- Education and international development policy
Lauren Whitaker has six years of professional experience working in educational capacity building, ranging from international development initiatives to domestic refugee resettlement services. She is currently the Online Teacher Development Projects Coordinator at the Center for Intercultural Education and Development. She served as a U.S. Department of State English Language Fellow in Astana, Kazakhstan, working closely with the U.S. Embassy to ensure high-impact English language services and programming. She also taught in and managed domestic refugee resettlement programs in Syracuse, New York. Lauren holds a BA in English and Political Science from the University of Tennessee at Martin, and an MA in Linguistic Studies from Syracuse University. Lauren plans to continue in educational capacity building efforts upon completing her MPP.
Spring team
Catherine Aquilina, Spring editor
MPP ’20- Public policy innovation and monetary policy
Prior to joining the McCourt School, Catherine spent the last three years in finance, studying international markets, and she is currently a registered investment advisor. During her undergraduate studies, she had the opportunity to publish original work and reference work with Sage Encyclopedias and Sage’s reference journal. Catherine believes in order to create a better future for our population we are going to need greater public and private sector partnerships. It is her goal to foster those partnerships to create more socially conscious businesses and to create a more agile monetary policy for our nation.
Sarah Barrese, Spring editor
MPP ’20- Economic development
Sarah is a first-year MPP student originally from Short Hills, New Jersey. She graduated from Colby College in 2014 and spent the past four years working in risk management at State Street Corporation in Boston, Massachusetts. Sarah’s interests lie in social policy and economic development, and she is excited to be at McCourt learning the quantitative skills needed to pursue a career in the intersection of those fields.
Surya Khanna, Spring editor
MPP/JD- Health law and policy
Surya comes from a background in international development; prior to matriculation, he worked at the World Bank Institute Open Government Practice, where, among other things, he authored a report on the largest survey ever done on citizen perceptions related to open government policy. Since beginning at McCourt, Surya’s focus has been on access to justice issues principally within the realm of health policy and law. Surya’s goal is to continue his work on domestic health policy and law as well as access to justice as legal counsel for a government agency, ideally at the federal level.
Ido Levy, Spring editor
MPP ’20- Security policy, education policy
Born and raised in New York City, Ido received his Bachelor of Arts in Government, with specializations in global affairs and counter-terrorism, from Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya in Israel. Ido has completed research work for the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism and Institute for National Security Studies. After graduating, he hopes to enter the political research world through a think tank or academia.
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