Current MPA Students

Rooya is originally from Highlands Ranch, Colorado, and is a Graduate Fellow in the Scholars in the Nation's Service Initiative (SINSI) program, pursuing an MPA in international development. Rooya graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University in the Department of Politics and received the Lyman H. Atwater Prize for the best thesis on a topic of political science for her senior thesis, "The Power of Getting Perspective: A Study of Point of View and Narrative on Attitudes and Behavior towards Refugees." Rooya was also a 2022 Rhodes Scholarship Finalist. Rooya worked as a research assistant for Professor Andrew Reynolds and completed summer internships with Hunger Free Colorado as a 2019 John C. Bogle Fellow, with the World Wildlife Fund as a 2021 Princeton RISE fellow, and interned with the federal government. Her first SINSI rotation was at the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration in the Office of Assistance for East, South, and Central Asia. Outside of politics, she is passionate about hiking, swimming, reading science fiction, and writing poetry.

Mahmud is a career civil servant from Bangladesh with a multidisciplinary background spanning electrical engineering, public administration, and social protection. He has served in diverse regional contexts – from coordinating humanitarian and environmental interventions in Cox's Bazar during the Rohingya crisis, to resolving land disputes and ensuring access to services for marginalized communities in the flood-prone district of Kurigram. Most recently, he worked as Private Secretary to the Executive Chairman of the National Pension Authority under the Ministry of Finance. Mahmud completed his undergraduate studies in electrical and electronic engineering at BUET, and has since mentored a significant number of young engineering graduates from his alma mater considering similar career paths, and now helps young officers in the civil service pursue higher studies abroad. This past summer, Mahmud interned with the Engineering Diplomacy Initiative, a collaboration between Tufts University and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), where he served as the on-ground country representative for a series of decision-focused workshops in Dhaka on water, energy, and technology diplomacy. After graduating from SPIA, Mahmud plans to serve his country in a policy role and later contribute to global international development efforts through multilateral institutions.

Augusta is a 2025 Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellow and an MPA candidate at Princeton SPIA. This summer, she served on the United Arab Emirates Desk at the U.S. Department of State, supporting U.S.-UAE relations and a range of regional and diplomatic issues. Alongside her studies, Augusta supports the State Department as a contractor in the Bureau of Arms Control and Nonproliferation. Previously, she managed international education and exchange programs at the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center and worked with the International Rescue Committee and local government officials on refugee resettlement initiatives. Augusta has participated in delegations to China through the Max S. Baucus Institute and the Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing Center, as well as the MOSAIC Program in Taiwan. In 2019, she was selected as a Fulbright Killam Fellow and studied at the Université de Montréal before spending a year at Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3 in France. At Princeton, Augusta is involved with C-PREE's EPA program, the Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance Graduate Policy Associate Program, Princeton University Policy Student Government (PUPSG), and the Princeton Geoeconomics Policy Group. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Montana with a master's degree in political science and dual bachelor's degrees in international relations and French. She plans to join the U.S. Foreign Service after completing her MPA.

Sazza grew up in Kathmandu, Nepal, before coming to the United States to pursue her education. She graduated summa cum laude with a BBA in international business from Angelo State University, where she also served as a youth representative of Nepal to the United Nations and co-founded a nonprofit advancing gender equity in partnership with U.N. Women. She went on to earn an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, where she conducted behavioral research, and later studied human-AI interaction at the Stanford Behavioral Lab. Most recently, she worked in Silicon Valley developing AI growth strategies for companies ranging from large enterprises like Hewlett Packard Enterprise to Andreessen Horowitz-backed startups like Runway. This past summer, Sazza volunteered with education nonprofits across New York City and organized AI safety events for children in partnership with the AI Safety Foundation. At the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, she hopes to leverage her experience in Silicon Valley to shape policy that protects the sovereignty of the human mind in the digital age.

Ivan is originally from Miami Beach, Florida. At SPIA, he focuses on environmental and energy policy and serves as Co-Chair of the C-PREE Environmental Policy Associates. He is dedicated to helping ensure that all communities have access to a healthy environment, clean and reliable energy, and the resources to withstand the impacts of climate change. This past summer, Ivan worked as a Policy Development Intern at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), where he researched policy options for advancing a whole-of-government approach to household energy affordability. His work explored how New York State can design policies and programs that reflect the everyday realities of families struggling to afford their energy needs. Prior to Princeton, Ivan served as a policy advisor for the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources in Washington, D.C., where he worked to advance equitable policy solutions for residents of the U.S. territories and other underserved communities. He played a key role in advancing the Puerto Rico Status Act, landmark legislation outlining a decolonization process for Puerto Rico. He also helped establish the Department of Energy’s Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund, which provided rooftop solar and battery storage systems to thousands of low-income households. Earlier in his career, Ivan served as a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Public Policy Fellow, supporting American Red Cross efforts to strengthen disaster response systems. A former competitive figure skater and fitness enthusiast, Ivan enjoys practicing his jumps and spins at Princeton’s Hobey Baker Memorial Rink, running along the D&R Canal towpath, and lifting weights at Dillon Gym.