Current MPA Students

Originally from Long Island, New York, Amelia studied International Studies, Economics, and Jewish Studies at CUNY The City College of New York (CCNY). Through the integration of her majors, Amelia gained a clearer understanding of the shocks and stresses communities face and the public levers available to equitably drive change. During her time at CCNY, Amelia was awarded the Jeannette K. Watson Fellowship, a three-year program that provides funded summer internships to promising undergraduate students, fueling her passion for urban resilience. After graduating, Amelia began working at Resilient Cities Catalyst, a NYC-based nonprofit organization working to catalyze change in cities and communities across the globe. Over the next five years, she partnered with cities and communities to accelerate urban resilience projects in disinvested communities across the United States, working in cities like Tampa to redesign streetscapes for extreme heat, New York on street vendor policy, and San Diego on binational coastal resilience funding. In the summer of 2026, Amelia interned at the NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice. There, she supported the Living Streets and Public spaces team in deploying innovative pilots, including street vendor electrification and heat resilient bus stop shelters, and developed a HEAP cooling advocacy strategy. Through her studies at Princeton, she plans to expand her analytical skills and understanding of public finance to develop innovative approaches to catalyze systems change in cities across the United States.

Kathleen is a climate change professional working to finance the deployment of clean energy across the US. She currently works on the Investments Team at the Connecticut Green Bank, where she underwrites loans for clean energy projects across the state. Previously, Kathleen served on the Industrial Innovation Team at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where she tracked $500B in federal clean energy investment under the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. She later joined the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Office of Energy Market Regulation, analyzing dockets for PJM, NYISO, ISO-NE, and investor-owned utilities, and then the U.S. Senate, where she drafted a hydropower permitting reform bill and covered issues in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. After graduation, Kathleen hopes to continue her work in clean energy finance. She is a Scholars in the Nation's Service Initiative (SINSI) Graduate Fellow and holds a bachelor's in civil and environmental engineering from Princeton University. She is originally from Orange County, California.

Jamie comes to SPIA with nearly a decade of experience in public service. Most recently, she served as the Legislative Director for Representative Frank Mrvan, where she supported the Congressman’s work on the House Appropriations Committee, the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, and his leadership role on the bipartisan Congressional Steel Caucus. During her time as a Congressional staffer, Jamie primarily worked on legislation pertaining to trade, labor, manufacturing, transportation, energy, and the environment. Prior to the Hill, Jamie served as the Assistant Policy Director for Bipartisan Governance at The Lugar Center, where she formed a passion for democracy building and good governance. There, she developed and implemented data-driven democracy promotion projects aimed at improving cross-partisan relationships and expanding Congressional oversight. Jamie is from Denver and holds a B.S. in public policy analysis from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. In her free time, she enjoys tapping into her artistic side (painting, sculpting, and cooking), spending time in the mountains, and gathering friends to cheer on her Indiana Hoosiers during football season.

Gabe is originally from Newton, Massachusetts. Before coming to Princeton, he worked at the World Bank Group as an analyst supporting thematic evaluations covering the blue economy, biodiversity, environmental and social frameworks, and fragility, conflict, and violence-affected countries. Gabe designed and implemented an AI-powered document search and evaluation tool for the Global Evaluation Initiative and conducted statistical analysis of World Bank and IFC initiatives. He assisted with a blue economy case study in Cabo Verde and a biodiversity case study in Côte d'Ivoire, conducting focus group discussions with NGOs and local fishermen and farmers, as well as conferencing with World Bank, government, and industry stakeholders. In 2023, Gabe graduated from Grinnell College in Iowa where he majored in political science with honors and concentrated in global development studies. While in college, he worked as a research assistant with CERATH Development Organization in Ghana, designing and conducting surveys with fishermen and expert interviews with NGO leaders and government officials. Gabe spent the summer of 2026 working as a Graduate Intern with the Hunger Project in New York City. Upon graduation from SPIA, he aims to return to the World Bank to work and lead in development practice. Outside of development work, Gabriel enjoys learning to cook new foods, experimenting with AI and machine learning, and trying to run faster.

Ryan studied at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), concentrating on U.S.–China relations, China’s diplomatic engagements in the Caribbean, and Cross-Strait dynamics. After graduating in 2022, he began his SINSI fellowship, serving in a range of policy roles: first as a researcher at the United States Institute of Peace, then as an Advisor to the U.S. Executive Director at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and later with the State Department in Washington, D.C. and at the U.S. Embassy Lima, where he coordinated policy on external actors in the Western Hemisphere. A proud native of El Paso, Texas, Ryan draws on his Taiwanese-Mexican heritage and is fluent in both Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. Outside of work, he enjoys traveling the world, photographing landscapes and portraits, and dancing salsa, bachata, and merengue with Princeton’s Latin dance group, Más Flow.