Current MPA Students

Liz is from Raleigh, North Carolina, and attended Duke University as a Benjamin N. Duke Scholar, graduating in 2018 with majors in political science and global health and a minor in cultural anthropology. After graduating, she worked as a community organizer at the Community Empowerment Fund (CEF), a nonprofit providing financial services and housing counseling to individuals experiencing homelessness in Durham, North Carolina. Following her local work at CEF, Liz pursued federal policymaking experience at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, working in the Office of Consumer Education and Engagement and the Office of Enforcement. She then served as the Special Assistant for Economic Mobility and Racial Justice and Equity to the Domestic Policy Council at the White House, where she focused on childcare policy, tenant protections, and implementing the President’s day one Equity Executive Order. Following her studies at Princeton, Liz hopes to return to local-level housing work. In her spare time, she enjoys watching and reviewing movies and catching up on c-list celebrity gossip.

Though originally from Massachusetts, LT Michaela Caldwell spent the majority of her childhood in landlocked Pennsylvania. Drawn to the sea, she answered its call by attending the United States Naval Academy, where she earned a B.S. in Political Science and commissioned as a Surface Warfare Officer in 2020. Prior to commencing her graduate education as a Navy Fleet Scholar, Michaela completed two tours of duty onboard USS BULKELEY (DDG 84), a Forward-Deployed Naval Forces Europe destroyer based in Rota, Spain. While stationed overseas, Michaela gained experience in the European area of operations, ballistic missile defense, and moped riding. Upon completion of the MPA program, she will return to the fleet and continue to serve onboard warships around the world.

Sam is pursuing a joint MPA/J.D. with Harvard Law School and is passionate about leveraging policy to combat food insecurity and promote greater health equity. He has previously worked with local governments and nonprofits to advocate for and implement more equitable food policies, including his role in the Rhode Island Food Policy Council's successful effort to pass the state's first cottage food law. Prior to enrolling at SPIA, Sam was a federal contractor for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), where he supported the Office of Clinical Informatics in its transition to a new electronic health record system, drawing on his data, health, and policy experience. In his free time, Sam is an avid distance runner and Philadelphia Eagles fan.

Hope comes to SPIA after four years at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, including a one-year appointment to the White House National Security Council. Originally from Palo Alto, Hope joined the FBI at their Washington, D.C., field office where she aided special agents in strategic analysis, facilitation of intelligence sharing and training, and administrative management. Hope was promoted to Staff Operations/Tactical Analyst in the Counterterrorism Division, which required an intensive, residential training at Quantico. After graduation from Quantico, her work focused on national threat priority portfolios. During her tenure representing the FBI at the White House National Security Council, Hope collaborated with the highest levels of national security professionals to address complex security dynamics and implement rapid policy developments. She supported the President’s diplomatic objectives as a member of the Presidential delegation, both in France for the commemoration of the anniversary of Normandy, and at the United Nations General Assembly. Prior to her professional career, Hope earned her Bachelor’s degree at the University of North Carolina. She then returned to her hometown in the Bay Area to care for her grandmother. While there, she held multiple jobs in her church's leadership, creating community-informed programming to foster a caring and inclusive space during the tumult of the COVID-19 pandemic. Once Hope earns her MPA from SPIA, she looks forward to returning to public service to address federal domestic policy challenges. In her free time, Hope enjoys exploring National Parks, finding a new coffee shop or library, and baking sweet treats.

Born and raised in New York City, Caroline Crystal graduated with a B.A. in Global Affairs and History from Yale University. After a yearlong fellowship in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Caroline spent two years at the primary implementing partner for the State Department’s Conflict Observatory Program using open-source information and satellite imagery analysis to document potential violations of international law and to support humanitarian field teams in Ukraine and Sudan. Most recently, Caroline worked for the DEVELOP National Program at NASA’s Ames Research Center, where she used earth observations to monitor air pollution and associated public health outcomes, and she is currently a NASA Lifelines Fellow. Outside of the classroom, Caroline enjoys morning park walks, science and nature podcasts, and trying to cook new foods.