Our Community

In Conversation.

group of students

group of students

"I've found that being willing to try new things, even if they involve risk, has made a big difference in my work."

Angel Padilla, MPA '13

Gillian Tisdale

#PolicyProfile: Gillian Tisdale, MPA '24

"I developed an interest in advocacy at a young age, attending my first protest at the age of 8. As a teenager, I became deeply involved in local…

Justin Schuster, MPA ’24

#PolicyProfile: Justin Schuster, MPA ’24

“Before coming to Princeton SPIA, I spent seven years covering foreign policy, conflict, and climate change in various media and editorial capacities…

Fernando Pernas, MPA '24

#PolicyProfile: Fernando Pernas, MPA '24

My great-grandmother was one of the first female candidates for vice president in Latin America and navigated the perilous waters of politics and…

Ria Hanson

#PolicyProfile: Ria Hanson, MPA ’24

“After graduating from Williams College with a degree in economics, I spent three summers commercial fishing in the Shelikof Strait off the western…

Elmir Mukhtarov, MPA ’24

#PolicyProfile: Elmir Mukhtarov, MPA ’24

“In 2014, I came to the U.S. as a high school exchange student as part of the Future Leaders Exchange program in New York. At the age of 18, I…

Funke Aderonmu, MPA ’24

#PolicyProfile: Funke Aderonmu, MPA ’24

“Before coming to Princeton, I was a contractor with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), focusing on food security and resilience…

Sergio Rodriguez Camarena, MPA ’24

#PolicyProfile: Sergio Rodriguez Camarena, MPA ’24

“I grew up undocumented in the U.S. for nearly 20 years, which informed how I navigated the world and the spaces I could occupy. When I was growing…

Tam Rovitto

#PolicyProfile: Tam Rovitto, Associate Director of Graduate Student Life

“Growing up, my parents instilled this message of giving back and helping others as much as possible. I think @PrincetonSPIA helped me look at that…

Kate Furda

#PolicyProfile: Kate Furda, Financial Reporting Analyst

“After I graduated with my master’s from @rider_university, I worked as a ghostwriter with an adjunct professor who was writing a book on leadership…

Zacharia Ahmed

#PolicyProfile: Zacharia Ahmed, Undergraduate Academic Advisor

I've been in higher education for the past ten years, starting as an undergrad at @fduwhatsnew, where I was part of a student-athlete mentoring…

Samantha McCann

#PolicyProfile: Samantha McCann, Chief Operating Officer, Bridging Divides Initiative

I've always been interested in the intersection of policy and communications. In so many ways, media defines how we see the world. I became…

Meghann Kleespie

#PolicyProfile: Meghann Kleespie, Administrative Coordinator, Office of the Dean

“At @PrincetonSPIA, we teach the future policymakers and change-makers in the world, and I love that I get to be a part of that. Our dean and…

#PolicyProfile: Shannon Presha, Graduate Programs Finance and Operations Manager

“Growing up, my best friend’s grandmother, Laura Wooten, worked at Princeton for a long time. I would often visit her in town, but I never…

#PolicyProfile: Amanda Stark MPP ’23

“From a young age, I had a strong sense of fairness. This drove me to study law at the University of Auckland. I saw this as a practical way to have…

Ashley Stracke MPP '23

#PolicyProfile: Ashley Stracke MPP ’23

“When I was a kid, I had a front-row seat to see how many families who had someone with special needs ended up struggling and how the government…