Current Students

Mackenzie is a democracy and governance professional with seven years of experience working to strengthen the capacities of election management bodies, political party leaders, members of parliament and county assemblies, and civil society organizations across Southern and East Africa. Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, she received a B.A. in Peace and Justice Studies with a minor in Africana Studies from Wellesley College. Following graduation, she moved to Washington, D.C., where she spent over three years working on the National Democratic Institute’s Southern and East Africa team and contributing to institutional initiatives. During the early days of the pandemic, Mackenzie moved to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), where she spent two years providing direct technical support to the National Election Board of Ethiopia and implementing peace and conflict resolution programs. Most recently, she managed IFES’ Africa programs in Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia from the headquarters office in the Washington metropolitan area. When not thinking about democratic resilience, she can be found learning new languages, enjoying water sports of any kind, and attending as many musicals, plays, and ballets as time allows.

Thomas is an active duty U.S. Army officer with a decade of combat arms and special operations experience and previous assignments in Europe and the Indo-Pacific. His interests include irregular warfare, international diplomacy, and intersectionality between revolutionary violence and culture. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 2016 with a B.S. in Literature, where he also competed on the West Point triathlon team. While informally retired from competing, Thomas still loves a challenging workout. His other past-times include reading and cooking for friends and family, and he is looking forward to sharing a good meal with his new Princeton teammates.

Derek studied political science and Arabic at the University of Illinois and has been working in healthcare consulting in Virginia for the past three years. He also does contract work with Sportable, a local organization in Richmond that provides opportunities for athletes with disabilities, and the International Committee of the Red Cross, where he supports programs doing similar work in global contexts. He plans on spending the summer watching the NBA playoffs and catching up with friends and family. Upon graduation from Princeton SPIA, Derek hopes to work with international organizations to develop and implement policy that makes the world more accessible to people with disabilities.

Jared’s dedication to public service began in his home state of Rhode Island. His leadership in his local Jewish community led to an interest in advocacy and public policy. He studied Economics at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where his honors theses received publication for its novel findings of the Clean Air Act reducing race-based disparities in PM2.5 exposure. When the pandemic interrupted school, Jared dove full-time into community organizing in the Twin Cities; first, promoting Latino voter engagement and environmental justice at COPAL MN, then as a field organizer for the Biden Campaign and the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL). Jared began his professional career as an Assistant Analyst at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in the Microeconomic Studies Division. His published work includes modeling effects of policies related to climate change adaptation, natural disasters, permitting reform, and R&D and innovation. Upon leaving the CBO, he spent the summer enjoying his favorite pastime: exploring New England’s public lands with his wife. Following his studies at Princeton, he hopes to work on state and federal budgets to promote thriving communities, environments, and economies.

Born and raised in the Ozark foothills, Brice is interested in reproductive health policy, especially as it relates to health access in rural communities. She earned a bachelor’s degree in human biology from Stanford University in 2022, and, before joining Princeton SPIA, spent two years as a health educator in Chicago school-based health clinics.