Current Students

Yumi majored in Economics at the University of Tokyo from 2018 to 2022. After graduation, she joined Japan’s Ministry of Finance, where she has worked at the Customs and Tariff Bureau, the Fukuoka Local Finance Branch Bureau, and the Policy Research Institute (PRI) – a research body affiliated with the Ministry that conducts policy-related studies. At the Customs and Tariff Bureau, she took part in text-based negotiations for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) Agreement, promoted the streamlining of customs procedures, and launched new initiatives to strengthen controls on illegal exports. At the Fukuoka Local Finance Branch Bureau, she conducted regional economic research and participated in inspections of local financial institutions. At PRI, she conducted research on the behavior of financial institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mohamad is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College where he majored in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. Throughout his time at CMC, Mohamad volunteered as a facilitator of student activities for various affinity groups. During his bachelor's, Mohamad also spent a semester studying in Washington, D.C., and working at K&L Gates, where his appreciation for the intricacies of the public policy process began. Mohamad returned to D.C. after his 2021 graduation to work at Pew Research Center on the Race and Ethnicity team where he conducted public opinion polling and demographic analysis. For his MPA summer internship, Mohamad worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Consumer Compliance Supervision team. He studied recent economic trends to help identify the evolution and current stock of financial consumer risks. After graduating from Princeton, Mohamad hopes to bring his social science experience to bear on social policy design, implementation, and analysis in the realms of poverty alleviation and social mobility.

Born in Guyana and raised in the Bronx, Surujdai brings to Princeton SPIA a background in legislative research, program development, and equity-driven advocacy. Prior to Princeton, she served in the New York State Assembly with the Chair of Corrections, supporting legislation on medical parole expansion, the treatment of aging prison populations, and reentry policies. Earlier, she worked at Guyana’s only juvenile detention center, where she introduced math and literacy classes, created youth programming, and successfully lobbied for repeal of the colonial-era “wandering” law that disproportionately criminalized vulnerable youth. As part of her SPIA Summer Service Project, Surujdai spent 12 weeks in rural Nepal designing and implementing an English curriculum for students in grades 4–10 at Deerwalk Dhading School. The experience broadened her perspective on education as a driver of social mobility and underscored the challenges of delivering equitable learning opportunities in resource-constrained environments. At Princeton SPIA, Surujdai serves as the elected DEI representative for her cohort and is pursuing a certificate in Health and Health Policy. After graduation, she hopes to advance equitable systems through a career at the intersection of justice reform, education access, and public health. Outside the classroom, she enjoys writing, traveling, attending football games, and spending time with her grandmother, whose resilience continues to inspire her commitment to public service.

Passionate about advancing evidence-based policy in low- and middle-income countries and capacity-building in urban slums, Jiya most recently worked as a Research Coordinator for the Development Innovation Lab in Uganda, managing projects in education, public governance, and community development. Previously, Jiya supported the research portfolios of development economists Michael Kremer and Rachel Glennerster at the University of Chicago. During the COVID pandemic, Jiya served as a Policy Fellow for Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, focusing on research, policy advocacy, and outreach to Boston’s immigrant and refugee communities. As a Fulbright Fellow in India, she conducted an ethnography and resource mapping on NGOs and housing rights in Mumbai slums. In her free time, Jiya loves exploring urban spaces, curling up with a good book alongside her cat Abe, and trying her hand at new hobbies and languages.

Born and raised in New York's Capital District, Dylan is proud to call Princeton his home for the next couple of years.  During his undergraduate studies at Cornell University, where he earned his B.A. in Economics and Government, Dylan pursued his interests in energy, environmental, and economic policy. He held internships with the U.S. House of Representatives, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) prior to his most recent role with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) in Albany, New York. While serving as a Performance Management Analyst with NYSERDA, Dylan's day-to-day data analytics and business intelligence work supported New York State's nation-leading goals for greenhouse gas emissions reductions, clean energy and clean transportation rollout, and environmental justice. In addition, he oversaw the successful development of NYSERDA's 2024-2027 Strategic Outlook and served as the acting special assistant to the CEO. He is a proud public servant committed to supporting the energy transition in his career. In his free time, Dylan enjoys refereeing soccer and exploring new places, both the great outdoors and the communities we call home. He is especially passionate about transportation infrastructure and has a goal of riding every public transit system in the U.S.