Julia was born and raised in Pennington, New Jersey, and is excited to be returning to her beloved home state. In 2019, she graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in economics. Since then, she has worked at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in the Labor, Income Security, and Long-Term Analysis Division. At CBO, she has worked on estimating the labor market effects of a proposed policy to raise the minimum wage and modeling the economic effects of immigration. After Princeton, she hopes to use her quantitative background to craft policy to reduce income inequality and criminal justice reform. In her spare time, she loves to do crossword puzzles, go on hikes, and read.

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.

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.

Born in Alaska and raised in Tennessee, Lexie graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in economics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. During school, she studied abroad at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in Bangi, Malaysia. This program inspired her honors thesis examining the relationship between women’s employment outcomes and Malaysia’s free trade agreements. Before Princeton, she conducted macroeconomic analysis for the Office of Europe and Eurasia at the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of International Affairs. Prior to Treasury, Lexie interned for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and U.S. House of Representatives. After Princeton, she hopes to return to the U.S. government and continue working on international economic policy. In her free time, Lexie enjoys drawing, painting, biking, photography, and reading. 

Mahnoor spent six years in the development sector in Pakistan, working at the Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan (CERP) and the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), to implement randomized controlled trials in domains as diverse as education, property taxation and air pollution. In collaboration with the federal, provincial and local government, Mahnoor worked on a) implementing a technology-aided targeted instruction program in 600 primary schools in Islamabad, b) behavioral interventions geared toward bolstering parental involvement in children's education, c) surveys aimed at assessing the extent of educational learning losses during COVID-19, d) interventions aimed at revitalizing the link between property taxation and municipal service delivery in Punjab to improve taxpayers' attitudes toward the state and increase willingness to pay property tax, and e) increasing the consumption and production of air pollution forecasts and subsequently encouraging avoidance behaviors among citizens in Lahore - one of the world's most polluted cities. Mahnoor is passionate about data-driven, evidence-based policymaking. She particularly enjoys conducting fieldwork since she feels that is when "data is humanized," as she hears, understands and connects with the powerful lived experiences behind the data. At Princeton SPIA, she is looking for a more rigorous and comprehensive education in the complex processes involved in translating evidence into enduring, actionable policy. What she looks forward to the most is learning from the rich, varied personal and professional experiences of her cohort.