Current MPA Students

Joe graduated from Princeton with an undergraduate degree in history and a certificate in Russian language and culture before receiving the SINSI Graduate Fellowship, a four-year program that includes a SPIA MPA and two years of work in the federal government. At SPIA, his graduate focus was in Field I (International Relations). He completed three SINSI rotations: at the Federal Transit Administration, at the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, and at the United States Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Nikita was born in Jakarta but spent much of his upbringing moving between Indonesia, China, Brazil, and East Timor as the son of a career diplomat. Growing up across continents and seeing his father's dedication to public service set him on a path toward diplomacy. He studied political science at the University of Indonesia, focusing on comparative politics, and interned for a Member of Parliament working on trade and industrial policy. After graduating, he joined Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he worked on Indonesia's European Union (EU) portfolio, managing day-to-day relations including political and economic cooperation, trade disputes, and negotiations. Working on the Indonesia-EU trade agreement showed him that diplomats don't just shape international partnerships; they also steer critical conversations about domestic economic and development policy. At Princeton, Nikita hopes to deepen his expertise in international political economy and contribute to global development strategies that reflect the priorities of emerging economies. After SPIA, he plans to continue serving as a career diplomat for Indonesia, representing his country abroad and helping shape its global political and economic strategy. Outside of work, he plays soccer whenever he gets the chance and is an avid scuba diver.

Originally from Long Island, New York, Amelia studied International Studies, Economics, and Jewish Studies at CUNY The City College of New York (CCNY). Through the integration of her majors, Amelia gained a clearer understanding of the shocks and stresses communities face and the public levers available to equitably drive change. During her time at CCNY, Amelia was awarded the Jeannette K. Watson Fellowship, a three year program that provides funded summer internships to promising undergraduate students, fueling her passion for urban resilience. After graduating, Amelia began working at Resilient Cities Catalyst, a NYC-based nonprofit organization working to catalyze change in cities and communities across the globe. Over the past 5 years, she has partnered with cities and communities to accelerate urban resilience projects in disinvested communities across the United States, working in cities like Tampa to redesign streetscapes for extreme heat, New York on street vendor policy, and San Diego on binational coastal resilience funding. Through her studies at Princeton, she plans to expand her analytical skills and understanding of public finance to develop innovative approaches to catalyze systems change in cities across the United States.

Kathleen is a Graduate Fellow in Princeton University’s Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative (SINSI). During her undergraduate career at Princeton University, she was elected to the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society in 2021, selected as a Tau Beta Pi National Scholar in 2022, and as a recipient for Princeton University's Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence in 2019. Kathleen has worked as a research assistant for the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, where she reviewed and fact-checked the manuscript of the “Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate” before it was published in 2019. In 2022, she interned at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division as a legal research intern in the Environmental Enforcement Section. She has also volunteered with the Citizens’ Climate Lobby where she organized for bipartisan carbon pricing legislation and conducted research with Princeton University’s Urban Nexus Lab, the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, and UCLA’s Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering, through which she co-authored a paper on modeling air pollution in the Western U.S. In summer of 2024, Kathleen worked as a SINSI Visiting Scholar at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) on the Industrial Innovation Team.

Gabe is originally from Newton, Massachusetts. Before coming to Princeton, he worked at the World Bank Group as an analyst supporting thematic evaluations covering the blue economy, biodiversity, environmental and social frameworks, and fragility, conflict, and violence-affected countries. Gabriel designed and implemented an AI-powered document search and evaluation tool for the Global Evaluation Initiative and conducted statistical analysis of World Bank and IFC initiatives. He assisted with a blue economy case study in Cabo Verde and a biodiversity case study in Côte d'Ivoire, conducting focus group discussions with NGOs and local fishermen and farmers, as well as conferencing with World Bank, government, and industry stakeholders. In 2023, Gabriel graduated from Grinnell College in Iowa where he majored in political science with honors and concentrated in global development studies. While in college, he worked as a research assistant with CERATH Development Organization in Ghana, designing and conducting surveys with fishermen and expert interviews with NGO leaders and government officials. Upon graduation from SPIA, he aims to return to the World Bank to work and lead in development practice. Outside of development work, Gabriel enjoys learning to cook new foods, experimenting with AI and machine learning, and trying to run faster.