“I entered college planning to study the world, but working in my own backyard in Mississippi ultimately changed my path and shifted my focus from diplomacy to the urgent reality of American poverty. I was born and raised in Mississippi, and attended @olemiss, where I earned a bachelor’s degree in international studies and political science. Early on, I imagined a career in public service but didn’t know where to focus my energies. As the pandemic reshaped both global and local priorities, I began to question where my impact would be most felt. Through the Grisham-McLean Institute for Public Service and Community Engagement (grishammcleanum), I became involved in community-engaged initiatives and learned about national service. I joined @AmeriCorps VISTA to fight poverty in the United States, serving one year as a VISTA member and two additional years as a VISTA Leader with the North Mississippi VISTA Project. In that role, I supported VISTA members working across North Mississippi to build capacity in local nonprofits and Title I schools to fight poverty through education, health, and economic opportunity initiatives. Growing up in Mississippi, discussions of poverty and politics were a constant part of life, revealing early on how deeply policy shapes the lives of the poorest in our nation. A particularly meaningful project during my time as a VISTA involved coordinating community health fairs in collaboration with the local NAACP and MississippiCare, a federally qualified health center providing care to patients regardless of their ability to pay. At one November event, we distributed winter coats to children; watching them choose their own coats and then run off to play was one of the most rewarding moments of my life. Those experiences solidified my focus on anti-poverty work. At @PrincetonSPIA, I am studying the welfare state and social policy to better understand how public systems can end poverty in America. My goal is to apply that knowledge to improve quality of life in Mississippi and beyond.” — Dayton Ashby, MPA ’27.