Liza Paudel

Born and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal, Liza studied international relations and women’s studies at Colgate University. While at Colgate, she conducted independent research projects studying the political rehabilitation of Maoist ex-combatant women after the Nepali civil war, and documenting oral histories of Bhutanese-Nepalese refugees in upstate New York. After graduation, she worked in the financial industry before joining MDRC, a nonprofit social policy research organization. At MDRC, she worked on randomized controlled trials of federal workforce development programs, working to provide un- and under-employed workers and individuals receiving public assistance the access to jobs in high-demand sectors. After completing her first year of the MPA program, she interned with Open Society Foundation. Liza is passionate about human rights and technology policy, and enjoys traveling, cooking, swimming, attempting to speak French, and having too many houseplants.