May 2021

Nina Brooks MPP‘14 has just joined the University of Connecticut Department of Public Policy as an Assistant Professor

Magan Gonzales-Smith MPP’14, executive director of the Durham Public Schools Foundation, was featured in the February/March 2021 edition of the Durham Magazine for her work with Durham FEAST.

Madhu Vulimiri MPP’18 works for the NC Department of Health and Human Services and joined the Office of the Secretary as a senior strategy advisor in March 2020, working on the COVID-19 response for the state of North Carolina. She talks about her work and her experience as part of a Bass Connections team in an article at Duke Today.

Ema Klugman PPS’19 was profiled in the Chronicle of the Horse magazine. She is show jumper and will be competing in the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event. Klugman will attend George Washington University Law School in the fall.

Rachel Schmidtke MIDP’18 is an advocate for Latin America with Refugees International. She published an article at Story Partners about climate change and the Central American migration crisis.

April 2021

Two MIDP alumni, Gonzalo Pertile, MIDP’17 and Victoria Corti, MIDP'13, highlighted the role of corporate social responsibility in promoting sustainable economic development as part of the "Stand For" series hosted last month by the Sanford School of Public Policy. Click to watch the entire event moderated by DCID Director Eddy Malesky.

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Demarcus Andrews
Demarcus Andrews MPP’18 is with the Center for Responsible Lending in Greensboro

Demarcus Andrews MPP’18 is the North Carolina policy and outreach associate for the Center for Responsible Lending in Greensboro and a board member for Toxic Free North Carolina.

Sosro Dahana MIDP’18 is the PMO of Tax Administration Reform for Indonesia’s Directorate General of Taxes He writes: “Currently, we are still struggling with the pandemic. The vaccination is undergoing and targeting 40 million dosages by the end of this year. The government is giving more and more incentives especially tax incentives for businesses and cash transfer to keep the supply chains flowing and the economy out of recession.”

Sam Turken PPS’18 is a reporter for NPR station WHRO. 

Branka Panic MIDP’19 was featured in a story in Duke Magazine, about how her background and her study at Sanford led her to create AI for Peace.  Professor Catherine Admay is also featured, as is Panic’s fellow Rotary Peace Scholar Chris Lara MIDP’19.

March 2021

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Magan Gonzales-Smith MPP’14 in Durham Magazine

Magan Gonzales-Smith MPP’14 was featured in Durham Magazine as an influencer for her work as founding executive director of the Durham Public Schools Foundation, a nonprofit which supports Durham’s students and educators. During the pandemic, she helped create Durham FEAST to distribute restaurant-prepared meals to local students and families.

Lauren Moxley Beatty PPS’12 is a senior counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee and a staffer for Sen. Richard Blumenthal. She is also the creator, producer and host of The Ginsburg Tapes, a podcast about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s oral argument before the Supreme Court in the 1970s.

Leah Elliott MPP'16 has been promoted to Principal of HR&A Advisors, a national public policy and economic development consulting firm based in New York. Elliot helps lead the Inclusive Cities Practice at HR&A, working with clients to design and implement policies and programs that will reduce racial inequities at the city and state levels. She pursued a job with HR&A after learning about the firm's work during her MPP internship placement with the White House Council on Strong Cities, Strong Communities.

Brian Prest PhD’18 gave a presentation on energy demand and electricity prices as part of the Duke Energy Initiative’s Energy Data Analytics Symposium.  Prest is a fellow at Resources for the Future, a nonprofit research institution in Washington, D.C.

Lena Cardoso MPP’19 co-authored a paper, “Insurance Barriers, Gendering, and Access: Interviews with Central North Carolinian Women about Their Health Care Experiences,” with Sanford professors Nathan Boucher and Anna Gassman-Pines.  The study examines the experiences of 11 patients and 3 health care providers in central North Carolina through structured interviews. Cardoso is a consultant at Deloitte in Arlington, VA.

February 2021

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August Mao MPP’16 and Emily Hutz MPP’16, were married in Washington, D.C.

Jeff Bartelli MPP’13 launched a new project in Dec. 2020, www.citizenbudget.us. It allows all Americans to contribute their opinion on how the federal budget should be allocated. The site provides visualizations comparing personal selections beside the congressional federal budget and the average selections received by all participants. The goal is to directly provide policy makers with the budgetary preferences of the American people.

Hakki Karatas MIDP’12 is now the Chief Economist for the Foreign Economics Relations Board (DEIK) in Turkey where he directs the Economic Research Department. DEIK is a non-governmental institution whose mission is to increase the Foreign Direct Investment and trade potential of Turkey.

Congratulations to August Mao MPP’16 and Emily Hutz MPP’16, who were married on Dec. 13 at the Dogwood Collection in the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. They had their photoshoot at the U.S. Capitol. 

January 2021

Congratulations to August Mao MPP’16 and Emily Hutz MPP’16 who wed on December 13th, 2020.

Chad Shipmaker MIDP’11 was featured on the podcast Positive Turbulence, about his decision to return to his hometown of Salmon Arm, British Columbia, after working in international development for the World Food program, the Buffet and the Gates Foundations. He is now CEO of Valid Manufacturing Ltd.

Daniel Raimi MPP’12 is the host of the Resources Radio podcast at Resources for the Future, where he is a fellow. He researches the future of energy development in the United States, with a focus on how producing communities are managing near-term impacts while planning for the future.

Maria Emilia Undurraga MIDP’16 was recently named as the next Minister of Agriculture for Chile. She has previously served in the ministry as managing director of rural development.