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SEPTEMBER 2022
Ajenai Clemmons PhD ‘21 and Peter Adeyeye MIDP ‘21 were married on New Year’s Day. Congratulations!
Brandon van Grack PPS ’01 appeared recently on the Rachel Maddow show to discuss the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago. You may watch it here. Brandon’s interview starts 9:00 minutes into the clip.
Stephen Iya PPS ‘12 is an associate in Weil’s Private Equity practice and is based in Dallas. Stephen participates in the representation of private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies with respect to mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. He also assists with advising businesses on general corporate matters and has experience drafting and negotiating commercial contracts and executive employment agreements.
Sherri Rankin-Landry PPS'93 was profiled on Medium.com: Women Of The C-Suite: Sherri Landry Of CEC Entertainment On The Five Things You Need To Succeed As A Senior Executive.
After more than 10 years in the Chamber of Commerce, leading the Conciliation and Arbitration Center and managing the International Chamber of Commerce Bolivian chapter, Claudia Paccieri MIDP ’09 is working on her own consultancy firm specialized in Corporate Governance for business families. She has recently been appointed as local representative of PUM Netherlands Senior Experts.
Cara Peterson PPS '14
published her first book The Effortless Perfection Myth (out September 20th) about the gender issues today's women run into in college with focuses on mental health, body image, and hookup culture dynamics. The book has been endorsed by Lisa Borders (former president of Times Up! and the WNBA), Julie Scelfo (NYT staff writer), Dr Jean O'Barr (founding director of Duke's women's studies program), Soraya Chemaly (author of Rage Becomes Her, a Washington Post and NPR "Best Book" selection), and Larissa May (founder of #HalfTheStory), among others. Sign up for her newsletter at www.caralenapeterson.com or follow her on Instagram at @effortlessperfectionmyth.
Mike Schoenfeld PPS ’84 stepped down in August after 14 years as Duke's Vice President for Public Affairs and Government Relations and Chief Communications Officer to join the global strategic advisory firm Brunswick Group as a partner in their Washington, DC office. He will continue to be a member of the Sanford faculty as a Visiting Professor of the Practice of Public Policy.
Research on fragile masculinity and aggression by Adam Stanaland PhD’22 was discussed on PBS NewsHour by Duke Professor Sarah Gaither. Gaither was one of his advisors for his doctorate.
Jonathan E. Tarr PPS '05 has joined the Denver office of Moore Iacofano Goltsman (MIG, Inc.) as a policy project manager. He consults to local and state governments on housing, land use, and community development solutions.
Nicole Vickey PPS ‘97 returns to Duke this Fall to complete a hybrid Master of Divinity in support of her role as a pastor of Left Hand Church, a progressive and non-denominational Christian church in Boulder County, Colorado.
August 2022
Jared Green PPS’99 took a trip in June with the Joint Distribution Committee, a global Jewish humanitarian organization, to the Polish-Ukrainian border. The mission members met with Ukrainian refugees to bear witness to the conflict. Green is the principal of Rarity Advisors, a concierge service for the sale of collectibles and fine art.
Former Sanford Board of Visitors member Jennifer Hillman MeD’80 was chosen by the Washington International Trade Association (WITA) to receive "the EGOT of trade" -- WITA's Lighthouse Award that recognizes "an impactful individual in the trade policy community."
Amanda Hedgecock PPS‘18 earned an MBA from the UVA Darden School of Business and is now a Business Program Manager at Microsoft in Washington, DC.
Adam Laughton PPS'05, JD'08 joined Greenberg Traurig in Houston, Texas as a shareholder.
August Mao MPP‘16 has accepted an appointment position at the White House to serve a 2-year term as a Special Advisor to the United States Director of Technology in the White House Office of Information Technology.
Jo Palmer PPS’06 was featured on the cover of East of the River magazine and in the article on maternal mortality in DC, telling about her difficulties with the health care system surrounding the birth of her daughter. Palmer is a health policy consultant in the area.
Marc Supcoff PPS’88 is an adjunct professor of law at Fordham University Law School in Manhattan, where he teaches a Legal Writing and Research seminar class to International LLM students. Following pandemic disruptions, Marc is enjoying being back in the classroom and interacting with students in person again.
Listen to John Tolsma PPS‘95 and Lee Ann Furrow-Tolsma PPS‘93 describe how they turn to decision trees at crossroads in their marriage!
June 2022
Anudari Altangerel MIDP ’04 is now the Chief Supply Chain and Risk Management Officer at Unitel Group.
Monisha Eadala MIDP’20 is now a consultant with the World Bank in the Development Research Group (DECRG). She is working to identify and document the impacts of green policies on labor markets in India across various sectors.
Kenichi Fukumura MIDP‘02 is now the Chief Executive Officer of DBJ Americas, a subsidiary of the Development Bank of Japan Inc. (DBJ). He oversees lending and equity investment.
Ana Lucia Garcia Briones MIDP ’14 has been promoted to Senior Manager of the Environmental Defense Fund’s Environmental Justice and Equity team. She will help drive and grow EDF’s commitment to environmental justice work.
Lily Coll PPS’22 has a new position as a state and local government consultant at Guidehouse in New York, NY.
Magan Gonzales-Smith MPP’14 had a commentary in EdNC about grieving and healing together in the wake of the Uvalde school shooting. She is the founding Executive Director of the Durham Public Schools Foundation. She has dedicated her career to working in public education to dismantle barriers to success for students of color and other historically marginalized students.
Darriel Hoy PPS’94 was a guest on the Adventist Voices podcast, discussing community engagement in Adventism. Hoy is an ordained minister and the communications director for the Office for Regional Conference Ministries and the Regional Conference Retirement Plan.
Sophie Aliza Jamal PPS’17 has been named one of Forbes 30 Under 30 in Asia for the company she co-founded, Pinkcollar Employment Agency. It is the first ethical recruitment agency in Malaysia for migrants, mostly Filipino domestic workers, providing access to safe jobs and training in legal rights. The company has a grant from the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery to expand their services to Indonesian migrant workers and to Malaysia’s manufacturing sector. Read her LinkedIn post about her work.
Sureshkumar S. Nair MIDP’17 is now the Commissioner School Education at the Government of Andhra Pradesh in India.
Adam Stanaland PhD’22 has defended his dissertation and will be doing postdoc work at New York University in the Cognitive Development Lab. He was the first joint public policy and psychology PhD candidate at Duke.
May 2022
Nicole Kyle PPS‘13 was named a 2022 Top Voice in Gender Equity by LinkedIn. Nicole is one of 15 creators in the US and Canada recognized for I Also Want Money podcast and her work in the LinkedIn Creator Accelerator Program. Fellow honorees include Girls Who Code founder Reshma Saujani and Pipeline Equity CEO/Founder Katica Roy. Nicole writes on gender equity, the wealth gap & pay gap, and crypto & Web3.
Patrick Nevins PPS’07/MPP’16 and Lauren Oliver MPP’16 were married at Kiawah Island, SC, on March 26.Nevins is a professional staff member of the U.S. House Committee on the Armed Services, and staff lead on the subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations. Oliver is the director of Corporate Affairs at United Health Group.
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Shana Starobin MPP/MEM’08, UPEP’16 gave a talk at Duke on sustainable farming practices on April 14.She is an assistant professor of government and legal and environmental studies at Bowdoin College.
Michaela Towfighi PPS'22 has a position as a Report for America journalist at the Concord Monitor in New Hampshire.
Melissa Yeo PPS’13 has a new position as director of the Global Infrastructure Initiative (GII) at McKinsey & Company. She is working on the next GII convening of senior leaders of infrastructure and capital project, seeking to identify ways to improve delivery of essential infrastructure. The next summit takes place in Tokyo in October.
April 2022
Brooks Daverman MPP '08 is joining McKinsey & Company as an expert in their Medicaid practice. Previously Brooks served as the Deputy Director at TennCare, Tennessee's Medicaid agency.
Inna Dergunova MIDP’02 works in Italy with a European Union international development agency, but Mariupol, Ukraine is her hometown. She was scheduled to fly home when Russia invaded. Read more of her story here.
Sekou Kaalund MPP’99 was profiled in Forbes for his role as head of Consumer Banking for the Northeast Division of JPMorgan Chase and his work to leverage the resources of major institutions to create a more inclusive economy and economic justice.
Héctor Andrés Luna Iñiguez MPP’21 is the head of energy at the British Embassy, Mexico City.
Lee Reiners MPP’11 was on CNBC discussing the need for institutions to develop a strategy for crypto-currencies. He is the executive director of the Global Financial Markets Center at Duke Law School.
Daleep Singh PPS'97 is Deputy National Security Advisor for international economics in the Biden Administration. He was a guest on CBS' 60 Minutes, discussing the White House's economic sanctions against Russia. Singh is one of the chief architects of the sanctions.
Evan Taylor MPP/MBA’17 has a new position as Senior Vice President, Program Manager of Community Banking at M&T Bank in Baltimore, MD. He is also a PhD candidate in transportation and urban infrastructure systems at Morgan State University.
Julie Williams PPS’19 sang the national anthem at the Duke-UNC men’s basketball game in Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 5, Coach K’s last home game. Williams, a singer-songwriter based in Nashville, was profiled in The Duke Chronicle.
In Memoriam
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A celebration of the life of Nathan Ranney PPS’11 will be held on Saturday, May 14th at 2 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place, Asheville, NC 28801. The celebration will also be live-streamed if you would like to join us that way.
Anyone planning to attend in person, or who wishes to share a story about Nate, please email Sonia Chokshi.
March 2022
Gregg Behr MPP’00 has received a Friend of AASA Award from AASA, the School Superintendents Association. He is the founder and co-chair of Remake Learning, a network of educations, scientists, artists and makers, dedicated to sharing best practices in learning.
Karen Klocke Dehais MPP ‘87 joined Catholic Charities in Rochester as President/Diocesan Director, leading an agency that serves 250,000 people annually with an $85M annual budget and 1200 employees.
Dr. Travis Gayles PPS’01 has been presented the American Medical Association Award for Outstanding Government Service for his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic as health officer and chief of public health services in Montgomery County, Md. In 2021, he was named chief health officer for San Francisco-based Hazel Health. Watch his acceptance speech here.
Sam Rauschenberg MPP’14 is the vice president of organizational effectiveness at Achieve Atlanta, a non-profit that helps Atlanta students access, afford, and earn a postsecondary degree. He has launched a Substack site called Southbound, to explore overlooked stories about the South and wrestle with how they affect us today.
Hayley Boling Sanon PPS ‘17 is now Program Manager of the Conservative Education Reform Network at the American Enterprise Institute.
Two Sanford alumnae, Afftene Ceri Taylor PPS’12 and Caralena Peterson PPS’15 were speakers at the TedX Duke event, Linimal: Between the Lines in February. Taylor is A UX designer and developer in Georgia. She has returned to her creative roots, acting in two short films and writing a horror screenplay. Peterson teaches English in Louisiana and the author of forthcoming book, The Effortless Perfection Myth.
Kimberli C. Withrow PPS ’94, a partner at Boyd Collar Nolen Tuggle & Roddenbery, has been named a 2022 Georgia Super Lawyer. Super Lawyers, part of Thomson Reuters, is a rating service of lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Only 5% of lawyers in Georgia are selected as Super Lawyers.
In Memoriam
Nathan Ranney PPS’11 passed away in a skiing accident in Montana on February 12, 2022. He worked as a product manager in the technology sector and lived in San Francisco.
February 2022
Congratulations to Dean Brenner PPS’82 for his new appointment as Chair of the Technological Advisory Council (TAC) of the Federal Trade Commission.
Sarah K. Campbell MPP/JD’09 has been appointed to the Tennessee Supreme Court by Governor Bill Lee. She currently serves as the state’s associate solicitor general and special assistant to the attorney general.
Brian Daniels PPS’97 has been appointed by the governor of Rhode Island as director of the state’s Office of Management and Budget. He began serving in the position on November 8. Previously, he was executive director of the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns.
Pearce Godwin PPS’08 and the organization he founded, Listen First Project, were featured in the PBS documentary Preserving Democracy: Pursing a More Perfect Union, which premiered on Jan. 6, 2022.
John Graham MA’80 has a new book, The Global Rise of the Modern Plug-In Electric Vehicle: Public Policy, Innovation and Strategy, published by Edward Elgar Publishing on April 7, 2021. He is a professor of risk and policy analysis at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University and formerly served in the George W. Bush White House as a “regulatory czar.”
Andrew Leon Hanna PPS’14 has a new book coming out in May from Cambridge University Press, 25 Million Sparks, about refugee entrepreneurs in the Za'atari camp and around the world. He will discuss his book in a virtual event at Duke on Feb. 24, 3 pm EST. Register on Zoom: duke.is/cy55r.
Rob Lalka MPP’08 had a commentary in the Baton Rouge Advocate about how New Orleans is in a good position to take advantage of the next text wave, Web3. He is a professor in the business school at Tulane University and executive director of the Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
Madison Mastrangelo PPS’19 was part of a panel for Duke students about working with federal agencies on Feb. 8. The panel was a project of Sanford’s EMBARK program, which helps public policy students interested in advocacy careers. If you are interested in helping with the program, check out the website or contact suzanne.valdivia@duke.edu.
Multy Oliver PPS'21 was a contestant of Wheel of Fortune on February 8. She is currently working with AmeriCorp Fellow serving in Queens.
Elizabeth Troutman MPP’14 was recognized by 2022 North Carolina Super Lawyers as an industry leader for Schools and Education. This annual list honors the top lawyers in North Carolina. Troutman is a partner with Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP, in Greensboro and her practice focuses on education and employee issues.
Durham Success Summit, the mentorship program for Black male youth founded by Derek Rhodes PPS’15, is partnering with Duke Engineering’s Christensen Family Center for Innovation, which is offering expertise in entrepreneurship. Read about it here.
Albert "BJ" Stieglitz PPS’00 has joined Alston & Bird LLP as a partner in the firm's white collar, government & internal investigations practice, after spending more than 12 years as a federal prosecutor in the Department of Justice's criminal fraud section. He is based in the firm's Washington, D.C. office, and he and his wife Amanda T'00, along with their daughters Caroline (10) and Elizabeth ("Ellie," 8), reside in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
January 2022
Batool Askari MIDP’21 has been hired as a Program Officer on the Project Management Quality and Support (PMQS) team with FHI 360, an international nonprofit working to improve the health and well-being of people in the United States and around the world. She will be based at their headquarters in Durham, NC.
Brian Daniels PPS’97 was recently appointed Director of the Office of Management and Budget for the state of Rhode Island.
Dominique Deshommes MIDP’19 has been hired as a Project Manager at Chemonics. He will manage a project that aims to reduce malaria mortality in West Africa.
John D. Graham MPP’80 had his book, “The Global Rise of the Modern Plug-In Electric Vehicle: Public Policy, Innovation and Strategy,” published by Edward Elgar Publishing on April 7, 2021. He is Professor of Risk and Policy Analysis, O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, at Indiana University and formerly “regulatory czar” in the George W Bush White House.
As of January 1, 2022, Tiffany Hall PPS’00 was promoted to Executive Vice President, General Counsel, North America at Mastercard. Previously, she served in the role of Senior Vice President, Chief of Staff to the CEO at Mastercard.
Andrew Leon Hannah PPS’14 has a new book coming out in March from Cambridge University Press. The book, 25 Million Sparks, about refugee entrepreneurs in the Za'atari camp and around the world, can be pre-ordered here. The book was featured in a recent article in the Financial Times. It tells the story of three courageous Syrian women entrepreneurs uplifting the Za'atari refugee camp, and of the global refugee entrepreneurship phenomenon they represent. Hannah says, “The three entrepreneurs featured in this book – Asma, Malak, and Yasmina – are among the most inspiring individuals I have ever met, and I'm honored to be able to share their stories… and more broadly a story of equal dignity, undying hope, and radical love.”
Kalkidan Kebede MIDP’21 is now a Research Associate in the Health Service Research Division at FHI360. He is based at their headquarters in Durham, NC.
Bautista Logioco MIDP’04 is now a Senior Programme and Policy Officer with the World Food Programme.
Nicole Kyle PPS’13 is one of the 100 inaugural members of LinkedIn's Creator Accelerator, selected for her podcast "I Also Want Money," and broader work exploring the gender wealth gap, financial inclusion, and blockchain-enabled wealth creation opportunities like crypto. Subscribe to the podcast (https://apple.co/3zhL4U6) and follow her on LinkedIn (https://bit.ly/3qC6KXc) along with #LICreatorAccelerator.
Ahmet Onur Ozturk MIDP’14 is now Head of the Textile and Apparel Products Department, DG of Exports, at the Turkish Trade Ministry. He is based in Ankara.
D. J. Vaughn PPS’05 has a podcast “U Don’t Know Me Yet, Music & Entertainment with D.J. Vaughn.” He takes you behind the scenes with music industry artists, both well-know and up and coming artists and entertainers. Recent episodes feature Lisa Knowles-Smith, Kevin Whalum and Larenz Tate. He is also the associate director of multicultural media and social and digital content for Walmart.
Edwin Colby Walton III PPS'94 and a partner have acquired Cooksey Communications, a strategic communications firm in Texas. He began his PR agency career at Cooksey Communications in 1998 and has now been named Cooksey’s chairman and CEO.
Norah Yahya PPS’07 is a comedian and producer in New York City and co-host of the podcast Two Bearded Ladies, about the history of beauty trends from ancient to present day and guest host of the Politricks podcast, with political commentary on the Black and Brown experience.
Yoon Young-seok MIDP’04 is People Power Party representative in the Korean National Assembly in Seoul. He is now running for governor of the province to the north of Busan, Gyeonsangbuk-do.
December 2021
The White House has picked Jainey Bavishi PPS ‘03, a leading expert on responding to the challenges of climate change, to a top leadership position at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Bavishi will serve as one of the two top deputies to NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad. Bavishi most recently served as the director of the New York Mayor’s Office of Climate Resiliency.
Dean Brenner PPS’82 recently retired from Qualcomm as the Sr. VP, Spectrum Strategy & Technology Policy. We’re looking forward to Dean lecturing in Professor David Hoffman’s classes next semester. Dean described his work as “marrying good public policy with advancing the company’s business interests. I’m trying to work at the intersection of those two ideas. My job is to be as forceful and as skillful and as persuasive an advocate as I can for Qualcomm. But it always has to be excellent public policy.”
Romina Damini MIDP’21 is a law consultant at the UN’s International Organization for Migration. She was interviewed about her work with the Bass Connections project on migration, urban cultures and the arts.
Sabrina Davis MPP’20, program manager at Vision to Learn in Connecticut, is working to ensure that children in underserved communities in more than 400 cities have eye exams and glasses if they need them. She presented at the state's Alliance Districts meeting to 20 school superintendents. There are 33 Alliance Districts across the state identified for additional support to "transform the educational experiences and outcomes of thousands of traditionally under served students and families."
Andrew Leon Hanna PPS’14 has launched Immigrant Love, a coffee subscription service that curates from inspiring refugee and immigrant coffee entrepreneurs.
Luciano Romero PPS ’11 was awarded the "Mendoza Distinguished Youth" award of the year under the category of Commitment to the Community, due to his work with the Non-Medical Volunteer Team for the COVID Pandemic.
Madhu Vulimiri MPP’18 has been appointed the Deputy Director for the new Division of Child and Family Well-Being. “We are working to establish this new Division at NCDHHS, which will bring together complementary public health, mental health, and social service programs to improve outcomes for children and their families,” she writes.
Stelfanie Williams PPS’98 was profiled in EdNC about her work in education and her time as president of the Vance-Granville Community College. She is currently vice president for Durham and community affairs at Duke.
Kevin Wu MPP’19 is now Domestic Policy Advisor for Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)
November 2021
Ethan Anderson PPS’98 is founder and CEO of MyTime, a leading cloud-based point of sale and appointment scheduling solution for franchises and enterprise organizations. He is #37 on the Alumni Spotlight list of Top 100 Duke Alumni in Technology.
Jeff Bartelli MPP’13 has left federal service and taken a position as an engagement manager with the software company Apptio.
Joy Basu PPS’08 has been appointed as a White House Fellow for the class of 2021-2022. She will be working with the White House Gender Policy Council.
Emily Hadley PPS’15 is a research data scientist at RTI International. She presented approaches for addressing bias, equity and anti-racism as a technical contributor in statistics and data science at the 2021 Women in Statistics and Data Science Conference, hosted by the American Statistical Association.
Natalie Hwang PPS’01 is founding managing partner of Apeira Capital, an investment and advisory firm focused on distribution technology. She is #67 on the Alumni Spotlight list of Top 100 Duke Alumni in Technology.
Rasheca Logendran PPS’20 has been named to the inaugural class of Samvid Scholars. The scholarship will pay up to $50,000 tuition and fees to a graduate program for two years. Logendran will attend Harvard Medical School.
Bridget O’Connor MPP/JD’03 has joined the Jones Day law firm as a partner in the Washington, D.C. office.
Allegra Paneto MIDP’18 now serves as the deputy country representative for USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) in Sudan.
Michael Spolum MIDP’12, Natel Energy’s director of International Business Development, recently published an article with the National Hydropower Association on why the conservation and strategic restoration of source watersheds is critical to the long-term sustainability and overall resilience of the hydropower sector, and water infrastructure in general.
Ada Umenwaliri MIDP’18 is associate director of UNC-Chapel Hill’s African Studies Center, and led efforts to win a $500,000 grant from the Oak Foundation for a project to produce resources for K-5 elementary school educators for digital learning about contemporary Africa.
October 2021
Brittany Amano, Camille Ampey and Sonali Metha, all PPS’20 graduates, were featured in a Duke Today story about the Class of 2020 and the in-person commencement ceremony on Sept. 26.
Ajenai Clemmons PhD’21 has started a new position as assistant professor of public policy at the Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver.
Romina Damini MIDP’21 is now a law consultant with the International Organization of Migration in Albania.
Ellen Godwin MPP’05 launched the web and mobile based platform Artifcts.com at the end of August to help people to digitally preserve the 'stuff' we accumulate in life and the stories, memories, history that go with these objects. She says, “We are working hand-in-hand with individual subscribers as well as B2B and B2B2C opportunities with insurance companies, HR benefits groups of major corporations, estate attorneys, and home organization companies to help people make the most of their Artifcts. We're in our first fundraise cycle now and will be hiring (senior tech, consumer marketing, and consumer product management) throughout the fall.”
Danielle Gray PPS ‘00 was appointed executive vice president and global chief legal officer for Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. Gray joined the company in mid-September, bringing decades of corporate and government health care policy experience.
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Whitney and Andy Holmes PPS’14 were married in June in Charlevoix, Michigan. This photo shows the Holmes/Hardin family members who are Dukies, including Barbara Russell Hardin ’54, as well as three groomsmen (all 2014).
Katie Higgins Hood PPS’96 was featured on the podcast Her Money talking about financial abuse and women. She is the CEO of The One Love Foundation, and has also taught the HLP course “Women In Leadership.”
Kim Lanphear (Sleight) PPS '83, CEO of APPARO, was pleased that her organization was honored for the second time in three years, as one of the Best Places to Work in Charlotte, NC by the Charlotte Business Journal. This is a staff nominated award, and I am very proud of the team who surrounds me every day. Prior to this award, the CLT Business Journal also awarded me the Most Admired CEO in 2018. The Mecklenburg Times has recognized my work with two awards as well - the Icon Award in 2019 and one of Mecklenburg's 50 Most Influential Women in 2016.
Corinne Low PPS’06 was interviewed by Esquire about hiring bias and the appointment and removal of Mike Richards as the host of Jeopardy.
Sean Lyngaas PPS ‘07 joined CNN as a cybersecurity reporter. Lyngaas has also been freelancing for the past 9 years, with his work appearing in The Atlantic, The Economist, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, among other publications. He has also worked as a Pentagon correspondent for Federal Computer Week and a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.
Derek Rhodes PPS’15 was featured in a story in the Indy about the latest convening of the Durham Success Summit, a nonprofit he founded to help young men of color succeed.
Rachita Singh MPP’20 has a blog post, How Can We Increase the Disability Vote, based on a report she wrote while at the Sanford School, at the American Association of People with Disabilities website.
Michael Spolum MIDP’12 is director of Business Development: Asia and Africa for Natel Energy. He recently published the article, “Why the conservation and strategic restoration of source watersheds is critical to the long-term sustainability and overall resilience of the hydropower sector, and water infrastructure in general” at the National Hydropower Association.
Shawn Stokes MIDP’11 is opening two new businesses in downtown Durham: Rubies on Five Points, a live music venue, bar and event space, scheduled to open in October; and Remedy Room, a classic neighborhood bar.
Gechi Tesic PPS ‘11 joined Am Law 100 firm Polsinelli in the national Securities & Corporate Finance practice group, with a focus on Investment Management & Funds.
Vitaly Yermakov MIDP’97 is senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. He has published a new report, Big Bounce: Russian gas amid market tightness. He says, “The IEA recognized that Gazprom was honoring its contractual obligations on exports to Europe but said it could do more. See my new paper to understand why it did not.” He was also quoted on the issue by Bloomberg News.
SEPTEMBER 2021
Danelle Gamble MPP’20 was a guest speaker at the Women’s Equality Day event at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where she is serving as a U.S. Army Major. She credits her time at Sanford, and professors Doug Brook and Jay Pearson for giving her the confidence and drive to advocate for equality. Watch her talk here.
Dr. Travis Gayles PPS’01 has stepped down from his position of Montgomery County Health Office and Chief of Public Health Services. He had served in the position since 2017, and led the agency during the pandemic, overseeing all federal, state and locally funded public health services.
Sarah Hernandez PPS’05, an attorney and founder of the nonprofit HYPE: Helping Young People Excel, is running for the Los Angeles Community College Board.
Timi Lewis PPS’95 has a new position as vice president of marketing and communications for the Urban Resource Institute, the nation’s largest provider of domestic violence shelter services, based in New York City. Lewis will serve on the organization’s Senior Team and will play a critical role in the strategy and execution of branding, internal and external communications, public relations, and digital media activities.
Petrea Marchand MPP’97, working as executive director of a joint powers agency, completed and helped launch a conservation plan to protect endangered species in 32,000 acres over 50 years in Yolo County, California. Marchand continues to run a consulting firm focused on helping local governments and nonprofits implement projects in California and is always looking for interns!
Ryan Messmore PPS’97 is the new president of Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts, a small Catholic college in New Hampshire. Read a profile of him in the National Catholic Register.
Lucas Metropulos PPS’15 started the nonprofit Lend a Hand Bahamas while he was an undergraduate at Duke. He is now a board member for the organization, which has continued to grow. The family of the late Sir Sean Connery has given a donation that will go toward creating a recording studio in Lend a Hand Bahama’s planned second community center. A donation from the Kate & Justin Rose Foundation will support the nonprofit’s after-school and weekend literacy programs and a reading room in the forthcoming center.
Braveen Ragunanthan PPS'12, upon finishing as Chief Resident at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, is now starting as an attending pediatrician in the rural Mississippi Delta. Braveen and his wife Nina, also from the Duke Class of 2012, are working for the Delta Health Center, Inc. - the first federally qualified health center (FQHC) started in the United States back during the 1960s. Read this article from the Robertson Scholars Leadership program for more about their work.
Ryan Smith MPP’14 was named director of the new Community Safety Department for the City of Durham. He will work on pilot programs of new responses to public safety issues that don’t necessarily need a law enforcement response.
Ron Temple PPS’90 is a managing director, head of U.S. equity and co-head of multi-asset investing at Lazard Asset Management LLC in New York. He is chair of Duke’s Graduate School Board of Visitors and the host of Lazard’s podcast on investing, The Question Is…
Vitaly Yermakov MIDP'97 and co-author Jack Sharples published a paper in the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies on the competition between Russian LNG and Russia’s pipeline gas in Europe. Yermakov works as senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.
In Memorium
Sophie Elizabeth Allen PPS’16 died on August 14, 2021. Her obituary is here.
August 2021
Ghada Ahmed MIDP’10 recently published a Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report on the impacts of COVID-19 on agri-food value chains in Libya, highlighting the structural challenges with food and agriculture value chains.
Asha Asokan MIDP’20 had a paper on peace agreements and children’s issues and rights was published in the 32nd edition of the Journal of Public and International Affairs.
Jainey Bavishi PPS’03 has been nominated by President Biden as Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere in the Department of Commerce under the NOAA Administrator. She currently serves as the director of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Climate Resiliency.
When Anil Kumar Bhardwaj MIDP’15 witnessed the death and devastation that COVID-19 brought to his community in Faridabad, India, he began developing a low-cost and efficient solution to help citizens easily access oxygen refilling stations. Read more about how he stepped up during a critical time to help his community and country in this Duke Today article.
Maria Carnovale PhD’19 had an article published in Slate about how vaccine passports might work.
Jen DeNeal MPP’13, Associate Director for Ethics and Policy at UNC-Chapel Hill, has received the 2021 Kay Winjberg Hovious Outstanding Forum Delegate Award, given to Employee Forum delegates for service.
Hillary Greenberg PPS’17 started a new position at the Aspen Institute as a senior research associate with the Future of Work Initiative.
Andrew Leon Hanna PPS’14 is a co-founder of DreamxAmerica, which received an Honorable Mention on Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas list. DreamxAmerica supports immigrant-led small businesses through story-telling and small loans.
Catherine Herrold PhD’13, after seven years at Indiana University, in Fall 2021, will become an Associate Professor of Public Administration and International Affairs at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs.
Spenser Kaplan PPS’21 published a commentary in Space News making the case for space-based solar power.
Yong Suk Lee MPP’07 is the editor of a new book, Drivers of Innovation: Entrepreneurship, Education and Finance in Asia. He has just been appointed an assistant professor of technology, economy and global affairs at the University of Notre Dame. Previously, he was the SK Center Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Deputy Director of the Korea Program at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University.
Wazi Ligomeka MIDP’11, Director of the Malawi Revenue Authority, was appointed to the United Nations Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters for 2021-2025 Term. He is the first Malawian to be appointed to this committee.
Corrine Low PPS’06 is an assistant professor of economics and public policy at the Wharton School. She took part in a recent rally by Housing Works in New York City, protesting the recent decision of the city to transfer unhoused people from hotels to shelter. She was seen being arrested in the first photo in this story in amNY.
Amanda Morrall PPS’11 has joined Composer Education as the head of strategic partnerships. Composer is a start-up platform that offer a collection of content and resources for citizenship education.
Oderah Odum PPS’17 is playing in the Olympics for the Nigeria women’s basketball team. She works at Unlimited Potential Basketball in California as a trainer.
Daniela Peñaloza MIDP’15 has been elected mayor of Las Condes in Santiago, Chile.
Megha Bansal Rizoli MPP’12 has started a new position as director of organizational strategy for Jobs for the Future, a national nonprofit building educational and economic opportunities for underserved populations.
Niisoja Torto PPS’20 has been awarded the Knight-Hennessy Scholarship, which provides full funding for a graduate program at Stanford University. He will pursue a medical degree at the Stanford School of Medicine.
Madhu Vulimiri MPP’18 is senior strategy advisor to the Chief Deputy Secretary of the NC Department of Health and Human Services
In Memorium
Chase Johnson MPP’21 passed away on Wednesday, July 28, 2021. He was a researcher on higher education with the American Institute for Research. His obituary is here.