

Jeremy Carballo Pineda PPS’22 was raised in Wilmington, North Carolina, but was born in Costa Rica. As a first-generation, undocumented college student, one of his proudest moments as a Duke student was being able to share a new narrative surrounding DACA and undocumented individuals.
On August 4, 2021, Carballo Pineda wrote and published an opinion piece for IndyWeek titled “Forget Congress—the Supreme Court Should Uphold DACA for Economic Growth.”
He found writing the perfect outlet to publicize and educate others on the subject of undocumented students, as well as a creative outlet he hopes to explore further after graduation.
“I was able to paint the landscape of what was going on and paint a different portrait of the issue,” he said.
He credits his four years at Duke for teaching him how to be open to opposing and varying perspectives from his peers, a skill he believes is not only important to his future but has left him with a hunger for hearing opposing opinions.
“It’s an understanding that each person has a very different experience and background from you, that they most likely have not been able to choose.”
Carballo Pineda is double majoring in public policy and political science. He is also a Political Engagement Project Fellow, an inaugural John M Belk Impact Fellow at the Hunt Institute and interned for Democracy NC as a Broadhead Fellow.
Carballo Pineda wants to thank the Sanford community for all the time and resources provided to himself and his fellow classmates. He says he was fortunate to create a circle of mentorship to navigate not only his years as an undergraduate but his future after graduation.
After graduation, he will be a higher education consultant in New York.
About Our Graduates
Students graduate Friday May 6 from the Sanford School with undergraduate, Master of Public Policy, Master of International Development Policy, international Master of Environmental Policy and PhD degrees.