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Nearly one-third of Duke’s more than 206,000 alumni worldwide are 40 or under – a generation already leaving its mark across industries and around the globe. To capture the moment, Duke Magazine gathered a diverse group of young alumni and asked them where they are now, what drives their work, and how Duke helped shape their paths forward. Here we've gathered the stories of alumni with Sanford ties.
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Stefanie Feldman PPS'10
National policy director for the Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign and a senior policy advisor for the Biden White House
- Washington, DC
- Degree: Undergraduate, Public Policy Studies
Success: “To me, authentic success is a feeling that I tried to make life better for others, whether or not I fully achieved my goal. I hope – I believe, most of the time – that I contributed in some small way to four years of policies that improved lives. I’m proud to have been a part of helping (Biden) win in 2020 and govern for four years. My aim moving forward is to keep trying to do good for other people.”
Her Own Business: “I have started my own business providing political, communications, and policy advice to elected officials, candidates, nonprofits, and businesses trying to navigate an evolving Washington and fast-changing world. In the long run, I’m still committed to public service. I’m trying to learn from what the Biden administration got right and what it got wrong, so aspiring presidential candidates can do even better. I’m sharing some of those lessons learned on my Substack, The Permanent Campaign.”
Read Stephanie ’s profile in Duke Magazine | Browse all under 40 stories
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Amanda Morrall PPS'11
Executive director of Founder Forward; podcaster, “Confessions of a Changemaker;” Obama Scholar
- Washington, DC
- Degree: Undergraduate, Public Policy Studies
FAMILY AND SUCCESS: “I see myself as a community builder, someone who helps create tables where everyone has a seat, especially those who have been underserved, historically marginalized, or overlooked. That belief comes from my parents and my grandmother, whose selfless giving and unwavering compassion shaped the way I move through the world. My grandmother Irene, in particular, created a home that was a sanctuary. If I can show up for people the way my parents and grandmother did, then I will consider that a success. It is something I constantly strive toward.”
THE FUTURE: “Whether through entrepreneurship, storytelling, or community work, my goal is the same: to create spaces where people feel seen, supported, and inspired to lead.”
Read Amanda’s profile in Duke Magazine | Browse all under 40 stories
Jonathan Osei PPS'18
Career services manager at Project for Pride in Living, focused on increasing access to opportunities for lower-income residents and communities of color in the Twin Cities
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Degree: Undergraduate, Public Policy Studies
His Duke experience: Duke Chapel gave me opportunities to work, live, play and serve in Durham beyond the Duke bubble. I learned principles for purposeful global citizenship, spiritual discipline and how to slow down. I’m still working on this one. I recall wrestling in many intentional communities, being taught, over and over, what it takes to be in community, the global challenges of connecting cross-culturally, the need for thoughtful reflection, and faith-based ethics that prioritize right relationships with others. A particularly impactful experience was a house course – a half-credit experiential learning class co-taught by fellow Duke students called ‘How We Do Mission: Ethics of Short Term Mission Trips.’ The course had a mission trip to Costa Rica, where we learned about the region, built a parish seemingly from scratch, prayed and more. It challenged saviorism and honed my sense of service as a way of being in the world. It helped me understand non-extractive principles of building and living in a community. I’m still wrestling with and learning from this experience today in Minnesota where I see (and have a ton of ideas about how to solve) the inequities and turmoil galore, yet understand that my job isn’t to ride in on a horse freshly from Washington, D.C. to save the city but to be as human as possible, listening intently, consciously seeing how I might create pockets of connection and awareness that breed longer transformative change for myself and all whom I encounter.”
Success means: “It feels a lot like accepting what I can’t control and still choosing to be ambitious. Success is knowing and loving my family and friends deeply. It’s coming out of crisis or moments of intense change with renewed energy.”
Fun facts: “I’m a dedicated middle child visiting my family whenever I can. I walk, run, lift, jump, hike and fly, exploring the Twin Cities and beyond with my friends. I also spend my time volunteering with Minnesota Duke Alumni Leadership and local nonprofits.”
Read Jonathan’s profile in Duke Magazine | Browse all under 40 stories
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Dr. Julian Xie T'15 MPP'20 M'21
Director of Medicaid and Food Security Network at Share Our Strength
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Degree: Master of Public Policy
At Duke: “When I started at Duke Med, my mentors in the Department of Community and Family Medicine guided me in figuring out what to do, during clinical rotations, when my patients expressed how existing food assistance resources were not sufficient for affording nutritious foods. That led me to found the Root Causes Fresh Produce Program at Duke Health to provide fresh food to patients with food insecurity. We got funding to partners like Farmer Foodshare, and figured out how to get social workers, dietitians and physicians to connect patients to the program.”
Future: “Food is Medicine and nutrition benefits are at pivotal moments. On one hand, there’s been national attention with bipartisan support to improve food and nutrition security through Food is Medicine. On the other hand, the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act has cut Medicaid and SNAP. So, in the near term, I’m going to be part of the fight to protect critical nutrition programs while also communicating about how much common ground there really is about making sure people can access healthy food. In the near term, my main thing is to continue my work to get more states to adopt policies that create more connection between health care and food. My big life goal is to create a healthier and more sustainable food system – one that’s good for people and the planet.”
Read Julian's story in Duke Magazine | Browse all under 40 stories
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Lucie Zhang PPS'10
Social media marketing team at Netflix; previously social media director at Vogue
- Los Angeles, CA
- Degree: Undergraduate, Public Policy Studies, Journalism Minor
DREAM WEAVER: “I think to thrive at Duke you have to be hardworking and intellectually curious, and those are two qualities that are important in whatever career you choose. I ended up pursuing a career in something that I didn’t necessarily study, but I think my time at Duke gave me the confidence to know that I will be able to learn and adapt. Choosing to pursue a field that I didn’t see a lot of Duke alums go into at the time also made me realize the power of “manifesting” my own dreams – believing in myself, working extra hard and networking like crazy. I’m so grateful to every person who has agreed to grab coffee with me so I could pester them with questions, and to my girlfriends who took the time to ‘take a look at an email real quick.’ One of the most valuable things to come from my time at Duke has been the friendships that have lasted over a decade and supported me through many phases of life.”
FUTURE OUTLOOK: “We’re cooking up a lot of fun stuff at Netflix soon, so I am looking forward to diving back into upcoming global campaigns after maternity leave. Hopefully one day my kids will think something I worked on is cool.”
Read Lucie’s story in Duke Magazine | Browse all under 40 stories