Sanford Leaders: Ariel Keller MPP’26 on Building Community through Women in Policy

“I’ve always believed that community is one of the most powerful tools for both personal growth and collective impact,” says Duke Master of Public Policy (MPP) candidate Ariel Keller.

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Keller has served as president of the Sanford Women in Policy (SWP) graduate student organization since August 2025. She stepped into the leadership position with the goal of creating programming that would “help students, especially women and non-binary students, find belonging, build relationships, and develop the confidence and skills to lead in policy spaces and beyond.”

“My ‘why’ [behind leading] is really around building spaces where people feel seen, supported, and connected,” she says.

Throughout this academic year, SWP hosted a wide range of activities, including community-building circles, conversations with professors and authors, career panels and social events.

SWP’s impact also extended to the broader Duke and Durham communities. Members raised thousands of dollars to support the Durham nonprofit StrongHER TogetHER’s service-learning projects and created Pathways to Public Advocacy, a training series for students to build their advocacy skills. Co-led by Keller, Dominique Beaudry MPP'26 and Aja Bullock MPP’26, the series brought together students from across Duke’s graduate programs and culminated in an Advocacy Day on April 21 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

“Our work has been made possible through collaboration with student organizations, professors, alumni, nonprofits, and community partners, which reflects our belief that collective power is far greater than the individual effort,” Keller says. “I am so grateful to have served alongside our executive board, Christina Luke, Grace Doane, Kate Murray and Lauren Oruwari, as well as for every member who contributed their time, energy and leadership throughout the year.”

When asked why students should join SWP, Keller emphasized for community. “At the end of the day, I may not remember every detail from every course I took, but I do remember the events, conversations, and memories created when I chose to be in community with my peers,” she explains. “That sense of connection is what SWP is all about. Relationships are built through genuine engagement, and showing up for one another, even in small ways, goes a long way.

“Being a member doesn’t mean attending every event,” she adds. “It means finding your own way to engage, support your peers, and contribute to a community that is intentionally built for students, by students. The beauty of SWP is that you can shape your experience in a way that works for you. Two years go by quickly, and I encourage students to take the opportunity to step into the community while they’re here.”

To learn more about SWP including how to get involved, email sanfordwomeninpolicy@duke.edu.

Five Questions with Ariel

Why did you choose to join the Duke MPP program?

Since I was 20 years old, when I took my first policy analysis class at Grinnell College and realized this was even a career path, I knew I wanted to pursue a master’s in public policy. After graduating from college, I spent six years in the classroom, including two years in Spain and four years in Minneapolis. My experience as an educator gave me a deep understanding of how social and economic inequities shape students’ educational experiences and of the role educators play in responding to them. After six years as an educator, I began to seriously consider leaving the classroom and pivoting into the policy space.

I had the opportunity to complete a public policy fellowship with EdTrust - Tennessee in Nashville, where I fell in love with the work. I served on the government relations team and spent my days tracking legislation, engaging with legislators on policy solutions that best served students across Tennessee, and working on advocacy campaigns. That experience fueled my sense of purpose and confirmed my desire to pursue policy work more fully.

I applied to Duke and was excited when I was accepted. After visiting, I knew it was where I wanted to spend the next two years. The people I met and the professors I interacted with made it feel like the right fit. I was confident that a degree from Duke would equip me with the tools to tackle complex public policy challenges, but more importantly, I knew I would be surrounded by individuals who would challenge my thinking, support my growth, and help me become a better person. I’m grateful that the program has delivered on that promise and more.

What has been your favorite class? 

It is hard to beat a Mac McCorkle class. I had the pleasure of having him as my Policy Analysis I instructor, and I also took his North Carolina Politics and Emergency Room Policy courses. There is something really unique and meaningful about learning from someone who had the privilege of working for the namesake of our program, Terry Sanford.

In Mac’s courses, he uses humor and anecdotes from his career to help students unpack complex policy problems in an engaging and accessible way. In my first semester, I made the mistake of calling him my grandfather to convey that I did not want to disappoint him. Allegedly, he is not old enough to be my grandfather, though.

In what ways do you feel the MPP program has better prepared you to reach your professional goals?

The MPP program has given me the frameworks, tools, and language to better understand and address complex policy problems. I am drawn to this work because it is layered, rooted in history, and full of nuance. At the same time, it has reinforced for me that solutions do exist, but they require intentional choices and strong relationships.

After graduation, I will return to Minnesota. Having grown up in rural Southern Minnesota and later taught in North Minneapolis, I am eager to re-engage with the communities that have shaped who I am today. I hope to work in the nonprofit, foundation, or local government space, but I am open to where opportunities and alignment with my values lead me.

No matter what role I take on, I want it to connect to my “why”: improving the lives of communities that have historically been neglected—including rural communities, Indigenous communities, communities of color, and immigrant communities—through policy solutions that improve outcomes in areas such as education, healthcare, housing affordability, and beyond.

What is your master’s project about? 

My master’s project partners with the City of Rockville, Maryland’s Housing and Community Development Department to gather stakeholder insights from peer cities across the U.S. on how to best implement an incremental housing development model. 

Incremental development refers to small-scale housing, typically 0-3 stories. It could include accessory dwelling units (ADUs), duplexes, triplexes, and more. ADUs are smaller independent residential units located on the same lot as a single-family home. These are “step buildings”: small-scale, allowing neighborhoods to evolve gradually. 

Incremental development supports local wealth-building, improves housing affordability, and strengthens community resilience by keeping development grounded in neighborhood priorities and residents' needs. 

My project culminates in a roadmap for the City of Rockville outlining how to build a local ecosystem to support and sustain incremental development within the community.

What are your biggest takeaways from your master’s project experience?

Something I have been thinking about throughout this project is how a single or a handful of federal policies can have ripple effects for decades to come. This is not a new realization for me, but it has taken on new meaning as I prepare to enter the workforce and step into roles where I may directly help shape policy.

In the context of housing affordability and wealth-building, the legacy of discriminatory housing policies, including redlining, racially restrictive covenants, and federal urban renewal and highway construction, has limited access to homeownership and contributed to long-term disinvestment in many marginalized communities. These impacts remain visible today and, without intentional policy intervention, will continue to shape opportunity and wealth outcomes for generations.

At the same time, this project has reinforced for me that local governments also hold significant power to shape the communities they want to see, even when federal priorities differ. It has deepened my understanding of the importance of local action in advancing equity and addressing long-standing structural disparities.