Student Profile: Anna Gurolnick, AM/MPP Class of 2024

Anna Gurolnick (she/her) is a dual-degree candidate at the Harris School of Public Policy and the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice on a mission to put community at the center of policy decisions. “I see a huge disconnect between policy creation and implementation at the community level. More power should be given to community members to ensure that policies intended for them are accessible.”

Growing up in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, Gurolnick said her views on education and social policy were shaped by her experiences in the Chicago Public School (CPS) system. “Once I started undergrad, I realized how fortunate I was growing up, having access to certain educational resources that many kids did not have in other areas of Chicago. Resource disparities—closely related to racial disparities—are huge issues across CPS.”

In 2020, Gurolnick earned her bachelor’s from Colorado College, majoring in economics and minoring in education. During the summer of 2019, she worked as a Policy and Advocacy Fellow for the Colorado League of Charter Schools. “Colorado actually has the second-best charter school system in the country, so learning how funding and policy affects charter schools in that context was very interesting. Primarily, I tracked legislative efforts on special education issues in charter schools.”

Shortly after completing her bachelor’s, Gurolnick began working as a Research Assistant at the University of Chicago’s Chapin Hall, a policy-oriented research institution that focuses on child welfare, community capacity, and youth homelessness. “I have spent a considerable amount of time looking at how social-emotional learning can be connected with mental health, restorative practices, and school climate. Currently, I’m working on a study about teacher stress and the outward effects it can have on classroom learning and school climate.”

Since starting at Crown, Gurolnick has become interested in how the juvenile legal system intersects with social and education policy. “The gap between creating and implementing policies often occurs because policymakers are not well informed about the issues and how policy is actually disseminated at the local level,” she said. “I was attracted to UChicago because of the option to pursue the dual degree. Harris will give me the ability to translate complex information and terminology into easily understood terms, and Crown will allow me to dive deeper into social policy issues and develop direct practice skills that can be used at the individual level.”

Gurolnick emphasized the importance of community in her work. “The surrounding community of Hyde Park will play a very influential role in my time here. The ways we approach policy should be more community-oriented, so I look forward to collaborating with the many diverse communities of Chicago to make a difference.”

This summer, Gurolnick will be interning with Metropolitan Family Services (MFS), a non-profit organization that provides educational, legal, and emotional wellness services to low-income individuals and families. “I’ll be working with the Metropolitan Peace Initiatives team, a division of MFS that provides comprehensive behavioral health, legal, and employment services to people who have experienced high levels of trauma and violence. Some of my work will include developing events that empower community members to reclaim public spaces that are affected by high levels of violence.”

Once she completes her degree, Gurolnick intends to find work that allows her to “not only do research, but also be directly involved in Chicago communities, using research and community voice to guide my practices towards creating and disseminating equitable and community-empowered policy.”