Connect with Our Students

Harris Ambassadors and Graduate Assistants are a group of students who are available to share their perspective and experiences at Harris Public Policy. They are representative of the Harris student body and passionate about their areas of study as well as their experience at Harris. Whether you have questions about the classroom experience, moving to Chicago, or their policy interests, our students are here to help!

Connect with a current student on the phone or online. 

Maya Cousins, MPP Class of 2027

Hometown: Aurora, Colorado, USA

Interests include:  Education Policy, Nonprofit Leadership

Originally from the Rocky Mountain region, I’m so excited to experience life in a major Midwest city. I graduated from Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in Psychology and Sociology with an emphasis in Criminal Justice and Criminology. With a strong interest in the field of education and the overlap of the United States criminal justice system and education system I served with City Year Denver for a year focusing on increasing high school graduation through attendance, behavior, reading, and math interventions. Following my service year I worked at an educational nonprofit focused on closing the higher education access gap by equipping 9th–12th grade students facing systemic barriers with tools to complete high school and college and prepare for their careers. I chose to pursue an MPP at Harris because I want to build my quantitative skills and work toward becoming a more data-informed and driven leader. My policy areas of interests are access to higher education, school-to-prison pipeline, and nonprofit leadership & funding.

Laila Delpuppo Messari, MPP Class of 2028

Hometown: Ifrane, Morocco and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Interests include: Global Conflict, Migration

I graduated from Yale in May, 2025 with a BA in Political Science. Throughout my time at Yale, and during the year between graduation and beginning my MPP, I worked as a research assistant at the Yale MacMillan Center on a project exploring the process of democratization in Sub-Saharan Africa. While I throughly enjoyed conducting research, I realized I also wanted to learn how to apply that research onto the field, leading me to pursue the MPP at Harris. Here, I plan to expand my research repertoire by diving deeper into quantitative research methods, and I also hope to learn about the challenges and solutions to implementing policy to improve the livelihoods of those affected by conflict and migration. 

Rosa Dunn, MPP Class of 2027

Hometown: Hudson, Wisconsin, USA

Interests include: Municipal Finance, Finance & Policy, Social & Economic Inequality

I graduated from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor’s degree in business. Before coming to Harris, I worked in financial services research. Along with experiences in state and local government, this work shaped my interest in how policy can expand economic mobility and strengthen community well-being. At Harris, I am building quantitative skills to analyze policy and support data-driven decision making, with a focus on how municipal finance and public-private partnerships can advance equitable economic development.

Travis Feltz, MPP Class of 2027

Hometown: Vancouver, Washington, USA

Interests include: Aging & Disability Policy, Health Equity, Affordable Housing

I am a recent graduate of Pepperdine University, where I studied Political Science and Sociology. My senior thesis focused on the relationship between religious messaging and public support for affordable housing. During my time at Pepperdine, I spent a semester studying in Washington D.C. while also interning at the Department of Aging and Community Living (DACL). At DACL, I worked on a project aimed at decreasing food insecurity among seniors in the District. I chose to pursue an MPP to gain the skills I need to help shape policies that ensure a more equitable and sustainable future for the aging population in the United States.

Alice Goddard, MPP Class of 2028

Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Interests include: Housing and Education Policy, Municipal Finance

I graduated from Emory University with a bachelors in Art History and Economics, concentrating in behavioral economics. Growing up in Atlanta, home of Martin Luther King Jr., voting rights and suppression amidst the city’s changing urban landscape have shaped my policy interests in urban redevelopment, affordable housing, and their many ripple effects in communities I care deeply about. Before Harris, I worked at a meditation nonprofit training healthcare workers and educators in compassion-based practices. I came to Harris because its commitment to empirical rigor and its quantitative core give me the tools to move from micro-level interventions to designing policy that can strengthen connection and rebuild community trust at scale. 

Faizan Imran, MSCAPP Class of 2027

Hometown: Lahore, Pakistan

Interests include: Civic Tech, Property Taxation, Urban Planning

I'm a second year CAPP student I just finished my summer internship at New York City's Department of Finance where I worked for 13 weeks as a Data Science Intern, and gained direct exposure to applying technical skills to reform legacy processes and use data to inform policy.

Before joining the CAPP program at UChicago I worked as a Research Assistant at the Center for Economic Research in Pakistan and Mahbub ul Haq Research Centre at LUMS, my research work there over 3 years focused on using technical tools to study different policy problems like the inequitable property tax schedule in Punjab, and develop a mobile health applications to support neonatal care in rural Punjab.

Finnegan Keilty, MPP Class of 2027

Hometown: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Interests include: Public finance, Community Economic Development, Urban Policy

I earned my bachelors in Political Science, but my path to Harris involved time spent teaching English in Madrid, Spain, leading outdoor bike and backpacking trips in Europe, and then working as a financial advisor for families and small businesses. I'm at Harris to further develop my quantitative skills and learn more about the public finance market; how cities and public institutions make policy choices and budget for their implementation. I love observing how the built environments of cities serve their communities, and learning about the decision making process behind public projects and programs.

Eemaan Khan, MPP Class of 2027

Hometown: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Interests include: Investment & Finance, Innovation & Technology, Regulatory, Labor & Employment, Trade, Competition/Antitrust, and Industrial

I graduated in 2017 with an engineering degree from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay—a small Canadian city about 10.5 hours north of Chicago. After that, I dove into Canadian politics, working at the local, provincial, and federal levels where I cut my teeth on campaigning and fundraising. I then spent over five years in sales engineering with multinational manufacturing firms, learning how industries actually work on the ground. Alongside that, I moonlighted in the consulting world, advising search funds, private equity groups, and even helping raise capital for a hedge fund. I’m especially curious about the intersection of public policy and private enterprise, where regulation, capital, and innovation collide. Outside of work and school, you’ll usually find me auditioning for Canadian TV and digital commercials, mentoring entrepreneurs on business acquisitions, or staying sharp with my fitness routine.

Chaeeun Anna Koh, MPP Class of 2027

Hometown: Seoul, South Korea

Interests include: International economic/finance policy

I earned my BA in Economics and Spanish at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. Before coming to Harris, I worked at the central bank, Bank of Korea, focusing on international financial cooperation projects, such as CMIM currency swap. I also gained diverse experience in international affairs through roles at the Korean Consulate in Boston and the OECD Korea Policy Center, where I supported diplomatic initiatives and cross-border policy research. These experiences led me to Harris to build practical expertise in designing and evaluating international financial policy. At Harris, I plan to deepen my focus on sovereign credit ratings as a critical tool for strengthening global financial stability.

Sophie Lara, MACRM Class of 2027

Hometown: Downingtown, Pennsylvania, USA

Interests include: Finance and economic policy; public finance

I am an MA in Public Policy with Certificate in Research Methods (MACRM) candidate interested in finance policy and exploring the options of further graduate studies in Economics. My academic path hasn’t been straightforward—graduating with my BS in Biology from UChicago, I realized my interests lay in the social sciences, after which I obtained my MA in Political Science from Temple University. I am at Harris today because I am motivated by a desire to combine my interests in economics with my belief in data-driven policy and I am excited to improve my quantitative research skills in the MACRM program. 

Lexie Lehmann, MPP/MBA Class of 2027

Hometown: Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA

Interests include: Urban/economic development policy, tech policy, US global competitiveness

Originally from the East Coast, I moved to Birmingham, Alabama, after graduating from Columbia University. In Alabama, I worked with an education/workforce development non-profit called Ed Farm and a contract pharmaceutical research organization called Southern Research. In these roles, I explored how social, financial, civic, and physical infrastructure enables, but more often restricts, innovation and economic growth in areas of the US outside of coastal hubs like New York and San Francisco. The fact that over 80% of venture capital in the US is invested in only ten metropolitan areas is concerning to me--and it has significant implications for job creation and economic opportunity across the country. So, I came to UChicago to strengthen my quantitative policy skills and learn business fundamentals as a joint degree MPP/MBA student. I am also a Civic Scholar at Booth and plan to return to the non-profit or government sector after graduation.

Runzhi Li, MACRM Class of 2027

Hometown: Changzhou, China

Interests include: Finance and economic policy; supply chain finance and resilience

I am a MACRM student at Harris with a background in Financial Management from the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in China. Before coming to Harris, I interned in investment research and investment banking, working mainly with market and firm-level data. During my undergraduate studies, I focused on supply chain finance, where I scraped data from public sources and used machine learning models to study which firms are more likely to obtain financing when supply chains are under pressure. At Harris, I am strengthening my quantitative training in public finance, corporate behavior, and data analysis while continuing to enjoy photography as a way to observe and tell stories.

Longxi Lin, MSCAPP Class of 2028

Hometown: Toronto, Canada

Interests include: Data & Digital Governance, Civic Tech, Responsible AI

I graduated from McMaster University in 2018 with a degree in Health Sciences. Before Harris, I worked for five years as a data analytics advisor in the Ontario provincial government. My work was a mix of business analytics, data science, and data governance. During this time, I developed a passion for using data analytics to help policy teams make more informed decisions. I’m particularly interested in how we can communicate data in ways that make it more accessible to non-technical audiences. At Harris, I am excited to be surrounded by peers who are from different backgrounds, but equally driven by curiosity and a passion for improving the world around us. Outside of academics, I enjoy hiking, exploring museums, and trying new arts & crafts. As a Chinese-Canadian student new to Chicago, I’m especially looking forward to exploring the city, finding good food, and making Chicago feel a little more like home!

Shridha Pai, MPP Class of 2027

Hometown: Mumbai, India

Interests include: Labor markets, Data analytics, Health policy, Education policy

I am a second year student with a background in social policy research and data analysis. I graduated from Ashoka University in India in 2025, majoring in Psychology. I chose to pivot to public policy at Harris to utilize data for broader change. My experience has spanned research organizations, non-profits and a philanthropic organization. I came to Harris to gain a greater understanding of data analysis and economic development, with the long term goal of working in labor and family policy research. In my free time I enjoy yoga, swimming and cooking.

Benjamin Roe, MPP Class of 2028

Hometown: San Diego, Califiornia, USA

Interests include: Economic Development and Public Finance

I earned a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Financial Management at California Polytechnic University—San Luis Obispo. After graduating I served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Albania, managing community development projects in partnership with non-profit organizations and municipal government. I now sit on the board of Friends of Albania, an NGO that awards small grant funding for development projects led by Peace Corps volunteers and their community counterparts. At Harris I aim to deepen my training in data analysis, economics, and public finance, with an interest in understanding how both municipal and sovereign governments finance and achieve their development goals.

Daniela Sanchez, MPP Class of 2027

Hometown: Lima, Peru, USA

Interests include: Social Impact, Equity, Sustainability, CSR, Latin American Development

I earned my BA in Communication for Development from Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru, and spent six years working alongside NGOs across Peru and Latin America. I designed communications strategies, built capacity, and helped mobilize resources for projects on gender equity, migration, and Amazon conservation. I came to Harris to sharpen my quantitative and financial tools. Here at UChicago, I'm President of the Association of Peruvian Students, and Communications Lead of Latin American Matters (a Harris student organization focused on Latin American policy issues). I also work on graduate student programming at the Student Wellness Center. Beyond the University, I'm a certified meditation instructor, love reading and writing poetry, and have a craft club with friends from Harris. Would love to chat with you!

Caroline Schlesinger, MPP Class of 2028

Hometown: Boca Raton, Florida, USA

Interests include: AI Policy & Diplomacy, Local Government, Women & Children's Policy

I graduated from Tulane University with a degree in Political Science and Middle Eastern and North African Studies. Before coming to Harris, I served as Strategic Project Intern on Mayor Helena Moreno's mayoral campaign in New Orleans, reporting to the Head Campaign Advisor, and was later brought onto the Office of the Mayor-Elect's Transition Team once she won office. In Park City, Utah, I worked on the city's $1M Childcare Scholarship Program, which deepened my interest in how local government policy can directly support women and children. These experiences shaped my interest in how emerging technologies like AI will reshape governance, and at Harris, I am building the policy and analytical foundation to work in AI diplomacy.

Jalen Small, MPP Class of 2028

Hometown: Brooklyn, New York, USA

Interests include: AI access and governance, education policy, nonprofit sector innovation, and public-private partnerships for social impact

I grew up in Brooklyn, New York and studied political science at Syracuse University, where I spent most of my time in student newsrooms as a staff editor at The Daily Orange and editor-in-chief of Renegade Magazine. That instinct for asking hard questions carried me into foreign policy journalism and research—including work at the Tent Partnership for Refugees, where I spent three and a half years as a researcher building data-informed resources that helped major companies hire and integrate refugees across global markets. I came to Harris to pair my storytelling and qualitative research background with the quantitative understanding to evaluate which policies actually work. Outside of class, you might find me training for my next marathon along the Lakefront Trail, building a corporate volunteering venture on the side, or walking my lab, who is fittingly named Brooklyn.

Manas Subbaraman, MSCAPP Class of 2027

Hometown: Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Interests include: Urban Analytics, Climate Resilience, Public Health, and Equity

I graduated with a BS in Urban and Regional Planning from Arizona State University, and worked as a transit planner for four years in both the public and private sectors. My work focused on expanding access and improving transit systems across the U.S. Throughout my career I noticed the importance of data analytics and its power in shaping policies, which inspired me to pursue the MSCAPP program at Harris. I chose MSCAPP  because it combines rigorous training in analytics with real-world policy applications. I am excited to learn alongside peers who are also passionate about impact-driven work while exploring other sectors like climate resilience. Outside of school, I enjoy pottery, singing, and checking out Chicago's eclectic food scene. 

Chukwudumebi Uzor, MPP class of 2027

Hometown: Fort Worth, Texas

Interests include: Economic Growth, Finance, Data Analysis, and Environmental Policy  

I am so excited about my journey here in Chicago and can’t wait to meet you all! A little about me—I was born in Nigeria, raised in Fort Worth, and later relocated to Houston for studies. At Texas Southern University, I gained a solid foundation in business and also earned a Master’s in Management Information Systems. Professionally, I’ve spent the past couple of years at the Texas Water Development Board, supporting programs within the water infrastructure sector. I believe University of Chicago is the perfect environment to further my knowledge in quant analysis and financial strategy, while grounding them in real world application. In my free time you’ll catch me at the museum, in an aerial yoga class, or listening to music. Cheers to our journey at UChicago! 

Xingyu Wang, MPP class of 2028

Hometown: Leshan, China

Interests include: Finance and economic policy; data-driven policy analysis

I'm an MPP student at Harris with a background in Finance from Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in China. Before coming to Harris, I gained practical experience in investment banking and consulting, working on financial analysis, quantitative research, and enterprise risk diagnostics. These experiences sparked my interest in how data and evidence can inform better policy decisions. I am particularly interested in the intersection of finance, economic development, and public policy. At Harris, I am excited to deepen my quantitative skills and explore how public policy can support sustainable economic growth. Music is an important part of my life—I'm a rock music enthusiast, and I also play piano, from classical to rock. It teaches me rhythm, structure, and expression, and helps me stay balanced outside of work and study. I also enjoy reading philosophy, finding logic and meaning in complex questions, and playing billiards, where focus and strategy come together. Feel free to reach out—whether it's to talk policy, music, philosophy, or even to set up a billiards game!

Raven Yang, MPP class of 2028

Hometown: China

Interests include: Energy and environmental policy, economic policy, and data-driven policy analysis

Originally from China, I studied agricultural economics with minors in economics and statistics before coming to Harris. My policy interests include energy and environmental policy, economic policy, and data-driven policy analysis. Outside of the classroom, I enjoy exploring Chicago, traveling, and connecting with people from different backgrounds.