Student Profile: Olivia Glen-Rayner, MPP Class of 2025

Olivia Glen-Rayner, MPP Class of 2025, has found success and growth when immersing herself in new experiences. “For example, having grown up in New York City, I knew I wanted to broaden my horizons by going to college at a small school far from the East Coast. I ended up going to Carleton College in Minnesota, which I totally loved.”

After earning her BA in political science and international relations, Glen-Rayner moved to Minneapolis, where she did AmeriCorps VISTA for a service year. “I worked with young people experiencing homelessness, which inspired me to explore structural policy change.”

Following her AmeriCorps service year, Glen-Rayner worked for Elizabeth Warren at the Iowa Caucus in 2020.

“I was in charge of three counties in South Central Iowa that are conservative, rural, and  low income—demographics I had never really engaged with in depth before. Listening to their concerns opened my eyes to misconceptions I had about people and places and laid the groundwork for how I think about how policy and politics actually affect people.”

After the caucus, Glen-Rayner worked in Maine for the State Democratic Party team before moving back to New York City. There, she ran a city council race in the neighborhood she grew up in.  “While it kind of felt like a homecoming, I was like, I can't do campaigns anymore,” Glen-Rayner said with a laugh. “So, I went to work as community liaison for my Congressman—Jerry Nadler.”

However, Glen-Rayner’s departure from campaigns didn’t last long. “Due to redistricting, Congressman Nadler was launched into a primary with a fellow Congressperson three months after I began working for Congressman Nadler.”  Glen-Rayner became his campaign manager for an historic, high-profile, and fast-paced campaign. When Nadler won—“which way exceeded my expectations,” Glen-Rayner said—she returned to working for him in Congress. 

Graduate school, however, was on Glen-Rayner’s mind. “Even since returning to New York, I wanted to take a pause from my fast-paced work environment. I missed having time to sit, analyze, and really marinate in information. The idea of engaging with other young people interested in policy, politics, and current events was very appealing.”

Glen-Rayner said there were two main reasons she decided to pursue a Master of Public Policy degree at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. “First, my sister went to undergrad at the University of Chicago—graduating in 2022—so I was familiar with the school. Second, I found Harris took learning really seriously in a way that other programs didn’t necessarily. It was less about how hard you’d work, but more that the work itself mattered and therefore should be approached with care and seriousness.”

Thus far, Glen-Rayner said, Harris has helped her demystify many math, statistics, and economics concepts. “For someone coming from more of a social science background, those topics initially seemed unattainable. But being equipped with the underlying knowledge to interpret and understand reports and studies, for example, is essential.”

Glen-Rayner will also serve as president of the Urban Policy Student Association for the 2024–25 academic year. “Urban policy interests me because it’s at the intersection of numerous issues: racial politics, gender issues, the climate crisis, transportation, housing, and healthcare. I’m excited to take advantage of being in Chicago and really using it as a classroom.”

As for future plans, Glen-Rayner said she finds a chief of staff role appealing. “A chief of staff keeps the trains on the tracks. Whether it's serving a mayor, a president, or the head of an agency, the chief of staff is the right-hand person who makes sure that everyone below them has everything they need. And I think that's a great alignment for my professional and academic interests.”