EDUCATION CENTER CO-DIRECTOR

Jorge (he/him) is a senior at Columbia College, studying Ethnicity and Race Studies and Statistics. Last year, he directed the Education Center and its associated initiatives: an open letter on affordable child care and the publication and distribution of lesson plans on the opportunity gap. This fall, Jorge will intern at the Brookings Institution’s Center for Universal Education, where he will (desk) review child care policies in Latin America. He, previously, held internships and research assistantships at the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Early Childhood Initiative, the New York State Department of Education, and the Center on Poverty and Social Policy. At Columbia, Jorge is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Global Health, and he conducted qualitative research on energy insecurity at the Mailman School of Public Health. Outside his academic and professional passions, Jorge loves Pokémon, Cuban historiography, and tennis.

EDUCATION CENTER CO-DIRECTOR

Beatrice (she/her) is a junior at Columbia College, with a major in History and a concentration in Economics. This summer, she interned at the Center for Law and Education, a national support center and advocacy organization for low income students. She has previously interned with the Grants Policy Office of the U.S. Department of Education, interned with the Learning and Evaluation team of the education nonprofit Matriculate, and worked as a research assistant for the Black Education Research Center of Columbia Teachers College. Last academic year, she took a yearlong leave of absence to work full-time at a Title I high school in South LA through an AmeriCorps program. She plans to teach public high school after she graduates, ensuring that her advocacy comes from a place of lived experience. Outside of CPI, she is a deputy editor for the Arts and Culture section of the Columbia Daily Spectator and tutors at a public school. In her free time, she loves reading, watching musicals and classic films, doing yoga, and taking aimless walks.

CO-ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT CENTER DIRECTOR

Nicole Xiao (she/her) is a sophomore at Columbia College studying Climate Systems Science and Statistics. She is deeply interested in the nexus of ecological politics and climate research, and using science-based data to enact and implement bold, effective climate policy. Outside of CPI, she co-founded Climate Justice League, a youth climate coalition in her hometown of Moscow, ID, which successfully spearheaded the first 100% clean energy municipality commitment in Northern Idaho and is passionate about bringing grassroots organizing to climate activism. Nicole spent this past summer working at Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory’s Tree Ring Lab, analyzing tree ring data to construct a paleoclimate temperature record of the greater Mexican peninsula. In her spare time, she is also a member of the dance group Orchesis on campus, an aspiring member of Columbia’s ultimate frisbee team, and an avid hiker and explorer of the outdoors. She can also be found at any on-campus event that caters free food.

FOREIGN POLICY CENTER DIRECTOR

Kiran is a junior at Columbia College studying Economics-Political Science. Coming from Guam, Kiran has worked on several issues in numerous roles that affect Guam and America's role in the Indo-Pacific region, including finding ways Guam's economy can grow through federal investments and strengthening relationships between Guam, the United States, and regional allies. Kiran is currently a Legislative Aide for his Member of Congress and has years of experience working on policies that advance Guam's position in the world. One of Kiran's major accomplishments is writing Guam's 2024 Congressional Address, an annual hour-long speech given by Guam's representative to Congress highlighting accomplishments and highlights from the year. In his spare time, Kiran loves to travel, try new restaurants, and cook.

CO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CENTER DIRECTOR

Marie (she/her) is a senior at Columbia College, working towards a career in criminal accountability and atrocity deterrence. While interning with the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Human Rights last summer, she was involved in shaping U.S. policy response to transnational legal repression of the Tibetan diaspora—an issue area she is researching this summer with the Tibet Policy Institute in Dharamshala, India. She has previously interned for Senator Schumer, the Council on Foreign Relations, and Columbia Law School's Center on Sustainable Investment, where she conducted research on community-based accountability methods in response to corporate human rights abuse. In addition to co-directing EconDev, she is president of Columbia Academics in Foreign Affairs and edits/writes for the Undergraduate Law Review. She currently holds the Saltzman Institute's Emerging Voices fellowship and the Harriman Institute's Padma Desai fellowship for archival research in Mongolia.

CO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CENTER DIRECTOR

Monica (she/her) is a senior in the School of General Studies, where she is majoring in Political Science as part of the Dual BA program with Trinity College Dublin. Last year, she was the Outreach Co-Director for CPI’s Center for Economic Development, and she is excited to co-run the center this year! Elsewhere on campus, she is the Communications Chair for Columbia’s chapter of Amnesty International. This summer, she interned with the Investor Alliance for Human Rights, an organization that educates investors on how they can use financial leverage to promote human rights. She is passionate about issues related to refugee and migrant rights, and carried out research this summer with Columbia’s Committee on Global Thought to investigate emergency housing for asylum seekers in New York City. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, traveling, and sharing obscure facts about Irish history.

DEMOCRATIC ACCESS CENTER DIRECTOR

Glynis (she/her) is a senior in Columbia College studying Urban Studies with a focus on Political Science. Before leading the Democratic Access Center, she led the Human Rights Center for two years, where she spearheaded projects focused on housing, labor, and admissions equity in higher education. During the school year, she works as a student mediator for the Bureau of Consumer Frauds and Protection, and serves as the general body coordinator for Columbia's Housing Equity Project. She’s worked on eight political campaigns, spent the summer of 2023 as the mapping intern of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, and spent last summer on Capitol Hill interning for Representative Chellie Pingree (go Maine!). Glynis is passionate about cheap travel, walkable communities, public transportation, and the mezozoic era.