Meet the 2019 LBJ DC Fellows

The fourth cohort of graduate school students in the LBJ School's unique and accelerated DC Concentration have begun their two semesters of coursework in Austin. They will be in Washington, DC, before we know it for two semesters of evening coursework and their required concurrent six-month Policy Apprenticeships at public or private policy organizations before graduating in December 2019. 

If you are interested in helping an LBJ DC Fellow identify and secure a Policy Apprenticeship, please contact the LBJ Washington Center.

2019 LBJ DC Fellows

Melissa Bellin is a candidate for the Master of Public Affairs at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. She studied sociology at Harvard University, with a certification in French. While earning her undergraduate degree, Melissa directed an after-school program for low-income youth, supervised overnight shifts at the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter, taught English to students in Tanzania and interned with Advocates for Children of New York City. Melissa moved to Washington, DC, after graduation to teach elementary school at KIPP DC, then transitioned to the nonprofit organization Flamboyan Foundation, which builds the capacity of DC public schools to practice effective family engagement. As an education professional, she developed a deep interest in the external factors that impact student achievement, including race, class and housing.

Melissa hopes to find a Policy Apprenticeship in DC working on Pre-K-12 education issues.

Policy Interests: Pre-K-12 education issues; effective family engagement; e-learning and access to technology; teacher preparation and compensation; and the school-to-prison pipeline

Salimah Jasani is a candidate for the Master of Public Affairs at the LBJ School. She is a summa cum laude graduate in English and sociology of The University of Texas at Austin, where her undergraduate honors thesis focused on the relationship between poverty levels and high school dropout rates. After graduating, Salimah joined Teach For America and taught special education English at the high-school level for four years in Baltimore, Maryland, while simultaneously earning her Master of Science degree, summa cum laude, in education studies from Johns Hopkins University. Outside of the classroom, she served as chair of the agenda and politics subcommittee in the community organization Baltimoreans for Educational Equity, and also co-founded and produced the Point of Hue podcast to amplify the voices of women of color creating positive social change.

Salimah hopes to find a Policy Apprenticeship in DC working with a government agency or nonprofit organization focusing on equity in Pre K-12 education, particularly for vulnerable populations including children with disabilities or students living in poverty.

Policy Interests: Special education/disability advocacy; educational equity for at-risk students; child poverty

Megan Kruse is a candidate for the Master of Public Affairs at the LBJ School. After graduating cum laude from Trinity University in San Antonio with degrees in art history and business administration, she worked in the university’s office of the dean of students as a student conduct coordinator and Title IX investigator. Megan simultaneously served as the president of the staff council, engaging with high-level university administrators about benefits, compensation and staff development. Through her work at Trinity, she discovered a policy interest in the federal oversight of higher education, the intersections of Title IX and the Clery Act and university governance structures. 

Megan hopes to find a Policy Apprenticeship in DC focused on higher education research and advocacy.

Policy Interests: Higher education; Title IX; Clery Act

Sara Plasencia is a candidate for the Master of Public Affairs at the LBJ School. She graduated cum laude from Lafayette College, where she double majored in government and law & sociology. Her undergraduate coursework focused on race and ethnic relations and structural inequality. In college, Sara interned with DCS Politics in Washington, DC, Repower Greece in Athens and an education consulting firm in Illinois. After graduation, she moved to DC and worked as the communications and program assistant at the Women’s Congressional Policy Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to bringing bipartisan women policymakers together to advance women’s issues in Congress. She is interested in working on K-12 policy to improve access to quality education for marginalized communities. 

Sara hopes to find a Policy Apprenticeship in DC working on K-12 education issues, specifically researching and advocating for educational equity in underserved areas.

Policy Interests: K-12 education for low-income communities; poverty; workforce development

Emily Clark is a candidate for the Master of Public Affairs at the LBJ School. She is a cum laude graduate from Georgetown University, with a B.A. in government and a minor in justice and peace studies. After graduating, Emily interned on Capitol Hill, worked on a winning U.S. Senate campaign, and served as a policy analyst for both New York- and DC-based consulting firms, working on financial services, health and wellness, and energy policy issues. She now wishes to approach policy from a more global perspective and expand her expertise to intelligence and security issues. 

Emily is interested in securing a Policy Apprenticeship in DC focused on these sectors.

Policy interests: International security; intelligence policymaking; environmental and conservation global security

Cara Pavlak is a Master of Public Affairs candidate at the LBJ School. A Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude graduate of Trinity College in Connecticut, she majored in international studies and minored in human rights and French. Cara's undergraduate honors thesis, "Africans in Hartford: Diverse Communities of the African Diaspora," explored her interest in connecting local issues to global trends in immigrant integration. Since graduating, her immigration work has included positions in legal aid, advocacy and in Maine with U.S. Sen. Angus S. King Jr. She is interested in U.S. immigration policy, specifically refugee and asylum issues, detention and immigrant integration.

Cara hopes to find a Policy Apprenticeship in DC working on migration policy in a think tank, advocacy organization or within the U.S. Congress.

Policy Interests: U.S. immigration reform; global migration; women’s economic security

Chris Purdy is a candidate for the Master of Public Affairs at the LBJ School. He majored in sociology as an undergraduate at the State University of New York (Fredonia) and earned a Masters of Science in education from Nazareth College of Rochester. Chris was a middle school special education teacher in the District of Columbia public schools for the past 10 years, then worked with the office of student services of Atlanta public schools on school reform policy, where he led multiple projects to improve education outcomes and mental health access in underserved and immigrant communities. He also is a U.S. Army veteran who served as a combat engineer in Iraq in 2011, as well as a 2018 Truman Defense Council member. He is a leader in Veterans for American Ideals, engaging in community activism in support of refugees and the Muslim community.

Chris is interested in immigration policy and a global solution for displaced people, and hopes to find a Policy Apprenticeship in DC working at the intersection of immigration and national security.

Policy Interests: Immigration in the context of national security

Timothy J. Michalak is a candidate for the Master of Public Affairs at the LBJ School. He graduated magna cum laude from Fitchburg State University with a Bachelor of Arts in history education, and he is interested in equal opportunity policy, particularly at the intersection of urban housing policy, poverty and education. Prior to graduate school, Timothy worked as a high school social studies teacher in a Title I school and as a program supervisor for the federal Upward Bound program. He is currently taking a course on Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to acquire the skills necessary to visualize and analyze data in the context of crafting policy solutions. 

Timothy hopes to find a Policy Apprenticeship in DC with such organizations as the Government Accountability Office (GAO,) Congressional Research Service (CRS) or the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Policy Interests: Housing; economic inequality; poverty

Emma Nye is a candidate for the Master of Public Affairs at the LBJ School. She is a cum laude graduate in rhetoric studies from Whitman College and is interested in improving access to mental health care, particularly in communities with high rates of substance abuse. As an undergraduate, she worked at the local hospital, kindling her interest in the intersection of drug abuse and psychiatric health.  After graduating, Emma continued her work in the medical industry at Cape Cod Healthcare and researched congressional voting patterns at the Kennedy School at Harvard University, where she examined mental health care and approaches to drug abuse from a policy standpoint. 

Emma hopes to find a Policy Apprenticeship in DC working in advocacy for greater accessibility to, and coverage of, mental health care, especially for those who have a criminal history of substance abuse.

Policy Interests: Mental health care; substance abuse legislation

Brittney Taylor is a candidate for the Master of Public Affairs at the LBJ School. She graduated with high honors in social work from The University of Texas at Austin and is interested in child welfare, child and family policy, and women’s rights issues. Prior to graduate school, Brittney worked for eight years as a caseworker for Child Protective Services and at a nonprofit child welfare agency. Her experience convinced her of the need for policy changes and enhanced advocacy approaches to better serve at-risk children, families and women. 

Brittney hopes to find a Policy Apprenticeship in DC working on child, family and women’s issues in a think tank, advocacy organization, nonprofit or on Capitol Hill.

Policy Interests: Child protection; health care and reproductive rights; child and family issues

Sean Walker is a candidate for the Master of Public Affairs at the LBJ School. He majored in government at The University of Texas at Austin and is interested in gun reform policy. During his time in Austin and Washington DC, he intends to focus on using political communications to eliminate misconceptions about proposed gun legislation; reframing gun violence as a national security and public health crisis; and reforming campaign finance laws to reduce the flow of dark money into the political/policy process. Sean worked in Washington, DC, as an Archer Fellow in the fall of 2016, gaining invaluable experience at a prominent Super PAC at the height of the presidential election.

Sean plans to pursue a Policy Apprenticeship in DC that includes research and advocacy related to federal gun policy.

Policy Interests: Gun reform policy