Luis Basurto is a research analyst in the Health Policy Center at the Urban Institute. His research at Urban focuses on topics related to the Opioid Crisis, the impact of health information technology on a wide variety of outcomes, and the relationships between health and several economic and social factors. Luis is a current graduate student at Georgetown University in the MS in Mathematics and Statistics program. Before joining Urban, he interned at the American Enterprise Institute and the Keystone Research Center. Luis graduated with honors with highest distinction from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, where he majored in economics and finance with a minor in mathematics.

Saied Beckford is a junior at Rutgers University – Newark, where he is pursuing a double major in Economics and Computer Science, and a double minor in Mathematics and Social Justice. During his formative years, Saied took a keen interest in accounting and finance, however, during a high school trip to the Federal Reserve for the Fed Challenge (a macroeconomic case study competition at the FRBNY), he began to love the economics profession. Throughout his years studying economics at the collegiate level, Saied has found that his passion extends to the intersectional study of financial economics, economics and law, and machine learning/ AI.

Fredrick Boakye is a senior at City University of New York, Lehman college, studying Nursing and Economics & Mathematics. Frederick completed his freshman year at the University of Ghana studying Economics before he immigrated to the United States in 2014. He is interested in a Ph.D. in development economics, and is particularly interested in the intersection of development and health economics. He is also open to learning more about labor economics and monetary policies. In the past, Frederick was an intern at Brooklyn Community Services, serving as an assistant outreach coordinator, where he helped recruit volunteers and advertise company programs. Frederick was also a student in the 2019 American Economic Association’s Summer Program where he researched the effect of student loans on households’ contribution to retirement savings accounts. Frederick currently work with a faculty professor, investigating how the difference in effect of credit score and banking management affects interest rate.

Jasmeene Burton-Martin is a Fellow at the Illinois State Board of Education and a recent graduate of Princeton University. A Los Angeles native and the daughter of an educator, Jasmeene relishes the opportunity at ISBE to study education from a policy-level, especially in a city so different from her hometown. Having prior sociological research experience in demography and educational policy, she continues to pursue research interests in urban schools and communities, their economic development, and school resource allocation to these communities on the state and federal levels. In her spare time, Jasmeene mentors high school and undergraduate students of color and loves to explore the cultural richness of the myriad Chicago neighborhoods.

Jacob Dennis is a recent graduate of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County where he earned a B.A. in Economics. Currently, he is doing a Post-Baccalaureate program at New York University where he is completing math prerequisites and conducting research with Dr. Abdoulaye Ndiaye. His research experience dates back to 2013 where he did a project in municipal development with Dr. Rebecca Moryl at Emmanuel College. He has also participated in the 2018 AEA Summer Program where he conducted original research in household finance. His current research interests are centered in the intersection of law, development, and behavioral economics. However, he is also a history enthusiast and has many secondary interests in economics ranging from trade, innovation, and topics in sustainability, to tax policy. In the future Jacob endeavors to produce research that will directly benefit the African Diaspora. Outside of economics he composes and performs classical music, is a terrible cook, and enjoys exploring New York City.

 Decory Edwards chose to study economics and mathematics as an undergraduate at Trinity University due to his interest in the intersection between mathematical inquiry and problems in the social sciences. Topics in decision theory, game theory, mechanism design, and network science are all examples of theoretical frameworks that may lend themselves to answering questions in the social sciences. Currently, Decory is a predoctoral research student in the Yale Emerging Scholars Initiative; in this position, he works with Marina Halac and is taking economic theory courses. Further, Decory is also working with Florian Ederer in the Yale School of Management as a research assistant. As part of the McNair Scholars Program, Decory conducted research with Dr. John Huston (Economics). Compelled by Robert Shiller’s 2017 presidential address on narratives in economics, we aimed to better understand the interaction between media coverage and stock prices through history. We analyzed the impact of stock marketrelated media articles on stock market returns from four historical eras known as “bubble periods.” Ultimately, these efforts led to our submission of the manuscript to the academic journal, The American Economist, where it is currently in revise-and-resubmit status. While at the AEA Summer Program Decory completed post-baccalaureate level courses in the advanced track for microeconomic theory, mathematical methods for economics, and econometrics at Michigan State University. While there, he also conducted a joint research project advised by Drs. Lisa Cook and Prabhat Barnwal of Michigan State (Economics). Decory applied the skills he learned while working with Dr. Huston on time series data and methods to develop an autoregressive model. Following existing work on the environmental Kuznets curve and income inequality, we collected income and wealth inequality data from the World Inequality Database and an array of measures for environmental sustainability (energy use, CO2 emissions, etc) from the World Bank’s database. Lastly, in his short time as a predoctoral fellow at Yale, Decory feels that he has truly begun his training as an economic theorist. Decory loves the courses that he is taking, as well as the research that he is working on. HIs involvement in the Yale PREP program has been a sort of simulation of graduate student life, and he looks forward to continuing graduate studies in the near future.

Limaben Jamir is a native of Nagaland, India and is a current Rotary Peace Fellow, pursuing a Masters in International Development Policy at Duke University. After graduating from the University of Delhi, Limaben completed a Master’s Degree from Royal Holloway, University of London where she studied the psycho-social impact of political conflicts. This past summer she worked as a consultant with the Digital Development Unit, World Bank Group. Limaben is the founder of NEIMUN, a youth led nonprofit educational foundation, TedX Speaker, Founding Curator, Global Shapers Kohima Hub – under the World Economic Forum – and current vice curator of Global Shapers Raleigh Hub, North Carolina. Over the past five years, she has been facilitating opportunities, exclusively tailored for young people in North East India to learn more about the works of international organizations on youth, peace and security, and initiate socio-economic transformation in their communities, together with educational institutions and international organizations. Additionally, she has been involved in discussions that drive Northeast IndiaASEAN co-operation for development. Limaben is passionate about exploring the role of leadership in peace building, transparency and accountability mechanisms in conflict affected and post conflict settings and looks forward to exploring the complimentary nexus amongst economic development, security, and policymaking. Currently, she is involved in policy research work with the World Bank focused on Digital Inclusion.

Faeez Juneja is currently a Richard B. Russell Security Leadership Program fellow at the Center for International Trade and Security studying counterterrorism, nuclear nonproliferation, and strategic trade control. His research interests include international economics, labor economics, public finance, and modern political economy. Born in India and raised in the United States, Faeez is passionate about using economics to combat inequities in South Asia and the Middle East. Previously, he was a researcher at the Economic Evaluation Research Group where he investigated the opioid epidemic. He was also on the editorial board of the Georgia Political Review and has published several articles on public policy and finance. Faeez is a sophomore at the University of Georgia majoring in economics and statistics. On campus, he serves as a member of the Honors Program Student Council and is the policy training coordinator for Roosevelt at UGA, a nonpartisan, student-run think tank. He is an alumnus of the Summer Honors Program at the American Enterprise Institute.

Abigail Matthew graduated from Williams College in 2018, where she majored in economics with a concentration in Latina/o Studies, and also completed significant coursework in public health. Her research interests primarily center around domestic public policy, minority issues and disparities, and health economics. During her final year at Williams, she wrote an empirical economics thesis entitled, "Poverty and Pot: Evaluating the Impact of Marijuana Legalization," which focused on the impact of recreational marijuana legalization on various economic indicators in pioneer adopter states such as Colorado and Washington. Since communities of color have been disproportionately policed and penalized for marijuana use compared to white communities, this research also sought to distinguish if there were any positive or negative effects of legalization felt by black individuals. Since graduating from Williams, Abigail has taken some time away from academia, and worked in the banking industry in a managerial role. Abigail's thesis piqued her interest in both public policy and economics research, so she recently made a decision to pursue a role that will help her fulfill those interests more directly. She is in the process of finalizing an offer for a position analyzing public policy at the local government level.

Amarachi Nasa-Okolie is a 2nd year Master's student at the University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences in the Behavioral and Decision Sciences program. She originally immigrated to the US in 2014 to obtain her B.A. in Economics and Communications from Concordia College, Moorhead. Her work has been primarily centered on incorporating behavioral science practices into health policy research, quality of healthcare services in sub-Saharan countries and economic development of subSaharan countries. This year, she will be chairing the GAPSA (Graduate and Professional Student Assembly) Social Committee and will be involved in creating memorable events for the graduate and professional students. She will also be volunteering her time to the Netter Center for Community Partnerships by evaluating the effectiveness of the pipeline program between Penn and different high schools within the Philly community. Having worked with UNICEF this summer, Amarachi has decided to focus her energy on research projects that will center on maladaptive behaviors in pediatric populations as well as quality and access of care for expecting mothers.

Jan Oledan works as a research specialist at the Empirical Studies of Conflict lab associated with the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. With direction from Professor Jake Shapiro, Jan is working on a project that uses machine learning methods to see if mobile phone data can be leveraged to infer individual socioeconomic status, reactions to violence and conflict events, and predict responses to traditional surveys. Concurrently, he is finishing up the research portion of his Master’s degree in Economics with a specialization in Development, from McGill University. Jan’s interests lie in the intersection of data and development and how researchers and practitioners can utilize novel data sources to fill missing gaps and to answer traditional development questions. In the past, Jan has worked on a whole host of projects – from RCT field work in Kenya as part of his undergraduate and masters independent research projects, to using geospatial and administrative data to investigate trade and elections in Europe. Jan is taking his “year off” from school to build relevant research skills for a prospective PhD.

Sebastian Puerta was Born in Medellin, Colombia and raised in Roswell, Georgia, he is a firstgeneration, Latinx Foundation Fellow pursuing a dual AB/MA in Economics at the University of Georgia. As a first-generation, Latinx immigrant, the financial and social struggles his family faces and the educational inequities he has experienced have compelled him to study education policy, segregation, inequality, and intergenerational immobility – the drivers of the disadvantages that marginalized communities face. Sebastian aims to tackle these problems as a researcher by using and developing cutting-edge empirical methods to estimate causal effects of policy and other social phenomena. This summer, Sebastian interned at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York where he focused on the gender gap in job-search and unemployment. His specific research interests include the economics of education, education policy, segregation, inequality, and social mobility.

Hector Reyes completed a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Mathematics at the University of Southern California (USC). He developed an early interest in economics after witnessing his compatriots struggle to overcome Puerto Rico’s decade-long recession. Hector began his college career at Valparaiso University as a student-athlete on the Track and Field Team. There, he joined multiple campus organizations aimed at promoting awareness and inclusivity of multicultural identities. Hector transferred to USC in the fall of 2017. There, he served as a lab director managing a team of 20 research assistants at the Lab on Non-Democratic Politics in the USC Dornsife School of International Relations. He is currently a fellow of the PhD Excellence Initiative at New York University. Hector plans to pursue a PhD in Economics with hopes of becoming a university professor and economic adviser for the governor of Puerto Rico.

Sandhya Srinivas is a researcher interested in studying the effects of Public policy in addressing health disparities amongst at risk populations in developing economies. She is a published author of a collective health economics study, based in Delhi, India, which looked at measuring the burden of pediatric cancer on low income families (including the indirect and psychosocial costs, a documentation of which has not been touched upon in literature). There was a lot of satisfaction obtained from being able to produce research that can have an impact on communities and hospital policies, especially in communities of color, and she wishes to continue this research and come up with a costing instrument that can adequately measure psychosocial costs in such families. Sandhya was previously a Research Assistant at the Harvard Kennedy school, and is planning to attend a doctoral program in Public policy/Migration in the near future. She currently has a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, from McGill University, Montreal.

Jioni Tuck is currently a Princeton in Latin America Fellow in Guatemala serving as the Monitoring & Evaluation Coordinator and Grants Associate at Pueblo a Pueblo, an NGO. Originally from Washington, DC, Jioni graduated from the College of William & Mary with a B.A. in Government and a minor in Public Health in May 2019. Through William & Mary, Jioni conducted health and development research in Nicaragua, Tanzania, and the Dominican Republic. Jioni is interested in research related to international political economy and economic development. Jioni is passionate about working with marginalized populations and using monitoring & evaluation methods to improve global health and development outcomes.