Chris Campbell
Chris Campbell is a second-year doctoral student in Public Policy at American University’s School of Public Affairs. He has a professional background in survey and market research for non-profit organizations, and his research interests include examining how national and local policies impact equity and housing affordability concerns in urban areas.
Rachel Cho
Rachel (Soyeon) Cho is a PhD student in Public Administration and Policy at American University. Her research interests lie in public administration and public management, with a particular focus on the resilience and long-term sustainability of public organizations. Specifically, Rachel is interested in identifying managerial strategies tailored to the unique nature of public organizations. Her work aims to build an integrated understanding of organizational sustainability by examining both internal and external dimensions, particularly through the lenses of human resource management and network management. She holds a Master of Public Administration from Seoul National University and a Bachelor of Arts in Choral Conducting from the Korea National University of Arts.
Kasny Damas
Kasny Damas is a recent doctoral graduate from Rutgers, School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA), with research interests in social equity, public procurement, and health policy. He holds an MPA from Rutgers University with a concentration in Public and Nonprofit Performance Management and previously monitored the quality of healthcare services provided to nearly 20% of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in New Jersey. As the son of immigrants who migrated to the United States from Haiti, Damas is motivated to do his part as a social scientist to identify, specify, and address structural inequality. His work has been published in the Journal of Public Health, Journal of Health and Human Services Administration, Information Polity, Journal of Continuing Higher Education, and the Journal of Primary Care and Community Health.
Sangwon Ju
Sangwon Ju is a PhD student in Public Administration & Policy at American University. His research interests include public management, organizational theory & behavior, behavioral public administration, and research methods. More specifically, he studies how both citizens and bureaucrats interact within organizational structures from a socio-cognitive perspective. Using both experimental methods and archival data analysis, he explores how structures can be designed to balance social equity and bureaucratic expertise. He is also interested in exploring how public employees’ identity processes serve as the microfoundations of citizen–state interactions. His recent work employs qualitative and comparative approaches to investigate these issues. He holds a Master of Public Policy from Seoul National University, South Korea, and a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration and Business Administration (dual degree) from Yonsei University, South Korea.
Hoan La
Hoan “Lana” La is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at Texas Tech University, with a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Murray State University. Her research bridges the fields of public administration and international relations by using global datasets to explore key issues in governance and applying administrative theories to international contexts. She focuses on the intersections of gender, administrative capacity, governance, and international conflicts. Much of her work examines how governance quality and administrative capacity shape women's well-being, particularly during external shocks such as armed conflicts and economic sanctions. She is also interested in how women’s political representation contributes to governance quality, and how these dynamics, in turn, shape international engagement, including war and peace decisions and foreign direct investment.
Katherine Wilson McCoy
Katherine Wilson McCoy is a doctoral candidate in Public Affairs at the University of Central Florida, where her research centers on criminology, social equity, and police-citizen interactions. Her dissertation examines how quality-of-life ordinances impact perceptions of police legitimacy among individuals experiencing homelessness. She holds an M.S. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Florida Atlantic University and a B.A. in Criminology from the University of South Florida. Katherine’s research interests include racial disparities in the death penalty, evidence-based policing, and public-private partnerships in emergency management. She has taught courses such as Media and Crime, Race and Justice, and Introduction to Criminal Justice. She currently serves as a research fellow at the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority and is a 2024 recipient of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) Equity and Inclusion Fellowship.
Tingli Qu
Tingli Qu is a current PhD candidate in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at American University. Her research interests include public finance, fiscal performance, fiscal transparency and fiscal tools. Her work was recently published at Public Management Review, Public Performance and Management Review, and Public Budgeting & Finance.
Marylin D. Rozario
Marylin D Rozario is a Ph.D. student in Public Administration and Public Policy at the University of Texas at Arlington. Her research explores nonprofit governance, financial accountability, and the role of mission-driven organizations in advancing social equity and community well-being. Drawing from public administration, nonprofit studies, and organizational theory, her work aims to enhance transparency and trust in the nonprofit sector. Marylin holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Arkansas State University and a Bachelor of Social Sciences in Public Administration from the University of Dhaka.
Virginia Schneider
Virginia Schneider is a PhD candidate at Georgia State University. Her research focuses on public administration with a specific interest in the causes and consequences of administrative burden in American poverty governance. She investigates how burdens are used in social programs to control marginal populations in a way that serves the material interests of low-wage employers. Virginia is passionate about building a robust social safety net that centers equity and the dignity of those it serves. She holds a Bachelor’s of Arts in Political Science from Rhodes College.
Corbin Walls
Corbin’s primary research interests are in nonprofit management with a specialization in nonprofit finance. He is additionally interested in co-production, organizational theory, collaborative governance, public budgeting and financial management, and nonprofit policy. Corbin engages in fundraising, grant writing, program evaluation, and strategic planning consulting for nonprofit organizations. Most importantly, he loves to cook and conduct visits with his Therapy Dog, Rosie.
Yerin Yoon
Yerin Yoon is a PhD candidate in Measurement, Evaluation, Statistics, and Assessment (Policy Evaluation track) at Boston College. Her research investigates how educational policies and programs can better support students' transitions to postsecondary education and long-term success, with a focus on K–12 school and program choice systems, including career and technical education (CTE). Using quantitative methods for causal inference, her dissertation examines how shifts in educational choices affect existing gender, racial, and socioeconomic disparities and segregation. Her work aims to build rigorous evidence for equitable policies that reduce inequalities rather than unintentionally exacerbate them—ultimately expanding educational opportunities for underrepresented students. Yerin holds a Master of Education in Educational Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from Seoul National University of Education.