Alex Flachsbart

State Fiscal Project

Alex Flachsbart is an intern with the State Fiscal Project. A 2009 graduate of the University of Alabama, he will remain in Tuscaloosa through 2010 to complete a master’s degree in economics. As an undergraduate, Alex spent a considerable amount of time in Montgomery lobbying for the passage of tax, higher education, and constitutional reform measures. Among other things, Alex founded an on-campus bicycle transportation network, taught organized debate to middle school students, and worked on one presidential, one gubernatorial, and two mayoral campaigns. He will be applying to several joint J.D./Masters in Public Policy programs this fall. His interests include behavioral psychology, Croatian beaches, SEC football, and fine cuisine.

Chaz Kelsh

Media

Chaz Kelsh is the intern with the Media team. Chaz is a rising junior at Brown University in Providence, R.I., double-majoring in public policy and sociology. Hailing from beautiful Philadelphia, Pa., he served in the spring as news editor of the Brown Daily Herald, the independent student-run daily newspaper. He is also a writing coach at Brown as part of its Writing Fellows Program. He spent last summer giving tours of Brown to anxious future applicants and will be studying abroad in the fall in Stockholm, Sweden.

Liz Williams

DC Fiscal Policy Institute

Liz just finished the first year of a Masters program in Sociology at GWU, where her focus is in urban studies. During the school year, she is a TA for the Research Methods and Statistics undergraduate classes, which is about as much fun as it sounds. Prior to returning to school, she slaved for over three years at the American Institutes for Research here in DC, where she worked with the Neglected and Delinquent Technical Assistance Center (providing TA around Title I, Parts A and D), the National High School Center, the DC Research Consortium (focusing on DCPS), and on projects contracted by the Gates Foundation and Say Yes To Education. Liz graduated in 2004 from Clark University in Worcester, MA.

Erin Scharff

Federal Budget and Tax

Erin is the tax intern on the Tax/Budget team this summer. She just finished her first year at NYU Law, where she is a Root-Tilden Kern Scholar. Immediately before starting law school, Erin worked on Obama campaign, starting off as a volunteer during the Iowa caucus and joining the campaign full-time for the Ohio primary. Before joining the campaign, Erin did research and advocacy work in DC for groups including the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and the Service Employees International Union and worked to elect Rep. Harry Mitchell (AZ-5) to his first term. Erin graduated from Yale University in 2004 where she majored in Religious Studies. She’s excited to be back in DC and looks forward to a summer of health care reform, Screen on the Green, and jazz in the sculpture garden.

Gwen Litvak

Housing

Gwen just completed her first year at NYU in the urban planning Master's degree program. She is interested in housing and economic development, and has studied the relationship between land-use law and housing during her first year of the program. Prior to interning at the Center, Gwen worked for Assemblywoman Fiona Ma (of San Francisco), as a Field Representative, and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (in D.C.) as a Legislative Assistant. She has a special interest in the city as a place of access and equity, and how the built environment impacts community development. Gwen also enjoys the outdoors, riding horses, and exploring cities.

Jay Colburn

International Budget Partnership – Communications

Jay is an intern with the International Budget Partnership. He recently graduated from the University of Kent in Canterbury, England with an MA in International Relations, focusing on conflict and the Middle East. He hopes to pursue a PhD in the near future. This is his first internship. Jay’s interests include music, Arabic and the Middle East, cosmology, and traveling.

Michael Castro

International Budget Partnership - Open Budget Initiative

Michael is an intern in the International Budget Partnership-Open Budget Initiative program. He recently graduated in December 2008 with a Master’s degree in Political Science with a focus in Political Economy and International Economic Development. Michael pursued his undergraduate studies at the University of Rochester and majored in Linguistics and Political Science. While at Rochester, he held various roles in the Spanish And Latino Student’s Association, College Diversity Roundtable and Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Program. He spent his semester abroad in Dakar, Sénégal and volunteered at his host father’s charity, Bo Na Irma. His seeks to find sustainable solutions to poverty and providing economic empowerment to racial and ethnic minorities in Latin America and West Africa. His would like to pursue a career in international development and non-profits. His interests are traveling, music and eating.

Kate Chambers

Welfare Reform and Income Support

Kate recently completed the first year of her Masters of Public Affairs degree at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to returning to school, Kate worked two and a half years at the Urban Institute as a research assistant, analyzing issues related to child welfare, family homelessness, and job growth. She also spent six months working at Motu Economic and Public Policy Research in her hometown of Wellington, New Zealand. In her spare time, Kate likes to run (slow), cook (badly), and watch sport (all of it).

Robert Manduca

Federal Budget and Tax

Robert is an intern with the Federal Budget and Tax Division. He is a rising senior at Swarthmore College, majoring in Economics with minors in Political Science and Statistics. At college, he has been involved with the campus newspaper; Multi, a cultural group for individuals of multiple heritages; and the badminton team. He has worked as a TA in the economics department and as a photographer for the arboretum. Last summer, he was a research assistant at the California Institute of Technology on a project to design and test a cap-and-trade system for regulating fisheries. After graduation, he hopes to pursue a career that uses rigorous, empirically-based thinking, ideally towards a socially beneficial end.

Stephanie Jean-Charles

Outreach

Stephanie is originally from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. She is a 2nd year grad student at UVA’s Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy in Charlottesville, VA. She recently got her BA in French and BA in foreign affairs from UVA in may 2009. Her previous internship experiences include a USAID-sponsored education project in Haiti through the Education Development Center and the International Rescue Committee as an Immigration intern. She was selected as a Center for Progressive Leadership New Leader in DC for the summer 2009. She also worked on a collaborative project on workforce development in Charlottesville, VA under the supervision of the city manager that addresses poverty and unemployment. Her interests include socio-economic justice and access to education for the poor, tutoring French and English as a Second Language (ESL), learning about Politics in the developing world, especially in Africa and she hopes to someday watch a live Broadway musical!!!

Suniah Ayub

Health Policy

Suniah is so excited to be interning with the Health Policy team this summer. She graduated in 2008 from Vanderbilt University with a BS in Molecular & Cellular Biology and is currently pursuing her MPH in Community Health at the University at Albany. Her interests center on the health of minority, immigrant, and refugee women as well as the role of empowerment in determining health outcomes. Naturally, her previous professional experiences have little to do with these interests. This includes tutoring, TA-ing, GA-ing, RA-ing, neurotoxicology research, AIDS epidemiology research, and volunteer work. Suniah also loves dancing (especially ballet and modern) and spending time with family & friends (awww).

Kelsey Merrick

Federal Budget Initiative (FBI)

Kelsey is an intern with the Federal Budget Initiative.  She is currently a third year undergraduate student at the University of Maryland, College Park majoring in Economics and Government and Politics.  At Maryland she conducts research on breast cancer and the use of herbal dietary supplements as a part of an interdisciplinary research team.  She plans to graduate in 2010 to pursue a graduate degree in law or public policy.  This is her first internship; her previous work experience consists of waiting tables and making copies.

Mikhail Romanov

Legislative

Mikhail is currently a third-year student at American University and is pursuing an undergraduate degree in Economics with a Certificate in Translation in Russian. Previously, Mikhail has interned for Tom Reilly’s Gubernatorial Campaign and Congressman Martin Meehan. Aside from Political Science and Economics, Mikhail’s interests include reading, writing, the great outdoors, and arguing passionately over trivialities.

Rachel McMullin

Development

Rachel is an intern in the Development department. She graduated from UMBC with a degree in Political Science and is in her first year at the MPA program at Bowie State. Before beginning her masters program she worked on various campaigns in the state of Maryland and currently is the vice chair of her city's Parks and Recreation Board. This will also be her second year as parade coordinator for the Greenbelt Labor Day Parade. She is also the standing president of a group seeking nonprofit status in the state of Maryland. In addition to her work in political and non profit felids she has also been a preschool and after care teacher. Additionally she is excited to be starting two different musical projects this spring.

Weiwen Ng

Health Policy

Weiwen is interning with the Health Policy team until June. He has a Master’s degree in Health Management and Policy from the University of Michigan and has always aimed to serving the needs of the poor. He worked as an intern with the Community Benefit and Advocacy teams at Trinity Health, focusing on policies related to chronic disease management. In undergraduate, he volunteered with the Crisis Relief Team, a collaborative effort between people with mental illness and the Ann Arbor police department. The program is based on a model developed by the police in Memphis, Tennessee. Similar programs have significantly reduced rates of unnecessary arrest and imprisonment around the country. He aims to have a career where he can continue to provide services that empower the poorest among us.