HKS Student Policy Review Team

Student Leadership

See past Leadership

Managing Editors

Gabriel Kelvin

Managing Editor

Gabriel Kelvin (HKS, MPP, 2024) is interested in economic development, job creation, and growth analytics. He is co-chair of the HKS Republican Caucus and Student Public Service Collaborative. Before HKS, he worked as a local news editor, cyber defense analyst, and research assistant.

Aparajita Mridha

Managing Editor

Aparajita Mridha (HKS, MC/MPA, 2024) is a civil servant with the Government of India and has extensive experience in legislative drafting and Parliamentary procedure. Her areas of focus include the intersection of geopolitics, representation, and security in South and South-East Asia.

Svyatoslav (Sly) Yushchyshyn

Managing Editor

Svyatoslav (Sly) Yushchyshyn (HKS, MPP, 2024) was previously the editor in chief of the Kennedy School Review. His academic interests are in economic and political development. Prior to HKS, he worked as a data analyst in the private and public sector.

Business and Government Department

Tony Choi

Senior Editor

Tony Choi (Berkeley Law & HKS, JD/MPP, 2026) graduated from UC Berkeley with a BS in Business Administration and earned his high school diploma from Phillips Academy, Andover. After college, Tony worked as an investment banker at J.P. Morgan, and during law school, Tony interned as a law clerk at the California Department of Justice. Interested in the intersection of government, law, and business, he currently is an associate editor on the California Law Review.

Diletta Milana

Senior Editor

Diletta Milana (HKS & Stanford GSB, MPA/MBA, 2024) is originally from Italy and is passionate about technology and activism; she holds an MSc in Computer Science from Politecnico di Milano and has held roles as a visiting researcher at the Technical University of Munich, a Data Scientist/Open Innovation Lead at Eni, and an AIML Product Manager at Apple. In 2017, she co-founded Yezers, a non-profit focusing on youth empowerment, and in 2023, she joined the G7 Summit in Hiroshima as a youth delegate. Her research interests include autonomous decision-making, emerging tech governance, and democratic engagement.

Charlie Pozniak

Senior Editor

Charlie Pozniak (HKS, MPP, 2025) has spent the last three years working at the World Bank on data-driven policymaking in Central Asia. This predominantly involved work around the intersection between poverty, social protection, and governance. He graduated from Oxford with a degree in History, before playing professional sport in the UK. He is fascinated by emerging technologies, business-government relationships, and moonshot ideas to combat global development challenges.

Alice Shao

Senior Editor

Alice Shao (HKS, MPP, 2025) demonstrates a keen interest in utilizing data analysis to evaluate policy impact and effectiveness. Her focus extends to exploring food systems and advocating for policy initiatives that enhance accessibility. Prior to HKS, Alice has professional experience in economic consulting and financial litigation.

Democracy, Politics and Institutions Department

Nikolas Neos

Senior Editor

Nikolas Neos (HKS, MPA, 2025) is interested in Applied History: how to utilise History to better understand present challenges and devise better policies for the future. He is also interested in Economic Policy and International Relations. Prior to HKS, he worked in banking and economic research.

Ahmed Raza

Senior Editor

Ahmed Raza (HKS, MPA, 2024) has been the editor of the erstwhile Gender Policy Journal and Middle Eastern Policy and Politics Journal, and has led the Pakistan Caucus. Prior to HKS, Ahmed supported national governments, inter-governmental institutions, and multi-lateral entities in designing and implementing evidence-based policies and programs in the realm of sustainable development for over a decade. He has lived in Pakistan, Canada and Italy.

Sama Shah

Senior Editor

Sama Shah (HDS, MTS, 2024) studies the intersection of religion, conflict, and humanitarian action in the Middle East. Previously, she worked in the international development and education sectors in the US, Palestine, and Nepal. Committed to the amplification of women’s voices during and after conflict, Sama is a Senior Editor at the Oxford Initiative for Global Ethics and Human Rights’ Global Women’s Narratives Project, where she documents the gender-based harms women suffer during wartime. She graduated from USC in 2019 with honors in Political Science.

Samriddhi Vij

Senior Editor

Samriddhi Vij (HKS, MPP, 2024) is interested in Middle Eastern policy and politics, peacebuilding and programming in conflict-affected areas. Previously, she has worked with the Executive Office of the Secretary General at the United Nations.

International and Global Affairs Department

Chacier Alexander

Senior Editor

Chacier Alexander (CMES, AM, 2024) studies at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, specializing in Political and Intellectual Thought and History. His background includes a degree in History and French, with minors in Middle Eastern and European Studies. He is passionate about international relations and security, the environment and energy, and globalization.

Mohammad Al-Mailam

Senior Editor

Mohammad Al-Mailam is a Kuwaiti international student concentrating in Middle Eastern history and politics at GSAS. He is interested in the comparative politics of democratization and authoritarianism, the international relations of climate change, and the political economy of migration. Before Harvard, Mohammad was a James C. Gaither Junior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Zoe Butler

Senior Editor

Zoe Butler is a first-year MPP candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School concentrating in Social and Urban Policy. Before HKS, Zoe was a high school math teacher through Teach for America, a research assistant at WestEd, and an Administrative Specialist at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s CHIPS Program Office. Zoe studied economics and Africana Studies at Brown University and received her Master of Education from Lipscomb University. Her interests range from state-level education and housing policy to federal tech policy.

Jane Petersen

Senior Editor

Jane Petersen is a first-year MPP student at the Kennedy School. Originally hailing from Ann Arbor, Michigan, she attended Williams College and served as the Managing Editor for her schools’ student-run newspaper, The Williams Record. After graduating in 2020, she worked as a research assistant for an environmental and economic consulting firm, working for public clients on a range of issues, including the restoration of areas afflicted by oil spills, the abatement of the opioids crisis, and environmental justice. She is planning on concentrating in Social and Urban Policy during her time at the Kennedy School.

International and Economic Development

Samira Mathur

Senior Editor

Samira Mathur is an MPA/ID student at the Harvard Kennedy School. She completed her bachelors degree from Delhi University and worked at a consulting firm for 3 years. Her interests include economic development, industrial policy, labor market, migration and public-private partnerships. She briefly worked with a business magazine and has written for several independent platforms in the past.

Matt Plaus

Senior Editor

Matt Plaus is a first-year Master in Public Policy student at Harvard Kennedy School. He spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia where he developed a passion for community development. After returning to the US, he began a federal career drafting, editing, and managing internal policy at the General Services Administration. He graduated with a BA in Journalism and Political Science from the University of North Carolina.

Dylan Russell

Senior Editor

Dylan Russell (HKS, MPP, 2025) is interested in trade policy, international relations, and economic development. Prior to HKS, he was an economist specializing in trade analysis for the USDA’s Economic Research Service. Dylan studied Economics and International Affairs at James Madison University and received a Master of Science in Economic History from the London School of Economics.

Lili Vessereau

Senior Editor

Lili Vessereau is a Dias and Fulbright Fellow, as well as a Master in Public Policy candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School. She previously worked for the French Government on public policy advisory and at the United Nations. She holds Master Degrees from HEC Paris, Sciences Po Paris and La Sorbonne. After her studies, Lili aims at focusing on inclusive development and infrastructure finance.

Social and Urban Policy

Ala’a Kolkaila

Senior Editor

Ala’a Kolkaila, an economist and sustainability expert, has over a decade of experience in various roles, including working for the Egyptian government and international organizations, focusing on sustainability and economic development. Ala’a has served as an advisor to ministers in Egypt, significantly influenced national and regional programs, and developed impactful policies in various sectors. Ala’a earned her MA in Economics from Universität Phillips Marburg, Germany, in 2013. In 2021, she joined MIT School of Management as a visiting fellow and is currently a Mason Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, pursuing her mid-career Masters in Public Administration.

Danno Lemu

Senior Editor

Danno Lemu (HKS/HBS, MPP/MBA, 2026) is passionate about equitable economic development and urban policymaking. He is an Equity Fellow at the Center for Public Leadership and an affiliate of the Bloomberg Center for Cities. Prior to HKS, Danno worked as an economic researcher, community organizer, and urban planning consultant.

John McQuillan

Senior Editor

John is a master’s student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, studying education policy and analysis. Prior to attending Harvard, John was a Leadership for Education Equity Public Policy Fellow, where he worked on education policy for the District of Columbia. John also was a middle school social studies teacher in New Orleans and has prior experience serving in state government for the State of Florida. John graduated magna cum laude from Florida State University with a B.S. in political science and English.

Nanki Singh

Senior Editor

Nanki is a senior editor for Social and Urban Policy at the HKS Student Policy Review. She is a second year Master of Science student at the Harvard TH. Chan School of Public Health, in the Global Health and Population Department. Her academic interests lie at the nexus of Social Epidemiology, Political Economy and Public Humanities. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Duke University and has previously worked in the development sector for organizations like The Gates Foundation and USAID. Currently, her research focus lies in health system strengthening, in resource-strapped settings to address long standing infectious disease challenges.

Leadership & Staff

Nancy Gibbs

Faculty Advisor, Student Media Initiative

Nancy Gibbs is the director of the Shorenstein Center and the Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice of Press, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. Until September 2017, she was Editor in Chief of TIME, directing news and feature coverage across all platforms for more than 65 million readers worldwide.

Max Boland

Program Coordinator, Student Media Initiative

Max Boland is the Program Coordinator for the Student Media Initiative. He is responsible for driving student engagement with the Shorenstein Center and managing all student-facing Shorenstein Center programs, including The HKS Student Policy Review, events, trainings, seminars, internships, and research assistantships.

Liz Schwartz

Director of Communications and Events, Shorenstein Center

Liz Schwartz is the Director of Communications and Events at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy, where she oversees center’s external communications, student-facing and public events, and fellows program. Liz has worked in digital strategy and communications for over 15 years, previously as a consultant and then as head of communications for a global health nonprofit.