Marxe Community Spotlights
View the full archive of Marxe student, faculty, and alumni spotlights.
February 2025
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Aura Jimenez, MPA Student
Executive Operations Manager at the Mayor’s Office of Equity & Racial Justice
“I believe that anyone who works in equity understands that an ongoing challenge is ensuring that people understand just what equity is, just how important equity is and also that it does impact everyone.”
November 2024
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Julia Cuttone
Assistant to Assistant Athletic Director of Compliance and Eligibility, Baruch College
In our student spotlight, Higher Education Administration candidate, Julia Cuttone tells us about her internship with the New York Yankees, her role at Baruch College Athletics, and her experiences learning at the Marxe School.
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Rhiannon Neilsen
Assistant Professor
Marxe welcomes our new Assistant Professor Rhiannon Neilsen and an important new course: PAF 9199 – New Technologies of War. The course explores how misinformation, AI, drones, killer robots, cyberattacks, “hactivists” and big data are transforming 21st century conflicts. In this faculty spotlight Rhiannon tells us all about her research, her career, and more.
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Nina LoSchiavo
Chief Operating Officer, Lower East Side Partnership
In this month’s alumni spotlight we spoke with Nina LoSchiavo about her role as COO at the Lower East Side Partnership, her advocacy for New York public schools, her Executive MPA experience at Marxe, and more.
October 2024
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Nico Antonucci
Disaster Recovery & Resilience Intern, U.S. Economic Development Administration
In this month’s student spotlight, Master of International Affairs candidate Nico Antonucci talks about his summer abroad in Amsterdam, his interest in environmental justice, and more.
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Legacy Spotlight
Professor Judith Kafka
Among the many, varied political and social issues in the world, those outside of the educational sphere may not realize the complexity of issues that schools not only face, but create in society. In our 2018 Legacy Faculty Spotlight, we chatted with Professor Judith Kafka about schools and education in the context of racial and economic inequality, and more.
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Wolf Pamphile
Founder, Haiti Policy House
In this month’s alumni spotlight, Master of International Affairs alumnus and Founder of Haiti Policy House, Wolf Pamphile, talks about his organization, how’d he discover his passion for research towards geopolitical issues, foreign policy, and nonprofit management, and his time at the Marxe School and how it impacted his job prospects upon graduation.
September 2024
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Manuel Tejada
Coach Supervisor, Seamen’s Society for Children and Families
We talk to Coach Supervisor at Seamen’s Society for Children and Families and Marxe MPA candidate, Manuel Tejada, about his career in coaching and motivational techniques, his experience at the Marxe School and more.
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Legacy Spotlight
Professor Angie Beeman
Hear from our then-new faculty member, Professor Angie Beeman, who tells us about the problem with certain progressive attitudes toward people of color, how she addresses the themes of racism and inequity in her teaching and how she believes race-based education will evolve in the near future.
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Caroline Gomez Lassalle
Litigation Attorney, Golden, Rothschild, Spagnola, Lundell, Boylan, Garubo & Bell, P.C.
Our alumni spotlight this month features Master of Public Affairs alumna Caroline Gomez Lassalle who tells us about her upbringing, her interest in public affairs, her participation in a policy group with the Center for AI and Digital Policy, and more.
August 2024
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Owen Mairení Daniel Sanchez
Boren Fellow, U.S. Department of State
In this month’s student spotlight Owen Mairení Daniel Sanchez talks about what drew him to pursue a Master of International Affairs degree with a focus in global security, his trip to Taiwan, what made him want to become a Boren Fellow, and more.
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Legacy Spotlight
Assistant Professor Neil Hernandez
Assistant Professor Neil Hernandez tells us about his research on the US immigration system, his work as an asylum officer, and his pedagogical aspirations for his then return to the Marxe School.
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Marek Siek
Peace Corps Volunteer in Cambodia and Media Committee Member, Peace Corps
Alumnus Marek Siek joined the Peace Corps after completing the Master of International Affairs degree at the Marxe School. He introduces us to his life in Cambodia upon his arrival in 2023, his experiences with the Cambodian and Khmer culture, some of the biggest challenges he’s faced, and much more in this month’s spotlight.
July 2024
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Jonathan Alvarez
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, 914United
This month we spotlight Executive MPA student and Founder and Chief Executive Officer at 914United, Jonathan Alvarez. He tells us about his work at 914United, what inspired him to become a social entrepreneur, his interest in the EMPA program, and his experience thus far at the Marxe School.
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Ian Rasmussen
Founder, Urban Cartographics; Adjunct Professor, Marxe School
Founder of Urban Cartographics and former Baruch student, Ian Rasmussen, tells us about his business, what made him come back to the Marxe School to teach the course – Building Cities, and more in this month’s faculty spotlight.
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Indira Kersellius
Emergency Management Specialist, FEMA
In this month’s spotlight, recent Master of Public Administration graduate Indira Kersellius talks about her new position as an Emergency Management Specialist at FEMA, how the knowledge she gained through the MPA program bridges with the skills used at her current role, her career aspirations, and much more.
June 2024
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Eliza Loehr
Senior Director, Pathways Strategy in the NYC Department of Education
MPA student and Senior Director, Pathways Strategy in the NYC Department of Education, Eliza Loehr, talks about her role at the Office of Student Pathways, her Marxe MPA experience, and more.
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Legacy Spotlight
Assistant Professor Felicia Arriaga
In this Legacy Spotlight from 2023, Assistant Professor Felicia Arriaga discussed social justice, passed along an enlightening graphic on the prison industrial complex, and offered some insight on her then new book, Behind Crimmigration: ICE, Law Enforcement, and Resistance in America.
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Ryan Atwell
Director of Professional Development and Internship Programs, Marymount Manhattan College
We speak to MSEd-HEA alum Ryan Atwell about his role as Director of Professional Development and Internship Programs at Marymount Manhattan College, Career Launch’s 2023 Facilitators of the Year award recognition, his interest in pursuing a career in Higher Education, and more in this spotlight.
May 2024
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Michelle Ragoo
Director of School Based Early Support Programs, NYC Administration for Children's Services
This month we spotlight EMPA student and Director of School Based Early Support Programs at NYC Administration for Children’s Services, Michelle Ragoo. She tells us about her role, her EMPA experience, and more.
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Legacy Spotlight
Distinguished Lecturer and Faculty Director of the Executive MPA Program
In this legacy spotlight we spoke to Distinguished Lecturer and Faculty Director of the Executive MPA (EMPA) program, Nicole Gordon. She talked about the EMPA experience, what makes its students remarkable, her new co-authored book, and more.
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Mateo Cello
Policy Implementation Associate, End the Backlog
Alumnus and Policy Associate at End the Backlog, Mateo Cello talks with us about his special energy insecurity project, his work which aims to end the rape kit backlog, and his MPA experience at Marxe.
April 2024
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Andrew Newman
Program Manager, MillionTreesNYC, Department of Parks and Recreation
MPA student and NYC Department of Parks and Recreation employee, Andrew Newman talks about his work at the Parks department, his interest in improving how government functions, and his favorite professors and classes.
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Legacy Spotlight
Associate Professor Anna D'Souza
In this legacy spotlight we spoke with Associate Professor Anna D’Souza about her research, her evolving teaching style, and more.
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Rachael Jenison
Program Officer, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs
MPA alumna and Program Officer at the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Rachael Jenison discusses her interest in cultural policy, her research while in the Marxe MPA program, and more in this month’s spotlight.
March 2024
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Christopher Blackwell (Alumni Spotlight)
Graduate Scholar Intern, New York State Assembly
We speak to MPA alum Christopher Blackwell about his internship with the New York State Assembly, his interest in government and public policy, and more in this spotlight.
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Legacy Spotlight
Associate Professor and Marxe Chair in International Economics Asli Leblebicioglu
In this spotlight from 2018 we welcomed then new professor and Marxe Chair in the Master of International Affairs program, Asli Leblebicioglu to the Marxe School and learned about her research, interest in international economics, and more.
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Marlen Fernandez
Assistant Director, Peers for Careers Program at the Starr Career Development Center, Baruch College
Marxe Higher Education Administration alumna and Assistant Director at Peers for Careers Program at the Starr Career Development Center at Baruch College, Marlen Fernandez talks about her passion of helping other first-generation and undocumented students navigate college, the programs she helped found at the Mexican Studies Institute at CUNY Lehman College, and much more.
February 2024
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Nia Alvarez-Mapp
Organizing Director, New Yorkers for Equal Rights
We talk to MPA student and Organizing Director at New Yorkers for Equal Rights, Nia Alvarez-Mapp about her love of studying voting behavior and activism, the Sacred Worker podcast she executive produces, and more.
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Legacy Spotlight
Assistant Professor Ashley Gaskew
In January 2023, we welcomed Assistant Professor Ashley Gaskew to the Marxe School and discussed the two courses she has taught during her first academic year at the School, her higher education-based research, and more.
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Josephine DiMaggio
Academic Program Specialist/Dept. Admin., CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy
This month we spotlight HEA alumna and Academic Program Specialist/Department Administrator at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, Josephine DiMaggio. She tells us about her work in CUNY and her experience at the Marxe School.
January 2024
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Khalia Kweli
Assistant Director, District Council 37, Political Action and Legislation Department
MPA student Khalia Kweli talks about her interest in labor unions, her induction into Pi Alpha Alpha Honor Society, and more in this month’s spotlight.
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Na Yin
Associate Professor
Social security is and will continue to be a hot-button issue as our population lives longer. Associate Professor, Na Yin focuses just a portion of her classes and research on this complex, far-reaching, and fascinating topic. In this spotlight originally published in 2015, she shares the details of her upcoming research projects, and her thoughts on the economics of an aging population as well as the challenges faced by the world’s workforce.
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Gabriela Lopez-Castillo
IGNITE National New York Fellow
In our first alumni spotlight of 2024, Gabriela Lopez-Castillo who is now an IGNITE National New York Fellow tells us about her work at the Office of the Mayor, her experience as a Youth Advisory Council member, and more.