Learn about the wide range of public service career options Princetonians can pursue. This event will feature keynotes, panels, breakout sessions and networking.

Students will learn about different careers that are possible within public service including federal government, local/state government, nonprofits, NGOs and think tanks.

Alumni will talk about how to break into public service and discuss their career paths.  Networking reception to follow.

Co-sponsored by the School of Public and International Affairs and the Center for Career Development.
 

Schedule

Opening and Keynote: 11–11:30 a.m. / Robertson Hall, Arthur Lewis Auditorium 

• Opening remarks: Dean Amaney Jamal 
• Keynote Address Senator Raj Mukherji MPP '24 

Alumni panel: 11:30 A.M.–12:15 p.m. / Robertson Hall, Arthur Lewis Auditorium 

• Moderator: Bryant Adibe 
• Panelists 
  • Hannah Safford '13 *17 
  • Ashley Scott '21 
  • Jessica Colon *07 

Lunch: 12:15–1:30 p.m. / Robertson Hall, Shultz Cafe 

• Breakout session 1*: 1:45–2:30 p.m.
• Breakout session 2*: 2:45–3:30 p.m.

Networking Reception: 3:30 p.m. / Robertson Hall, Shultz Cafe 

*Breakout Sessions

Federal Government / Robertson Hall, Bowl 016 

• Katie Comando MPA '23 
• Brent Efron MPA '24 
• Gabriel Peña '23 
• Ashley Scott '21 

Local and State Government / Robertson Hall, Room 015 

• Jessica Colon MPA '07 
• Senator Raj Mukherji MPP '24 
• Vance Stephens '11 

Entrepreneurship / Robertson Hall, Room 029 

• Sydney Montgomery '15 
• Andrés Parrado '15 
• Stuart Pomeroy '18 

NGOs and Thinktanks  / Robertson Hall, Room 023 

• Francisco Gonzalez MPA '25
• Hannah Safford '13 MPA '17 

Multilateral and International Organizations / Robertson Hall, Bowl 001 

• Shrey Addagatla '24 
• Ben Harris MPA '25 
• Jing Xie MPA '25

Alumni participants include:

Senator Raj Mukherji MPP '24

Raj Mukherji represents New Jersey’s 32nd Legislative District (Hudson County). In 2013, he won a six-way primary election to the State Assembly at the age of 28 and went on to serve five terms, including in leadership as Majority Whip and Deputy Speaker of the General Assembly. Senator Mukherji is presently the only former Marine in the New Jersey Legislature. He was the first Indian-Bengali state legislator elected in American history and the second South Asian American in state history.

The son of immigrants, Senator Mukherji supported himself through high school, college, and grad school as an emancipated minor when economic circumstances forced his parents to return to their native India. At 15, he enrolled in an early college program at Bard College at Simon’s Rock and eventually earned a Bachelor of Arts from Thomas Edison State University; an individualized Master of Liberal Arts focused on national security from the University of Pennsylvania; a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Seton Hall University School of Law; and a Master of Public Policy from Princeton University. 

Brent Efron *24

Brent Efron is a special advisor for Implementation at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Office of the Administrator. In that role, he supports EPA’s implementation of more than $100 billion in programs authorized under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. Before that, he was an MPA student at SPIA, graduating in May 2024 with a STEP certificate. Before Princeton, Brent worked at the EPA as Special Assistant to the Associate Administrator for Policy. Before government, Brent worked on several Democratic Campaigns, including Biden for President in 2020.

Ashley Scott '21

Ashley Scott currently serves as the associate director for National Security Agency Personnel in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, where she works with a team to help President Joe Biden recruit, vet, and nominate thousands of highly qualified appointees who work to advance the Biden-Harris agenda in federal agencies across the U.S. government. She previously served as special assistant to the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness and worked at Blue Star Families, a national nonprofit advocating for military- and veteran-connected communities. Ashley graduated from Princeton in 2021 with a degree from the School of International and Public Affairs and a certificate in French. While at Princeton, she was a residential college adviser in Butler College, Varsity Coxswain on the Women's Lightweight Crew team, co-founder of the Black Student-Athlete Coalition and member of the Priorities Committee.

Andrés L. Parrado '15, Associate Director, Innovations for Poverty Action

Andrés is an associate director at the Right-Fit Evidence Unit at Innovations for Poverty Action. In this role, he supports organizations in the social sector in leveraging data and evidence for improving programming for poverty alleviation. He almost a decade of experience working across South Asia and East Africa in a variety of sectors including financial inclusion, social protection, and education. He holds an AB degree from Princeton University in East Asian studies, a Masters from MIT in data, economics and design of policy, and an MPA in international development from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Jessica Colon *07, Deputy Direct , NYC Mayor's Office of Climate and Environmental Justice

Jessica Colon is a public policy leader with two decades of experience implementing institutional change in government for more equitable and just outcomes. As a deputy director at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice, she leads the city’s first Environmental Justice Plan and flagship program, Climate Strong Communities. She previously served as a senior adviser at the same office and lead city’s resiliency and climate justice goals by managing complex capital resiliency projects and planning initiatives. She has worked at the Red Hook Community Justice Center, the Bronx Borough President’s Office, the New York City Mayor’s Office of the Criminal Justice, and the Vera Institute of Justice. She has taught as an adjunct professor at the Wagner School at NYU and Brooklyn College. She received her undergraduate degree in diplomacy international relations from Seton Hall University and received her MPA-URP from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. Jessica was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and is a product of New York City public schools and public housing. 

Gabriel Peña '23, Staff Assistant & Legislative Correspondent , Office of Congressman Joaquin Castro

Mr. Peña has been employed by the U.S. House of Representatives in the Office of Congressman Joaquin Castro. Here he has served in multiple roles based in both San Antonio, Texas and in Washington, D.C.

In Texas, Mr. Peña worked as a Staff Assistant & Constituent Services Representative, where he served as a field representative for the Congressman and a liaison between constituents and various federal agencies. In his current position, Mr. Peña serves as a Staff Assistant & Legislative Correspondent for the Washington D.C. office. In this position he oversees the mail program, serving as the primary point of contact between constituents and their congressman. He also manages the intern and tour programs.

On the Hill, Mr. Pena is also an active member in the Congressional Hispanic Staff Association and the Next Gen New Democrats. 

Vance T. Stephens '11, Director of Policy, New Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education

Vance T. Stephens currently serves the State of New Jersey as the director of policy within the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE), a cabinet-level executive agency. In this role, he advises senior leadership on higher education policy issues, manages student-focused initiatives related to access, success, and equity, and leads a team in defining yearly priorities in line with the governor and secretary’s vision for higher education across the state.

At Princeton, Vance concentrated in sociology and earned certificates in African American studies and urban studies. He subsequently worked for almost ten years on campus in various roles at the Princeton-Blairstown Center, Office of International Programs, School of Public and International Affairs, and Undergraduate Financial Aid. He earned a J.D. and MBA at Rutgers University, where he was a Harold and Reba Martin Eagleton Fellow with the Eagleton Institute of Politics. Vance completed several internships in the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division, and the New Jersey Department of Education. He also completed a term as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Lisa James-Beavers, J.S.C. After his clerkship, Vance earned an Ed.M. at Harvard University and was a member of the Harvard Project on Workforce Study Group, working with the City of Boston on scaling up its extensive youth employment network. Immediately prior to his current role with OSHE, he spent a year as an independent consultant reviewing applications for several admission and fellowship programs.

Hannah Safford '13 *17, Associate Director, Climate and Environment, Federation of American Scientists

Hannah Safford is associate director of climate and environment at the Federation of American Scientists. She most recently served as director for transportation and resilience at the White House Climate Policy Office, where she managed key pillars of the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic climate agenda. Hannah’s work and commentary has been featured on MSNBC and Al Jazeera, as well as in Nature, PNAS, and others. Hannah holds a Ph.D. in environmental engineering from the University of California, Davis, as well as an MPA in public and international affairs, an M.Eng in environmental engineering and water resources, and a B.S.E. in chemical and biological engineering, all from Princeton University.

Katie Comando *23, Program Examiner, Executive Office of the President 

Katie Comando has spent her career in nonprofit and public sectors, focusing on health policy. Her career in government includes working as a health policy analyst during the Biden-Harris Administration both on the Domestic Policy Council Health and Veterans Team, and at the Health Division of the Office of Management and Budget. Before joining the Executive Office of the President, Comando worked at the Health Resources and Services Administration Maternal and Child Health Bureau as a policy analyst, and at the Health Office of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee under the leadership of Chairwoman Patty Murray. Comando is a 2023 Presidential Management Fellow and was a 2021 Geiger Gibson Health Policy Fellow.

Before receiving her Master's in public affairs at the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, Comando spent eight years in the nonprofit sector, beginning her service as a Spanish-speaking AmeriCorps volunteer at a Federally Qualified Health Center working on grassroots community health provision for agricultural workers, as a special assistant for Grassroots Advocacy and Communications, as a project manager for Government Affairs and Advocacy, Northeast regional coordinator for agricultural worker health, and ultimately as director of government affairs and advocacy. Comando managed relationships with all Congressional offices in the region of the 50 health center network, including 17 Members of the House of Representatives, 2 Senators, and all New York State-level and New York City-level elected officials in the 16 county region. Notable areas of engagement include efforts to prevent Repeal and Replace of the Affordable Care Act, opposition to 2019 regulatory changes to public charge immigration policy to include health care, and formation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the CARES Act) a $2.2 trillion economic stimulus passed by the 116th Congress in 2020.

Comando holds a B.A. in international relations economic development from SUNY Geneseo, where she also studied French, Spanish, and Latin American Studies. Comando holds an M.P.A. in domestic policy and certificate in health and health policy from the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.

Shrey Addagatla '24, Junior Analyst, The World Bank

Shrey is a junior analyst at the Capital Markets Division of the World Bank Treasury. His team, the asset liability management and policy team, monitors the World Bank’s balance sheet in order to safeguard the AAA credit rating of the Bank, which ensures ultra-low lending rates for developing nations. On the policy end, the team investigates potential financial methods for maximizing the World Bank’s impact, while prudently managing limited resources, and provides insight regarding proposals set forward before the executive directors. As an analyst, Shrey supports all aspects of the team’s work, but his primary focus is financial derivatives which neutralize interest rate and currency risk related to loans undertaken by developing country clients.

Prior to joining the Bank, Shrey studied operations research and financial engineering with certificates in sustainable energy, history and the practice of diplomacy and finance. On campus, he was involved with Princeton Mock Trial, Orange Key, and several research initiatives. He also attended the University of Oxford’s Worcester College as a visiting student, focusing on development, law, and economics. During the summers, Shrey created a service project for Texas DECA through the Bogle Fellowship, interned at the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, and rotated through three teams within the World Bank Treasury.

Stuart Pomeroy '18, Strategy & Operations, Pave Power

Stuart has spent over six years working with small renewable energy and green infrastructure companies to help businesses and communities nationwide pursue their decarbonization goals. He currently leads strategy & operations at Pave Power, a fleet electrification platform helping some of the largest fleets in the US transition to electric vehicles. Pave is proud to be playing a leading role in helping fleets realize a double bottom line: greatly improving operational efficiency as well as slashing their carbon and noise footprints in some of the U.S.'s already most polluted communities and industrial corridors. 

Jing Xie MPA '25, MPA II Student, Princeton University  

Jing Xie is a second-year Master of Public Affairs student at Princeton University, specializing in Economic Development. Originally from Sichuan province, China, Jing pursued her undergraduate studies at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where she majored in Economics and Finance. After graduation, she joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a macroeconomic analyst, supporting economists on monetary policy and macroeconomic modeling projects. While at Princeton, Jing served as a part-time economic development consultant at the World Bank, focusing on inclusive growth and poverty reduction initiatives. She also contributed to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP), where she used machine learning techniques to evaluate inequalities in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals related to child labor. Jing’s research interests include leveraging innovative data sources and econometric methods to address poverty and development challenges in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Francisco Gonzalez '25, MPA II Student, Princeton University  

Paco is a second-year MPA student and Fulbright Scholar from Guadalajara, Mexico. At SPIA, he is pursuing his interests in urban development and climate policy in Latin America. Before coming to Princeton, Paco worked in Mexico City as a public policy analyst at Fundación IDEA, providing technical assistance to criminal justice institutions across the country. This summer, he interned at the Green Climate Fund, where he worked on issues related to Environmental and Social Safeguards. Paco holds a BA in political science from NYU Abu Dhabi and enjoys languages, eating and talking about Mexican food and exploring new places.

Sydney Montgomery '15, Executive Director & Founder, Barrier Breakers

Sydney Montgomery (Forbes 30 Under 30) is the executive director and founder of Barrier Breakers, a nonprofit that has worked with 7,000 first-generation and other marginalized students on the college and law school application process. Sydney is also a TEDx speaker and speaks on topics such as the power of first-generation college students to drive business innovation and success, the importance of diversity in the workforce, thriving as a first-generation professional, aligning your passions and beliefs to your career, social entrepreneurship for young adults and combatting imposter syndrome. Sydney holds a B.A. in English from Princeton University, a J.D. from Harvard Law School, a Certificate in Independent Educational Consulting from UC Irvine, and a Certificate in Anti-Racism in Urban Education from UNC Charlotte. Sydney is a member of the Forbes Nonprofit Council and has been featured in Inc., Forbes, FastCompany, Medium, CNBC and others.

Ben Harris '25, MPA II Student, Princeton University  

Originally from rural Colorado, Ben is a tri-sector leader focused on developing and scaling community-based innovations that serve individuals with complex health and social needs. He began his career at Erie Family Health Center in Chicago, where he monitored and managed the performance of health programming, including HIV/AIDS care, pediatric and perinatal behavioral health, and diabetes management. He then led the Accountable Care Collaborative at Colorado’s Medicaid agency. There, he developed a cross-sector workgroup to improve behavioral health access and engagement for people reentering the community from state prisons. 

Under his leadership, the workgroup tripled the rate of engagement with behavioral health services for the population. He recently completed his MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he was a Neubauer Family Civic Scholar and Obama Foundation Scholar. During his time at Booth, he was a managing director and chief of staff of the Steven Tarrson Impact Investing Fund, Booth’s student-run impact investing fund. He also interned at the De-Carceration Fund, the Roberts Enterprise Development Fund, and Gary Community Ventures, where he developed innovative financial tools and strategies to support promising community-based enterprises. This past summer, Ben worked as an strategic initiatives summer associate at the New Jersey Coalition to End Homelessness. During his time at Princeton, he hopes to deepen his understanding of broader urban policy, particularly public housing and criminal justice, and economics. After Princeton, he hopes to foster public-private partnerships that create meaningful community change and impact.