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Join Data Foundation & TSPPPA's Annual Research Symposium
TSPPPA is partnering with the Data Foundation for the upcoming 2025 Virtual Research Symposium: Revisiting Examples of Best Practices, Innovative Programs, and Actionable Solutions for a Better Government. You're invited to join us on Wednesday, May 28, at 1pm for a unique, free, online opportunity to explore five years of pivotal research and innovative uses of data and evidence in decision making across the public and private sectors. The symposium will foster collaboration to build new paths for leveraging data as a critical tool for effective decision-making. Participants will gain insights into sustainable impact, collaborative public-private data-sharing models, strategic frameworks, and responsible governance for data stewardship that balance innovation with privacy protection. RSVP here →
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You are Invited to DC Urban Economics Day
Trachtenberg Professor and Director of the Center for Washington Area Studies, Leah Brooks, is the organizer of the 2025 DC Urban Economics Day. This annual event brings together scholars and practitioners focused on dynamics in the DC area. Join us for this all-day conference on May 23 to hear experts in the field present their research. RSVP here →
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Spring Capstone Projects Connect Students to Clients
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Capstone students with their poster presentation for their client, the DC Department of Energy
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Capstone students with their poster presentation for their client, the Asian American Government Network
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Thank you to our Spring 2025 Capstone Clients
At the end of their programs, Trachtenberg students conduct substantial analytical projects. This year, they logged over 11,000 hours to deliver analysis and recommendations to their clients.
Spring Capstone projects:
- Labor Before Labor: An Analysis of Pregnant Workers' Rights in the Federal Workforce
- From Policy to Practice: Analyzing the Patterns and Usage of Racial Equity Impact Assessments
- Navigating Foodware Pollution: Evaluating Current Policies and Future Opportunities in the Anacostia Watershed
- Attainable Housing Strategies for Rural Development
- Informing the Development of a Community Care Hub in St. Louis
- A Decade Later: Evaluating Issues in Higher Education Accreditation
- Interactive Federal Contracting Dashboard for the U.S. Small Business Administration
- AAGEN Allyship: Building Collaborative Pathways to Diversity
- Evaluating a Shell Reef Pilot Project’s Potential for Advancing Trinidad and Tobago’s Ocean Policy Objectives
- Comparative Insights into Refugee Resettlement: U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand
- Actionable Recommendations for Destination DC’s Sustainability Policy and Pathway to Net-Zero Emissions
- Expanding Riversmart Homes: Targeted Outreach for Equitable Stormwater Management
- Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS): Public-Private Partnerships in Psychedelic Therapy for Veteran Mental Health
- Housing First at Friendship Place: Evaluating Supportive Services and Outcomes Across Diverse Populations
- Mapping State and Local Reparations Initiatives for Black Americans
- Empowering Futures: Integrating Career Competencies into George Washington University's Undergraduate Curriculum
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Northcott on Automating Street-Level Discretion
PhD Candidate Emma Northcott authored "Automating street-level discretion: a systematic literature review and research agenda," in the Policy Studies Journal. She shares that it is unclear to what extent digitization efforts influence the discretion of street-level bureaucrats. Automation does reduce face-to-face interactions, helps standardize processes, enhances top-down monitoring, increases information exchange, and provides decision support. Read the paper →
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Volume 32 of Student Journal, Policy Perspectives, Now Available
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From Left to Right: Naomi Atughonu (Associate Editor), Annabelle Farkas (Managing Editor), Kathy Newcomer (Policy Perspectives Faculty Advisor), Emma Campbell (Editor-in-Chief), and Christian Schamberger (Associate Editor) at the Policy Perspectives Volume 32 Launch Event
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Congratulations to the authors and editors of the 32nd Volume of Policy Perspectives, the annual student-produced journal. This volume covers topics including gender-based quota laws for election candidates in Brazil, renewable energy practices in DC, international law and collaboration for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, multifamily housing zoning, labor shortage trends in East Asia, and policy solutions for maternal mortality. We also congratulate the bloggers who added their contributions throughout the year.
Emma Campbell, Editor-in-Chief of Policy Perspectives and graduating Master of Public Administration student, said this year's articles "provide thoughtful, data-driven, well-reasoned solutions to issues that impact millions of people internationally. We are proud of the hard work of our team of authors and editors who made this volume come to life." Check out Volume 32 →
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New Members of Pi Alpha Alpha Honor Society
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Spring 2025 Pi Alpha Alpha Inductees
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Forty outstanding Trachtenberg students, based on their high academic performance and public service activities, were inducted into the GW chapter of Pi Alpha Alpha (PAA), the Global Honor Society for Public Affairs and Administration. They join a network of 160 chapters and many previous Trachtenberg inductees.
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The keynote speaker at our PAA event was TSPPPA alumnus Ronald E. Walters, Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs for the top-ranked National Cemetery Administration (NCA). He was awarded the Pi Alpha Alpha TSPPPA Chapter Distinguished Public Service Award at the event.
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Wenzel Excels in Research and Wins Award
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Christine Wenzel at the New Venture Competition
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| MPA student Christine Wenzel's "The Influence of Sexual Education on Sexual and Romantic Relationships: Undergraduate Student Perspectives from a Cross-Sectional Qualitative Study in California" is published in the American Journal of Sexuality Education with co-author Brittnie Bloom. Wenzel shares, "Our aim for this work is to shine a light on the voices of young adults speaking on their experiences of sexual education and how it shaped how they approach and navigate relationships, as well as their opinions on how we can improve sexual education for future generations." Read the article →
Wenzel is the founder of Heartwise, a relational wellness companion dating app for young adults seeking long-term relationships. Heartwise was a finalist at the 2025 GW New Venture Competition and won its "Best Storytelling Prize." Wenzel notes "As I am about to graduate, I can look back and see that I made the most of my time as a GW student and will forever be grateful that I have had, and will continue to have, the privilege of accessing such phenomenal mentors, advisors, programs, and classes." Watch the GW Today video related to the competition →
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Nober on Spaceflight Commercialization for FAA Chartered SpARC Committee
Regulatory Studies Director Roger Nober served on the FAA-chartered SpARC rulemaking committee of industry experts, formulating a safety framework for the potential commercialization of human spaceflight. He was co-chair of the working group on economic impacts. SpARC's report is currently under FAA review. The 2023 Secretary of Transportation tasked the SpARC with:
- Determining the scope of future human space flight occupant safety regulations
- Estimating the cost of future occupant safety regulations to the industry
- Creating a human space flight occupant safety regime
Nober, working together with co-Chair Kevin O'Connell and assisted by RSC researcher and TSPPPA student Henry Hirsch, wrote the section of the 100-page report on regulatory frameworks in other emerging industries and, utilizing scholarship by RSC founder Susan Dudley, supported recommendations that additional federal regulation of an emerging industry would potentially deter innovation and not improve safety outcomes. Other members of the SpARC Committee included experts from several notable private sector space market participants, including Blue Origin, SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, as well as academic and independent representatives.
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Trachtenberg Students Attend World Bank Group Meetings
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MPA students Andrea Kambou and Pal Pariawala attended the recent World Bank Group - International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings. Pariawala shares, "It was amazing to see how much of what I learn in class is actually used to solve real-world problems. What stood out the most was how central good data is to everything. There was this super cool section called the Data Playground, where the World Bank showcased interactive data stories on topics like jobs, energy access, and growth in Africa. One part that stuck with me was about how access to electricity has this ripple effect—it improves health, education, job creation, gender equity, and even climate resilience. It made me realize how powerful data can be when it’s used the right way—to tell stories, drive policy, and ultimately improve lives. Seeing it all come together in that space made me feel even more excited about the work I want to do in the future."
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Mattingly Wins Awards at GW Research Day
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Julia Mattingly with her poster at the Milken School's Research Day
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| TSPPPA PhD student Julia Mattingly recently won the Equity Award and Inclusive Excellence Award from the poster presentation contest at the George Washington University- Milken Institute School of Public Health's Research Day. Mattingly presented "Assessing the Impact of Affirmative Action and Anti-DEI Policies on Diversity in Health Professions Education," which is part of her ongoing research project at the Mullan Institute with Dr. Tamara Ritsema and Ed Salsberg, supported by the Josiah Macy Foundation. Mattingly said, "I was honored to receive [these awards] and it has reaffirmed my commitment to conducting research that informs equitable policy and to uplifting voices that have historically been excluded from health professions education."
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Steve Balla is on a Fulbright Fellowship in Brazil, conducting an academic exchange to explore federal regulatory practices in the Latin American nation. Brazil's government plans to implement its own OIRA-like agency to oversee regulation quality and best practices.
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