Meet Our Leadership and Community Engagement Fellows

2014

Jacqueline Amaya Mendez

Jacqueline Amaya Mendez, a first generation college student, is a freshman at the College of William and Mary. Jackie was born in Alexandria, Virginia and has lived in the Northern Virginia suburb of Woodbridge, Virginia. Jacqueline is an active member of her church where she is a Sunday school teacher for elementary students and sings. She is debating in pursuing a major in International Relations with which she would minor in Latin Studies or major in Public Policy but with a minor in Hispanic Studies. Having been to her parents originating country, El Salvador, Jackie hopes to work in a career that will help develop better education systems in rural areas of the country. She also wants to work in making college even more accessible to minority first generation college students here in the U.S. Jacqueline aspires to do numerous things in her lifetime but overall she hopes to be an example of the Latina/o community.

Mark Bland

Mark Bland is originally from Purcellville, Virginia and is currently a sophomore at The College of William & Mary. He is pursuing a major in Government and a minor in Public Health. Mark stays involved with a wide range of groups and organizations. On campus, Mark is a campus tour guide, an Orientation Diversity Facilitator, and was previously a Tribe Ambassador. He is a member of the Student Leadership Foundation, Student Alumni Council, William & Mary's chapter of charity: water, and the fraternity Beta Theta Pi. In the spring semester of his freshman year, he served as an intern at the William & Mary Office of Undergraduate Admission. In his free time, Mark enjoys exploring historic sites, socializing, keeping up to date on current events, and playing croquet as a member of the William & Mary Croquet Club. With interests in domestic and international politics and policies, human rights, and social justice, Mark plans to attend law school and desires to eventually run for public office.

Nathan Britt

Nathan Britt is a freshman at the College and plans to one day graduate with a degree in public policy. He was born and raised in Prince George, VA about 45 minutes west of Williamsburg. Nathan is very much into politics and journalism and helped to develop a business called Middle Ground centered around revolutionizing the way news is presented. He has also interned with the city manager's office in Williamsburg as well as county administration in Prince George. On campus, he is involved in the Sharpe Community Scholars Program, Virginia21, Front Porch Society, Students for Liberty, Tribe Club Ambassadors, and Baptist Campus Ministries. In his spare time, Nathan enjoys golf, music, racquetball, and following politics. He plans to study abroad sometime in his Sophomore year in either Dubai or Great Britain and looks forward to the great opportunities that Washington, D.C. has to offer.

Eboni Brown

Eboni Brown is a freshman at the College of William and Mary. She hails from Hopewell, Virginia, a small town 30 minutes south of Richmond. She is 19 years old and she is a potential Government-Africana Studies double major. Eboni’s future career goals include becoming a civil rights attorney, becoming the mayor of her hometown, and maybe one day becoming the President of the United States, though she would be satisfied with becoming a Senator. On campus Eboni is involved with Student Assembly, E.S.S.E.N.C.E. Women of Color, Botetourt Hall Council, and the NAACP. Eboni is addicted to all types of sports, and she plays Intramural Flag Football. Her favorite sports team is the Dallas Cowboys and she loves to start a debate with anyone who dislikes the Cowboys. She enjoys watching sports, shopping, and spending time with her family and friends.

Kelsey Carpenter

Kelsey Carpenter is a sophomore at the College of William and Mary, and is double majoring in Public Policy and Hispanic Studies. The combination of government, economics, sociology, and philosophy is what drew Kelsey to the Public Policy major. Kelsey is fluent in Spanish and has been speaking it since the first grade. Her current interests include immigration and education reform, but she is excited to expand her horizons and learn everything she can from the people she meets. While Kelsey did grow up about thirty minutes outside of the city, she is excited to spend her summer exploring D.C. and getting to develop both professionally and personally. On campus, she is the Interns Committee Chair for Alma Mater Productions (AMP), a Career Center Student Ambassador, a member of the Phi Sigma Pi Honor Fraternity, and a member of the Club Swim Team. Kelsey looks forward to hanging up her lifeguard tube this summer and gaining some experience in D.C.

Sarah Duska

Sarah Duska, a freshman at the College, is originally from Boston, Massachusetts. She now resides in Charlottesville, Virginia with her family of eight—two of those members being her dogs, Zoey and Molly. Sarah is taking a variety of different classes for her first semester in college. From Modern I Dance to Economics, Sarah is interested in a lot of subjects, which makes it hard for her to focus on one. Sarah hopes to study abroad and study the Spanish language because being bilingual is one of her many goals. Sarah is associated with the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and club soccer. In her free time, Sarah loves to watch movies, read, hang out with friends and family, and listen to music.

Ryan Goss

Native of Simsbury, Connecticut, Ryan Goss is a sophomore at the College and is working towards a B.A in Public Policy with a minor in Community Studies. He plans to apply his valuable William & Mary education towards a career in promoting positive social change. He has worked as a policy intern at a Hartford-area non-for-profit organization, researching and writing about education policy that would better support urban youth on their pathway towards successful adulthood. On-campus, Ryan is a member of Health Outreach Peer Educators and will soon begin his position as Vice President of Sexual Health. Ryan has also written for the Flat Hat Newspaper, volunteers at the undergraduate admissions office as a Tribe Ambassador, and is thrilled to be the newest member of William & Mary’s improvisational comedy group IT (Improvisational Theatre). Ryan is an avid baseball fan, loves his dog, and listens to a music playlist that consists mostly of Michael Jackson songs and Broadway Show tunes. He is grateful for the opportunities provided by the D.C Summer Institute and is excited for a summer that will undoubtedly yield immense personal and professional growth.

Ashley Hamilton

Ashley Hamilton is a sophomore at William and Mary and is majoring in Public Policy. On campus she is is involved with The Flat Hat and HerCampus. Ashley spent the summer as an intern for the Terry McAuliffe campaign for Governor. She is very passionate about politics and hopes to learn more about pursuing a career in this field through DCSI. Ashley loves hanging out with friends and family, coffee, keeping up with the news, and showing off pictures of her dog.

Abigail Hunter

Abigail Hunter is a current junior at the College of William and Mary. Abby was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, and only recently ventured onto the east coast for college. Abby is an economics major and potential music minor and has particular interest in development economics. On campus Abby is involved in Delta Gamma sorority, College Partnership for Kids, and The Intonations, an all female acapella group. Abby also volunteers at literacy for life, a non-profit focused on increasing adult literacy. Abby loves to travel and has gone on service trips to Quintana Roo, Mexico, and Chajul Guatemala in addition to a study abroad stay in Goa, India, and a high school student exchange in Hamburg, Germany. Immediately after graduation, Abby would like to travel doing service work and then go to graduate school. With a special interest in women's health and education, Abby hopes to pursue a career in the non-profit sector after graduation. She is particularly interested in seeing how to tie a degree in economics to a potential career in the service sector.

Charlotte Mabon

My name is Charlotte Mabon and I am currently a junior at the College of William and Mary. I come from a small town situated at the southeast corner of Pennsylvania called Landenberg, where Maryland and Delaware also meet. I am a member of the varsity field hockey team here at theCollege, as well as a recently selected site leader for the Branch Out National Alternative Break program through the Office of Community Engagement. As a site leader for Branch Out National, I am looking forward to leading a group of students this spring in helping to address the health disparities in urban areas by focusing on HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. I am a double major in government and sociology a focus in gender studies. I am interested in how government policies and larger social systems foster gender inequality, particularly how they affect young mothers in socially vulnerable positions. I am very excited for my future experience with DCI this summer, where I look forward to meeting individuals in the non-profit sector that are passionate about empowering those that feel powerless within a discriminating government and social system.

Dominick Margiotta

Dominick Margiotta is a Sophomore at the College of William and Mary, where he is Majoring in International Relations and Minoring in Hispanic Studies. Dominick hopes to one day use the skills he has gained from the Leadership and Community Engagement Program to improve the sustainability and overall development of Latin American countries. Outside of the Leadership and Community Engagement Program, Dominick is a research intern at AidData, an active member of William and Mary’s International Relations Club (and specifically its Model UN program), Catholic Campus Ministry, and the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. Dominick is from Mendham, New Jersey, loves Italian food, and his hobbies include avidly following all collegiate, professional, and Olympic sports, geography (especially reading maps), playing intramural soccer and basketball, and spending quality time with family and friends.

Cathy Merritt

Cathy is a junior at The College of William & Mary and is double majoring in Hispanic Studies and Public Policy. She is originally from Charlottesville, Virginia. At The College, she is involved in the William & Mary Rowing Club and holds leadership positions within the team, including Women’s Varsity Captain and Vice President for Team Fundraising. She is also a member of SOMOS (Student Organization for Medical Outreach & Sustainability), which is a small group of undergraduate researchers that conduct sociological and ethnographic research with the goal of improving health and health care in a community in North Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Through her experiences in SOMOS, she has cultivated interests in international development and community studies, and she hopes that DCSI will expose her to new perspectives on creating and sustaining social action.

Caroline Ramirez-Gaston

Caroline Ramirez-Gaston A sophomore at the College, Caroline is working towards a B.A. in Government with a minor in Management and Organizational Leadership. Her home is Northern Virginia but she lived abroad and had the opportunity to travel extensively, which gave birth to her passion for cultural diversity. Through this program she hopes to become especially connected to the Hispanic community in DC and learn more about our increased global community interactions in a world that is becoming more interdependent than ever. Gymnastics has been a big part of her life; she is a member of the William & Mary gymnastics team and she has been a volunteer coach for the Special Olympics.

Daniel Reichwein

Daniel Reichwein A shrinking divide between the impoverished and the rest of America and a better understanding of how to best alleviate the chronic, social problems behind the divide from the government departments and non-government organizations working on them. These are the things that I believe the DCSI will help me achieve as I hope to make a meaningful impact in the future of America's homeless and impoverished populations. I came to this path after being homeless for three years myself. You learn a lot going through such a humbling experience - what's really important in life, empathy, and perseverance to name a few things. I also developed a passion to repudiate the negative stereotypes surrounding the homeless and a passion to eventually get as many as my brethren off the street as I can.

Thanks to the support and kindness of two people who barely knew me, I was able to return to college, find a job, and have a home. After finishing my associate degree in one year with a 4.0 GPA while working 30 hours /week, I was accepted to William & Mary in Jan. 2013. I am a 29 year old junior studying business to learn how professionals manage organizations and double majoring in public policy to better understand this huge social problem and how I might alleviate it. In the past, I served 3 years in the US Army and have worked in various industries including my own sales entrepreneurship and 2 years in veterinary medicine. For fun, I enjoy sports, movies, writing, and playing PC games.

Caitlin Ward

Caitlin Ward, originally from Roanoke, Virginia, is currently a junior at the College. She is pursuing an International Relations major with a prospective minor in Public Health. On campus she is a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and Outreach 360 -an education nonprofit in Nicaragua, and is a Peer Advisor to incoming freshman. She spent the past summer volunteering in Nicaragua, and the Fall 2013 semester at University of Seville in Spain. Caitlin is particularly interested in international development, global health, and refugee and immigration issues, and hopes to pursue a career in one of these areas.

Amanda Warwick

Amanda Warwick is a sophomore at the College of William and Mary. She is from Marshall, Texas, and intends to graduate with a degree in government. On campus, Amanda is primarily involved with Circle K International where she volunteers at Heritage Humane Society and serves on both the Service Initiative board and the Cancer Research committee. She is also a Tribe Club Student Ambassador and works at the William and Mary Alumni House. A life-long Girl Scout, it is Amanda’s hope that she can combine her prospective government degree with her passion for service, ideally in a field of government that deals with children and issues in education. In her spare time, she enjoys playing tennis, reading, volunteering, and cheering on the Baylor University (a nod to the great state of Texas) and William and Mary sports teams. Amanda is looking forward to experiencing life in a big city, and is grateful for the opportunity to live, learn, and work in Washington, D.C.

Yohance Whitaker

Yohance Whitaker is a sophomore at the College hailing from Chesapeake, Virginia. His passion for politics and history are evident in academics studies, as a Government and History double major. Yohance plans to work in government or another public service career to expand the equality of opportunity for all people. As a Sharpe Scholar, Yohance also plans to continue his research on the correlation between literacy and welfare with the hopes of reforming how literacy is taught in our school systems. His ultimate goal is to become the Speaker of the House.

On campus, Yohance is a Student Assembly Senator where he serves as the Secretary for the Finance Committee and the Senate Representative to the Undergraduate Council. Yohance is also a member of the Kappa Pi Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated. He serves the chapter’s Director of Educational Activities, parliamentarian, historian, and chaplain.

Rebecca Youngdahl

Rebecca Youngdahl is a junior at the College of William & Mary from Summit, New Jersey. She is a Public Policy major with a wide range of interests, but is particularly interested in prison reform and the social and political problems behind mass incarceration in America. Rebecca is potentially interested in pursuing a law degree, but not entirely sure of life after college, and is hoping that her internship in DC this summer will help develop her career goals. She is a member of the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity and the Roosevelt Institute Campus Network, a progressive student-run think tank. She is also a member of AMP’s Contemporary and Cultural Issues committee, and is periodically involved with backstage work on W&M theatre productions. In her free time, Rebecca enjoys playing music, reading the news, baking, taking too many pictures of her dogs, and spending time with friends and family.

Arthur Zhong

Arthur Zhong is a California-born and Pennsylvania-raised freshman at the College of William & Mary. Although undeclared, Arthur has many interests. Arthur’s dream job is to play in the NBA. But he is short. His second best option is to double major in Business and possibly Art or International Relations. Since coming to the college, Arthur has taken up muy thai and breakdancing. He also enjoys playing basketball, poker, writing, and making art. Arthur is excited about exploring different internships and seeing how his future will come together.