RFG Fellows from the Class of 2024 completed a diverse set of robust summer internship and research projects this summer. These included RFG Fellow, Andrew Gasparini‘s (Maxwell 2024) time at the Millennium Challenge Corporation, where he engaged in interagency projects between the MCC and the Department of State. Melissa Alvisi, another RFG Fellow from the Maxwell School, traveled to Singapore to intern with the U.S. Department of Commerce, undertaking research, outreach, and operational activities in support of U.S. export promotion efforts and the expansion of Singaporean businesses in the United States. Olivia Parker (UMD 2024) and Jackson Rice (UCSD 2024) also traveled for their internships this summer to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s offices in Hawaii. There, they conducted policy research, supported global military exercises, and examined the resilience of the region’s critical infrastructure.
Pursuing her dream internship, Abigail Huie (Bush 2024) worked for the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, conducting research in support of the World Trade Organization’s dispute process. Another Bush Fellow, Marja Ritchie, joined Grace Pettey (UMD 2024) in intensive research projects this summer. Marja investigated economic and internet infrastructure development efforts in China and Mongolia, along with commodity trade practices in North Korea. Meanwhile, Grace evaluated disinformation campaigns in Africa for the DoD’s National Defense University, leveraging her foreign language skills in English and French as part of her research.
Other notable internships were those of McKenzie Hartman (UCSD 2024), who served in the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and both Indira Gunness (Bush 2024) and Colleen Bowman (UMD 2024), who interned at the U.S. Department of State. RFG is extremely proud of the internships and research these Fellows accomplished this summer and how they advanced Federal Government efforts in a myriad of ways.