This summer, MDRC is pleased to welcome five undergraduate interns, two post-undergraduate interns, and two doctoral fellows in the Gueron Scholars Program. The Gueron Scholars Program (GSP) offers paid internships and doctoral fellowships (with stipends) to introduce students to MDRC and the field of education and social policy research.

The Gueron Scholars Program, which runs from June 16 to August 8, is implemented in collaboration with The Policy Academies, which helps develop program content and facilitates real-world opportunities for the scholars to meet with policymakers and other stakeholders. This year, MDRC is also pleased to have received funding from the William T. Grant Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and private donors, and to be partnering with Penn State University’s College of Education and Hunter College’s Jewish Foundation for Education of Women scholarship program.

MDRC welcomes the following GSP scholars this summer:

Undergraduate Interns

	Stephanie Frias, a Queens native, is a rising senior at Baruch College, majoring in public affairs and minoring in Black and Latino studies. She is interested in policy issues related to racial equity, criminal justice, and economic security for low-income communities. She aspires to earning her master’s degree in social work and describes her life goal as “to protect disadvantaged communities and supply them with the tools they need to be successful.”
	Mariana Gamboa is a senior who will graduate from Penn State University in December 2025 with a major in economics and a minor in public policy. She transferred to Penn State after completing her first two years at Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia. Mariana’s policy interests focus on social equity, education, and climate change. She is particularly interested in strengthening policies around personalized education for students with disabilities.
	Darcy Harrison, hailing from Pittsburgh, is a senior at Penn State University, where she studies education public policy and philosophy. Her firsthand experiences with social and education policy in her schooling forged her passion for economic mobility issues, school discipline protocol, and restorative justice efforts. She looks forward to deepening her work in education policy and how it intersects with economic mobility and income policy.
	Jason Mills is a rising senior studying education and public policy at Penn State University. Born in Rochester, NY, and raised in Virginia, he was a Boy Scout throughout high school. Through his studies, Jason has aimed to understand how policies can help Americans achieve upward mobility. He looks forward to expanding his knowledge base by adding work experience in the field of social policy. During the internship, he is interested in learning more about issues related to economic instability, the minimum wage, and affordable housing policies.
	Klaudia Wiacek is a rising senior at CUNY’s Hunter College, where she is majoring in English with a concentration in literature and criticism and is minoring in political science. She is a recipient of the Jewish Foundation for Education of Women scholarship for public policy and service and is part of the Thomas Hunter Honors Program. Wiacek is interested in education policy, particularly dual enrollment, mentorship, corequisite courses, and work-based study.

Post-Undergraduate Interns

Adelynne Antilus recently graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in cognitive science. She is interested in K-12 education policy, with a focus on improving the equitability and accessibility of quality public education. As an undergraduate, she coauthored a policy brief on book bans in public institutions. After a gap year, she plans to pursue a master's degree in public policy and a law degree.

Kayla Willis is an HBCU Fellow at Columbia University, working on a master’s degree in political analytics. She holds a B.A. in political science from Fisk University, focusing on education and social policy. In 2019, she founded The More than Numbers Program, Inc, a nonprofit focused on lessening educational disparities seen in underserved communities. Through this and other avenues, she has been dedicated to supporting students with their educational process and hopes to continue to work in the education industry.

Doctoral Fellows

Sofia Dueñas is a doctoral candidate in sociology at the University of Notre Dame. Her research interests are centered on stratification in K-12 schools and the ways that policies and resources can disrupt these patterns. Her dissertation uses mixed methods to consider how violence and school discipline policies shape teachers’ and students’ experiences in K-12 schools. She received her B.A. in sociology and education from Whittier College and her M.A. in urban education from Loyola Marymount University. Prior to enrolling in Notre Dame, she taught first and second grades in Los Angeles.

Jae Lockhart is a PhD student at the University of Missouri, studying educational leadership and policy analysis. He is a recipient of the Russell Scholar Fellowship with the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development. He earned a bachelor's degree in human services from Henderson State University and a master’s degree in higher education from Arkansas State University. He has extensive research experience in education policy analysis, social justice, student belonging, school districts, student engagement, and Black male success initiatives.