Part III: The Millennial Public Policy Fellows

Braxton Bridgers

Braxton Bridgers is a Millennial Public Policy Fellow in New America’s Resource Security program. A Fort Washington, Md., native, Bridgers holds a bachelor’s degree in international affairs with a minor in law and public policy from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. Before joining New America, Bridgers worked as an environmental and energy policy researcher for the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO)—Japan’s largest public research and development management firm. During his time at NEDO, Bridgers utilized government data to analyze trends in energy consumption, as well as the permeation of low-carbon energy technologies in energy markets throughout the United States. He also interned at the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies in Tokyo, Japan, conducting research on the state of renewable energy markets across the globe. Braxton’s research during the Millennial Public Policy Fellowship investigated ways to strengthen data-sharing practices of electric utilities during disasters. After the fellowship, he will pursue a master’s degree in city planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Becky Chao

Becky Chao is a Millennial Public Policy Fellow in New America’s Open Technology Institute. Chao is a New Yorker who graduated from Duke University, where she studied public policy, linguistics, and economics. She previously worked in antitrust and merger enforcement as an honors paralegal in the Bureau of Competition at the Federal Trade Commission. Her research at New America explored the application of a public interest test in merger review through a comparison of international jurisprudence and Federal Communications Commission case studies. After the fellowship, Chao will continue thinking about how markets, law, and policy structure society.

Emma Coleman

Emma Coleman is a Millennial Public Policy Fellow in New America’s Public Interest Technology initiative. Coleman was born and raised in Chicago, Ill. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University in international relations and comparative studies in race and ethnicity. Her thesis, Sentencing Pregnancy: a legal and humanistic analysis of options for incarcerated women, focused on the effects of mass incarceration on women and families. She is particularly interested in progressive sentencing reform, with a focus on underrepresented populations. Her research with the fellowship explored the efficacy of data-sharing protocols as an aid to community organizations that work with the formerly justice-involved population of Washington, D.C. After the fellowship, Coleman will transition to a full-time role with the Public Interest Technology initiative.

Christian Hosam

Christian Hosam is a Millennial Public Policy Fellow in New America’s Political Reform program. Born in the country of Trinidad and Tobago, Hosam has called Maryland home for most of his life. Hosam graduated with honors from Wesleyan University in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in African American studies and government. While at Wesleyan, Hosam was a Mellon-Mays Undergraduate Fellow and a chair of the Edgar Beckham Awards Committee, an awards ceremony dedicated to celebrating individuals on campus who were committed to social justice. After college, Hosam was a coordinator for the Center for American Politics and Citizenship at the University of Maryland. During the fellowship, Christian wrote on issues related to Millennial civic engagement, the effects of electoral reform on voting rights for communities of color, and contemporary American social movements such as Black Lives Matter. After the fellowship, Christian will pursue a PhD in political science at the University of California, Berkeley.

Roselyn Miller

Roselyn Miller is a Millennial Public Policy Fellow in New America’s Better Life Lab. Miller, a Long Beach, Calif., native with roots in the Bay Area, holds a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology from Stanford University. After graduating, she worked at a community-based organization building connections between community stakeholders and residents on issues such as education, health and wellness, and civic engagement. With a wide breadth of policy interests, Miller is most passionate about family and social policy as well as poverty alleviation in low-income, marginalized communities. After the fellowship, Miller will continue researching the intersection of gender, work, and social policy with the Better Life Lab team.

Jenny Muñiz

Jenny Muñiz is a Millennial Public Policy Fellow for New America’s Education Policy program. A native of Compton, Calif., Muñiz has most recently spent time working as a bilingual Teach for America corps member in San Antonio Public Schools. Before her work in the classroom, Muñiz graduated from Pomona College. After the fellowship, Muñiz will be staying at New America as a Program Associate for the Education Policy Program.

Aaron Noffke

Aaron Noffke is a Millennial Public Policy Fellow at New America. He was born in Ann Arbor, Mich., and is a graduate of Occidental College, where he majored in philosophy, politics, and economics. Passionate about creating alternative methods of economic development, Noffke worked as a student labor organizer and labor research analyst while at Occidental College. Noffke’s work at New America focused on political engagement and civic action. Currently, Noffke is the research and editorial assistant for the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.

Dillon Roseen

Dillon Roseen is a Millennial Public Policy Fellow in New America’s Cybersecurity Initiative. Roseen, from Peachtree City, Ga., was a Fulbright Scholar in Amsterdam, where he earned his LL.M. and conducted research on the intersection of law, politics, and international security. Previously, he graduated with highest honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he studied economics and international affairs and served as student body president. His interests include the international law and national security dimensions of cybersecurity policy. At New America, Roseen led the development of a new strand of policy research on health care cybersecurity and helped deliver a report on frontier technologies to the United Nations Chief Executives Board. Following the fellowship, Roseen will begin his J.D. at the University of Michigan.

Myacah Sampson

Myacah Sampson is a Millennial Public Policy Fellow in New America’s Family-Centered Social Policy program. Sampson is from Farmington, N.M. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in public policy and ethnic studies from Brown University. She is interested in working with families to develop a social safety net informed by the complexities of their lives. Her interests include the ways technology can transform the social safety net for better or worse and bolstering harm-reduction services in rural areas. Following the fellowship, she will join the New Mexico Fellowship program at the Institute for Policy Studies.

Spandana Singh

Spandana Singh is a Millennial Public Policy Fellow in New America’s Open Technology Institute. Originally from India, she is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where she completed a double major in international development and media. Prior to joining New America, Singh worked at organizations such as Twitter, the World Bank Group and UNICEF. Her work as a Millennial Fellow has centered on technology policy and cybersecurity issues such as content moderation, transparency reporting, countering violent extremism and surveillance. After the fellowship, Singh will transition to a full-time role with New America’s Open Technology Institute.