Our Team

Sarrah Ahmed is a Policy Analyst working on the Fiscal Health project to create a tool for converting financial data into tagged XBRL format. She is set to graduate with a bachelor’s in information science and a minor in Public Policy in the Fall of…

Samantha is a Research Assistant helping to analyze the Michigan Public Policy Survey data for CLOSUP’s Function of Democracy Project. She is an undergraduate student planning to study public policy at the Ford School and eventually attend law…

Ava is a Research Assistant for CLOSUP, aiding in conducting case studies regarding municipal and state fiscal health for the Fiscal Health Project (FHP). She is a BA student at the Ford School of Public Policy. Prior to attending Ford, Ava interned…

Steve is a research assistant working on developing community-centered qualitative research designs on rural Michigan communities through CLOSUP's Fiscal Health project. He is expected to graduate in 2025 with a Master's in Public Policy and a…

Yu-Yu is a Research Assistant focusing on financial condition analysis for CLOSUP’s case studies. She is a dual master’s student at the Ford School of Public Policy and the School of Social Work (Class of 2025) and holds a B.A. in economics from…

Sydney is a research assistant through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) working to analyze and to contribute data to CLOSUP's Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS). She is a current undergraduate student (Class of 2027) who…

Annelise is a Research Assistant supporting data management of CLOSUP’s Michigan Public Policy Survey. She is a master’s of public policy student at the Ford School (Class of 2026) and has a B.S. in psychology and a minor in social welfare from…

Brandon is a Graduate Student Research Fellow working for CLOSUP on the Michigan Public Policy Survey, investigating challenges to criminal justice reform. He is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of Michigan and…

Tristin is a research assistant working on CLOSUP’s “Close Up on the U.P” program. She is a third-year in the School of Information majoring in Information Analysis and minoring in Digital Studies. Tristin is interested in researching the…

Micaja Verna is a second-year Master of Public Policy Student at the Ford School. She has a B.A. degree in Law and Society with a minor in Human Rights Studies from CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Micaja is interested in social policy,…

Chelsea is a research assistant working for CLOSUP on the Michigan Public Policy Survey about attitudes toward criminal justice reform. She is a Ph.D. Student in the Department of Political Science at the University of Michigan and has a B.S. in…

Katrina is a Policy Analyst helping to standardize municipal finance data for CLOSUP’s Local Fiscal Health Project. She is pursuing a Master of Public Policy at the Ford School (Class of 2025) and holds a B.A. in mathematics and history from Williams…