Jasmine Jeffers is the associate director of development at Achievement First, a college-preparatory charter school network that works to close the achievement gap for more than 14,000 students in New York City, Connecticut and Rhode Island. She has almost a decade of experience raising money and engaging alumni in the youth development, higher education and education reform sectors. Jasmine is pursuing an MPA degree at NYU Wagner, where her interests lie in education financing and program evaluation. She earned her undergraduate degree from Princeton University. She currently serves as staff writer for The Wagner Review.

Brian Farkas, Esq, is a litigator at Arent Fox LLP, a national law firm, and also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Cardozo School of Law.. He is a graduate of NYU Wagner, where he earned an MPA degree focusing on public policy, court systems, and legal institutions. He currently serves as contributing editor for The Wagner Review.

Rhea Almeida is second-year MPA international student at NYU Wagner hailing from Mumbai, India. In the past, she has worked in the fields of policy, advocacy, and development for a women’s working rights group in India. Prior to that, she worked as a TV news journalist in New Delhi. Her areas of interest include workers’ rights, gender equality, grassroot level advocacy and coronavirus response policy. In addition to being contributing editor for The Wagner Review, she serves as senator for the Wagner Student Association, and events chair for the Wagner Policy Alliance. She is also the co-founder of the ‘What’s up with Coronavirus Policy’ discussion group.

Luisa Portugal is a second-year MPA student at NYU Wagner specializing in International Development Management & Policy. She earned an LLM in Constitutional Law and Theory in Brazil. Her main topics of interest are international development, climate change and the coronavirus crisis. Luisa will serve as Co-Chair of Events for the Alliance for Climate Change and Environment (ACE) in the upcoming year. She is also the co-founder of the ‘What’s up with Coronavirus Policy’ discussion group.

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