MPA Ambassadors
Sivone Blake (bio)
Undergraduate: Howard University
Email: [email protected]
Allison Callow (bio)
Undergraduate: UC Davis
Email: [email protected]
Shelby Hughes (bio)
Undergraduate: Brigham Young University – Idaho
Email: [email protected]
Hannah Kohanzadeh (bio)
Undergraduate: Occidental College
Email: [email protected]
Christy Le (bio)
Undergraduate: CSU Fullerton
Email: [email protected]
Alexandra Lee (bio)
Undergraduate: USC
Email: [email protected]
Ebony Lopez (bio)
Undergraduate: CSU Sacramento
Email: [email protected]
Andre Luna (bio)
Undergraduate: USC
Email: [email protected]
Kate Monahan (bio)
Undergraduate: USC
Email: [email protected]
Paola Morales (bio)
Undergraduate: USC
Email: [email protected]
Leonard Slutsky (bio)
Undergraduate: Ithaca College
Email: [email protected]
Lindsey Squirewell (bio)
Undergraduate: Howard University
Email: [email protected]
Tamar Stevens (bio)
Undergraduate: Trinity College
Email: [email protected]
Patrick Templeton (bio)
Undergraduate: Occidental College
Email: [email protected]
MPA Student Ambassador Bios
Sivona Blake is a proud native of Maplewood, NJ and a current resident of Harlem, NY. She graduated from the Howard University School of Business where she studied Marketing. She is a current active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Inc and was initiated into Alpha Chapter in 2014. Blake has held numerous leadership roles within large nonprofit organizations and is currently a junior board member of the Harlem Boys and Girls Club and a project coordinator for New Jersey Cares, and a young patron for the Apollo Theater. Blake has spent four years assisting and cultivating startups and smaller businesses through data, diversity and inclusion, and client relationship management. She started her career in tech sales then decided to pivot into human resources. Now in her current role, she serves as an Assistant Vice President of Campus Diversity Recruitment at Citi. She focuses on campus recruitment, diversity events, working with HBCUs, and maintaining relationships with different diversity partners for Citi. In addition, Blake also consults with job seekers on resumes and career coaching.
Allison Callow is a first year MPA student at the Sol Price School of Public Policy. Originally from Northern California, she received her B.A. in International Relations at UC Davis with a specialization in Global Health, Environment and Resources. For 7 years, Callow has worked across nonprofit, public, and private sectors, managing teams and projects related to community engagement, program development, and sustainability. Currently, she works as a nonprofit consultant focused on program evaluation and grant writing. Callow chose Price to explore the intersection of equity, environmental justice, and climate policy and how new collaborative models of governance could lead to more holistic policies and programs. In her free time, she enjoys yoga, exploring nature, and daydreaming about having a cat one day.
Shelby Hughes is a Master of Public Administration student at Price. She received a B.A. in International Relations, with a Minor in Chinese from Brigham Young University-Idaho in 2019. Following graduation, Hughes moved back to her hometown of St. Louis, Missouri to work with the nonprofit organization, Youth In Need, as an advocate for HeadStart programs and equity in education. Hughes chose Price because of its emphasis on integrity in leadership and public policy. While at Price she has found joy in joining student development groups like Price Women and Allies (PWA) and the Graduate Policy Administration Community (GPAC). After completing her MPA, Huges hopes to work as an advocate for refugees and universal education. In her spare time, Hughes enjoys planning and attending community and student-group events, reading, playing lacrosse, and traveling.
Hannah Kohanzadeh is a first-year MPA student and a City/County Management Fellow. After graduating from Occidental College, she served as an Avodah Service Corps Member, a national Jewish anti-poverty fellowship, at the DC Fiscal Policy Institute in Washington D.C. Following her year of service, Kohanzadeh worked at PFM Group Consulting LLC as a governmental management and budget analyst for two years. While consulting, she worked on a wide range of projects including an OPEB evaluation for the city of Oakland, California; fiscal and budgetary projections to assess the financial longevity of the Harrisburg School District of Pennsylvania; and reducing or eliminating criminal justice systems’ reliance on criminal fine and fee revenue in Ramsey County, Minnesota and Dallas County, Texas. After Price, Kohanzadeh plans to continue her local government career in California developing sustainable and equitable budgets for her entire community. Outside of school, Kohanzadeh loves to run, drink coffee, and watch stand-up comedy.
Christy Le currently serves as the Senior Field Representative for California State Senator Tom Umberg (CA-34). She first grew up in Vietnam before moving to Garden Grove, Orange County. She has a great passion in advocating for children and disenfranchised communities. In her capacity at the office of Senator Umberg, she has the privilege to advance her passion through the legislative process and constituent service. She looks forward to continue this journey with the support of the Trojan family!
Alexandra Lee is a first year MPA student from Orange County, CA. As a part of the progressive degree program, she is also a senior undergraduate student pursuing a degree in International Relations Global Business. Lee chose Price as she believes that the Price school champions greater global progress, efficiency, and cohesiveness by educating the next generation of servant leaders. This past summer, Lee interned with U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where she briefed senior officials, reviewed grant applications received by the agency, and acted as a liaison for further contracting efforts with external organizations. Professionally, Lee plans to work within the public sector, seeking to make tangible impacts within the field of education or government. Lee looks forward to collaborating with fellow Price graduates to create innovative solutions to the real-world problems that our country faces.
Ebony Lopez is a first year graduate student at the USC Price School of Public Policy in Sacramento. After spending 11 years in the financial industry and obtaining her bachelor’s degree in Journalism with a minor in Communications, Lopez transitioned to state service working at the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s office in Sacramento. The California Community Colleges serve over 2.1 million students at 116 campuses throughout the state. Lopez currently serves as the lead analyst to the Chancellor and Deputy Chancellor on strategic projects, confidential and administrative services dealing with sensitive and complex issues, along with preparing, reviewing, and editing both internal and external correspondence. During her tenure, Lopez has served as the liaison to the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Taskforce and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Workgroup whose goals are to address systemic and structural racism built into the California Community College system to increase the diversity of faculty and staff. Lopez hopes to use her MPA degree to create cultural and structural change in the State of California as she recognizes this is a task that can only be accomplished in a leadership position. Aside from work, Lopez enjoys traveling and being a foodie.
Andre Luna is from La Puente, a small town in the San Gabriel Valley, 30 minutes east of Los Angeles. Luna is the first in his family to attend university and intends to use his education to pursue a career in the legal field and eventually enter the political realm. He started at USC in Dornsife School of Letters, Arts and Sciences but discovered Price before the conclusion of his first year. Luna is now entering his senior year as a Public Policy and Law Major, and beginning his progressive degree in Public Administration, and with the support of the Price faculty and community he is very confident he can continue to reach his goals despite COVID-19 and the uncertainty of 2020.
Kate Monahan is a native of Santa Fe, New Mexico who earned a Bachelor’s in Anthropology and Law, History, and Culture from the University of Southern California in 2020, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. While at USC, she has been an active member of the Trojan Marching Band, the USC College Democrats, and the Joint Educational Project, a service learning organization which connects USC students with elementary school students in the area to foster mentorship and a love of learning. She has previously interned with Fix It America in 2018 researching election reform and gerrymandering, and spent the summer of 2019 interning with New Mexico Senator Tom Udall’s office. Monahan is a City/County Management fellow and hopes to work in state or local government after graduation.
Paola Morales is a progressive degree student pursuing a Bachelor’s in Political Science with a minor in Cinematic Arts and a Master’s in Public Administration. She is a proud first-generation Latina from Southeast Los Angeles. On-campus, Morales serves as the Co-Programming Director for VoteSC, a student-led coalition aiming to improve the voting culture and accessibility at USC. She is also a member of Society 53, the Governing Board of the Student Alumni Society (SAS), which oversees the programming and events that bring alumni and students together. She is also a member of Trojan Advocates for Political Progress, Unruh Associates, Hermanas Unidas, and Pi Sigma Alpha, the Political Science Honor Society. Morales has interned at SKDKnickerbocker Washington DC, where she served as a public affairs intern. She has also interned for the Los Angeles Mayor, Eric Garcetti, in the Legislative and External Affairs Department, and the South Gate Chamber of Commerce. After graduation, she hopes to continue working in California politics, running legislative and advocacy campaigns focused on education. In her spare time, Morales enjoys reading books, spending time with friends and family exploring the Los Angeles food scene, and painting.
Leonard Slutsky (he/him) is a first year Masters of Public Administration student and a full-time USC employee at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. Originally from Connecticut, he studied Integrated Marketing Communications at Ithaca College. Before working in higher education, Slutsky worked for a national advertising agency. Outside of school and work, he volunteers for The Trevor Project and enjoys seeing concerts and Broadway tours in LA.
Lindsey Squirewell is a first year Master of Public Administration and Master of Urban Planning dual degree candidate from Atlanta, Georgia. She received a Bachelor of Architecture from The Howard University in Washington DC. Squirewell’s experiences have curated her passion to effectively use her multifaceted education to help communities set up programs that will give them the tools to combat the inequities they face. She also is committed to community service and exploring the link between education and mental health. After graduate school she aims to become a community planner in local and state governments. Squirewell lives by the following quote by Dr. Maya Angelou, “Prepare yourself so that you can be a rainbow in somebody else’s cloud.”
Tamar Stevens is a first year Master of Public Administration student at Price. She received a B.A. in Film and Media Studies from Trinity College in 2011, and her M.A. in Criminal Justice from the University of Massachusetts in 2017. Before her return to academia in 2015, Stevens worked as a writer, actor, and toured performing improvisational comedy with the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. While attending UMass, Stevens had an internship with the Department of Homeland Security, and also became a certified victim advocate, responding to hotline calls and volunteering on a sexual assault emergency response team. After graduating she worked as a private investigator, before settling into her current role conducting threat assessments for public figures in the private sector, and determining safety management plans. Stevens chose Price because of its emphasis on program management, where she hopes to transition to after graduating, and because of the dedication to the public good. She knew the program would be full of inspiring and like-minded peers, and she was right! In her spare time (what is spare time?), Tamar enjoys doing crosswords, playing tennis, and working as the foster coordinator at a Los Angeles dog rescue, much to the chagrin of her own devilish senior choodle, Minnie.
Patrick (Pat) Templeton is a first year Master of Public Administration student at Price. He received his B.A. in Economics from Occidental College in 2016, as well as his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of South Florida in 2020. Templeton has eclectic work experiences including freelance writing and hockey commentary, as well as a graduate teaching assistantship in composition, creative writing, and film. He loves volunteering with non-profit organizations, with a special passion for working with kids, especially teens. He has done grief work with incarcerated teenagers, taught a creative writing class a medium-security prison, and served as a volunteer coordinator for two years at Trinity Cafe 2 in Tampa. He has a corgi puppy named Stubby, who is herself hoping to become a therapy dog at CHLA and Camp Erin, so that she can volunteer with her dad. In his free time, Templeton enjoys sports, Broadway, Mr. Rogers, traveling, and spending time with this twin sister, who is a Literature PhD student at the University of California Riverside. After graduation he hopes to either continue his education with a PhD focusing on systems of education and criminal justice or to find work with a non-profit or government agency doing work in these fields.