My top three priorities for the Board of the Trustees to address:

1. Comprehensive, Holistic Graduate and Professional Student Welfare: Continue to expand competitive compensation and benefits to attract new students and retain existing, while generously supporting basic infrastructure that addresses the real issues of food and housing insecurity among Cornell students and staff. Additionally, we must remain dedicated and advocate for professional students who are outside of the bargaining unit.

2. Navigating shifting political and funding landscapes: Protecting academic freedom of our scholars, defending international peers and their families navigating vulnerable visa pathways (J-1, F-1, H-1B) while expanding internal (micro)grants as external and federal funding schemes become unstable for all, or unreachable.

3. Preserving Legacy: Upholding Ezra Cornell’s Founding Principle, “... any person ... any study,” by avoiding short-sighted and reactionary departmental closures or mergers.

How I will use my position on the Board of Trustees to improve Cornell:

Serving as a full-voting member on the Cornell Board of Trustees is an incredible responsibility to advocate for every voice, across all campuses. My experiences in both public, industry, and governmental institutions, navigating multi-stakeholder, multi-national research initiatives translates to me bridging and considering competing priorities for consensus. I happily engage with a variety of Cornell communities and departments through my research and extra-curriculars. I promise that university leadership will hear the many diverse student realities.

My experience:

As a 2nd year Ph.D. student in the Biomedical and Biological Sciences (BBS) program, I am rooted through service to Ithaca, Cornell, and the surrounding communities. Through the Einhorn Center for Community Engagement and the Empire State Service Corps, I have connected university resources and undergraduate students with local civic partners to improve childhood literacy programming. With these partners, I work directly with underserved youth at the Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC), and I have seen firsthand how intentional institutional partnerships create vital public impact. I believe that these community-facing programs are essential for Cornell University and must remain funded.

My special interests:

1. University administration and governance strategies: How is policy designed at an Ivy-league school that has both public and private arms? How does an institution like Cornell balance long-term fiscal health with present-day student, staff, and faculty well-being?

2. Improving community and outreach partnership pipelines that connect Cornell students with local involvement opportunities, especially with local community youth centers.

3. Emerging biotechnology tools in society, their practical applications, and the ethical and regulatory challenges and concerns moving forward in their adaptation for public health and wildlife conservation.