Ramy Abbady
Research Associate
Higher Learning
Yoona Hong
Program Assistant
Yoona Hong serves as a program assistant for Higher Learning.
Prior to joining Mellon, Yoona served as a program associate for the Mellon Mays Fellows Professional Network at the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. They have held positions at Hagar International in Vietnam, with a focus on refugee support and human trafficking, as well as Liberty in North Korea and the Institute for Policy Studies.
She holds a bachelor’s in international studies from Johns Hopkins University and a master’s in human rights from Columbia University.
Other Higher Learning staff
Kurtis Tanaka
Senior Program Associate
Higher Learning
Jeffrey James Keyes
Senior Executive Assistant
Higher Learning
Ashley Garner
Senior Program Associate
Higher Learning
Elizabeth Foley
Senior Program Associate
Higher Learning
SJ Waldman
Program Assistant
Higher Learning
Ava McLaughlin
Program Assistant
Higher Learning
Kris Choe
Program Associate
Higher Learning
Mary Bates
Program Associate
Higher Learning
Dale Rejtmar
Senior Executive Assistant
Higher Learning
Phillip Brian Harper
Program Director
Higher Learning
Maria Sachiko Cecire
Program Officer
Higher Learning
Armando I. Bengochea
Senior Program Officer
Higher Learning
Renee Johnson-Thornton
Senior Program Associate and Associate Director of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program
Higher Learning
Logan Heiman
Program Associate
Higher Learning
Carolyn Dinshaw
Senior Program Officer
Higher Learning
Camilla Somers
Manager of Strategic Initiatives and Planning
Higher Learning
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