2025 Interns

Anastasia Bekker, Georgetown University Law School
Placement: SHARP, Washington State Department of Labor & Industries

Anastasia Bekker is studying for her J.D. at Georgetown University Law School. She is especially interested in plaintiffs’ side labor law and the potential of social insurance programs for increasing workers’ security and bargaining power. Anastasia was a trial monitor for the recent Greenpeace v. Energy Transfer case about the Dakota Access Pipeline and Standing Rock protests, and she completed an undergraduate thesis on the relationship between market power and unions’ political spending in U.S. politics. This summer, as the John Burton Intern on Workers’ Compensation Research and Policy, she is working with SHARP, the occupational safety and health research program of the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, on a project about occupational disease presumption law for firefighters and first responders.

Marvia Cunanan, University of Pennsylvania
Placement: Elevance Health

Marvia Cunanan is a Master of Social Policy student and Social Justice Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice. Passionate about advancing disability justice, she has led advocacy and organizing efforts to support equitable education opportunities and belonging for disabled students of color. Marvia’s research focuses on promoting self-determination across community settings and strengthening the care infrastructure. This summer, she will be working as a Paul Marchand Fellow with The Arc to advance the interests of people with I/DD and their families on the federal level through policy advocacy. As the Eileen Sweeney Graduate Intern in Disability Policy, Marvia will work with Elevance Health on a team dedicated to ensuring that people with disabilities and older adults are meaningfully included in social care discussions that affect independence and access to services.

Abigail Fears, University of Richmond
Placement: SCAN Health Plan 

Abigail is a rising sophomore at the University of Richmond, double majoring in Health Studies and Political Science. She is interested in Social Insurance because she grew up in a community that relied on Medicaid and Medicare resources. Abigail is eager to learn how to ensure these benefits remain equitable for people in her community and across the country. She hopes to focus on how Medicare and Medicaid health policy legislation is created. She is also interested in how health policy research addresses national health disparities at an institutional level. Abigail is passionate about research aimed at reducing disparities in maternal mortality rates in rural states. As the Leeba Lessin Intern on Health and Medicare Policy, she will be conducting research at SCAN Health Plan and assisting the Health Policy Analyst in tracking legislation during Session in Washington, DC.

Olutoyin Green, Syracuse University
Placement: MACPAC

Olutoyin Green is a third-year undergraduate at Syracuse University, studying Public Health, Political Philosophy, Health Humanities, and Law, Society, and Policy. Her understanding of social insurance began at home, watching her family navigate Medicare and Medicaid while caring for her grandmother in the late stages of Alzheimer’s Disease. Growing up in historically marginalized communities and now studying in Syracuse, which is home to a large refugee and low-income population, Toyin has seen firsthand how these programs can serve as vital safety nets and support systems for those in need. Toyin’s work has focused on expanding access to care and community resources for marginalized populations.

As the Rashi Fein Health Policy Intern, Toyin will work with the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) to support collaborative policy analysis projects and work closely with the policy analyst teams. She looks forward to experiencing health policy as a collaborative process that brings together diverse perspectives from across the U.S. social and political landscape and understanding how policy can be used to secure healthy lives for everyone.

Kirsta Hackmeier, University of California, Berkeley
Placement: Senate Finance Committee

Kirsta Hackmeier is a concurrent master’s student in Public Policy and Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. She is interested in social insurance, and healthcare coverage in particular, as a vehicle for more supportive and dignified community care. In her time working at a union health trust and volunteering at a federally qualified health center, Kirsta has seen first hand the important role that social insurance can play in the lives of our most vulnerable neighbors. Before graduate school, Kirsta spent five years working in healthcare strategy research and implementation, exploring the intersection of healthcare, business, and policy. As the Congressman Pete Stark Health Policy Intern she will be spending the summer with the Democratic staff of the Senate Finance Committee working to protect Medicaid funding and enhance long-term care for older adults.

Zoe Shin, University of California, Los Angeles
Placement: Caring Across Generations

Zoe Shin is a rising junior at the University of California, Los Angeles, double majoring in Human Biology and Society and Labor Studies. She is passionate about issues at the intersections of health policy, labor rights, and social equity. As a Legislative Intern with the California Health and Human Services Agency, Zoe drafted a budget action proposal to safeguard reproductive healthcare in the face of federal restrictions, exploring integrated care systems and the role of public programs in expanding access. She currently serves as President of Project Lux, a nonprofit that provides health insurance enrollment support to unhoused and undocumented individuals across California. Her work reflects a deep commitment to strengthening social insurance systems that protect vulnerable communities. As the Somers Research Intern on Long-Term Care and Aging, Zoe will work with Caring Across Generations on research and policy analysis to support state level investments in care infrastructure.

Zane Snyder Cox, George Washington University
Placement: Matz, Blancato & Associates

Zane Snyder Cox is a BA Candidate in Political Science with a Public Policy Focus and a minor in Economics at The George Washington University. His policy interest areas include clean energy and environmental protection as well as community development. His interest in social insurance stems from a desire to build systems that support people across life’s transitions — whether aging, caregiving, or economic hardship — and ensure that dignity and stability are not privileges, but guarantees. His involvement has ranged from canvassing for political campaigns to testifying in front of the DC Committee on Business and Economic Development in favor of greater requirements for renewable energy on the DC electric grid. As the Merton C. Bernstein Intern on Social Insurance, Zane will work with Matz, Blancato & Associates to support their work with the Elder Justice Coalition to end elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Zane will also work with the Academy to support their Social Security policy portfolio and provide research assistance to ongoing projects.