I grew up in a multilingual household in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and speak several languages, including Amharic and French.

I completed high school at Nazareth School and went on to attend Converse College, where I double-majored in Chemistry and Mathematics, graduating magna cum laude. After graduation, I spent a year volunteering with Jatan Sansthan, a grassroots NGO in Rajasthan, India. I then moved to Paris to pursue graduate studies at the École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique, earning a Master’s degree in Public Health (mention très bien).

Before beginning my doctoral studies at the Pardee RAND Graduate School, I served as a Young Champion Fellow with the Maternal Health Task Force at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. In this role, I lived in southern Ethiopia and provided technical support to the Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia, including leading a research project examining women’s experiences with unsafe abortion and interpersonal violence.

At the RAND Corporation, I worked on interdisciplinary research teams addressing a range of topics, including the psychological and behavioral effects of combat on veterans’ well-being and the reproductive health rights of HIV-affected couples.

From 2016 to 2019, I provided research support to Team Red, White & Blue, a military veteran service organization. Collaborating with behavioral scientists and veteran thought leaders, I helped develop and validate the Enriched Life Scale, a measure designed to systematically capture and quantify the lived experiences of military veterans transitioning to civilian life.

Outside of work, I enjoy exploring the outdoors, reading for pleasure, strength training, stargazing, and learning about constellations.