Devanne Brookins, PhD
Devanne Brookins is a Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellow at Princeton University for 2020 – 2021. Previously, she was Research Coordinator for the Transforming Urban Transport – The Role of Political Leadership (TUT-POL) Sub-Saharan Africa project at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.
Her research explores comparative urban studies, urban transformation and inequality with a focus on African cities. Her doctoral work explored the intersection of institutions and land to understand change and socio-spatial inequality in urban and peri-urban areas of Ghana. Prior to her doctoral studies, Devanne worked in international development research and program management on urban development and governance in Sub-Saharan Africa with organizations such as The Urban Institute. She has also consulted for the African Development Bank, UN Habitat in the Urban Land, Legislation and Governance Branch and the African Center for Economic Transformation. Devanne holds a PhD in International Development Planning from the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP) at MIT; dual Masters’ degrees from Columbia University in Urban Planning (GSAPP) and International Affairs (SIPA); and a BA in Political Science and French from Wellesley College. She has worked and lived in a range of African cities, most recently Accra, Ghana.
Luciana Debenedetti
Luciana was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and grew up outside of Washington, DC. She studied international development and urban policy at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, and spent part of her studies interning with Innovations for Poverty Action in Bogota, Colombia. As a graduate consultant for the City of Seattle, Luciana researched trends related to the future of work and the City’s municipal workforce. Prior to graduate school, Luciana worked at Chemonics International, where she managed USAID-funded projects in Latin America, focused primarily on human rights and economic development. Before Chemonics, she worked at Namati, where she helped to grow an international network of grassroots organizations providing legal aid through community-based paralegals and other innovative models. As part of her coursework for WWS540—Urbanization and Development, she analyzed the trajectory of community-driven development programs in Chile.
Curtis Goos
Curtis Goos pivoted from his family’s farming tradition to explore the world beyond his native southwest Iowa. Fascinated by stories of social reinvention across cultural boundaries, he completed his studies in French literature at the University of Iowa with a focus on immigration in the post-colonial Francophone world. After college, he served as a Peace Corps Education Volunteer in southern Rwanda where he taught students and faculty English and Computer Science. During his subsequent studies at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, he assisted refugees and asylees in career development at Philadelphia’s Nationalities Service Center. Curtis conducted field research and geospatial analysis for his policy workshop evaluating the effectiveness of the implementation of Kenya’s National Strategy to Counter Violent WWS 540 – Urbanization and Development he was part of a group project analyzing Matatus in Nairobi, Kenya including the Digital Matatus mapping project from MIT and Columbia.
Erika Larsen
Erika Larsen studied U.S. domestic and urban policy at the Princeton Public and International Affairs. Prior to coming to Princeton, Erika served as Wellness Manager at the Staten Island Partnership for Community Wellness, where she created, implemented, and evaluated strategies to promote chronic disease prevention. During her time as Wellness Manager, Erika used GIS software to analyze trends related to the built environment and child health. She conducted research on urban inequality and housing in São Paulo, Brazil for WWS 540 – Urbanization and Development. Erika also conducted geospatial analyses on demographic trends and housing needs domestically for WWS 591a – Creating Smart Growth and Housing Opportunities through State Housing Finance Agencies.
Anh Ton
Anh Ton studied urban and social policy at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. Prior to graduate school, Anh toggled between global and domestic philanthropy: first as a development coordinator fundraising for community-based projects in Vietnam, then as an associate supporting youth development programs in the U.S. As a graduate student, she consulted on Brazilian education initiatives through the Center for Public Research and Leadership based at Columbia Law School, and she interned at What Works Cities, a Bloomberg Philanthropies-funded initiative, researching promising policies originating in local government. In WWS 593 – GIS for Public Policy, she used GIS spatial analysis techniques to estimate the impact of California wildfires overtime. Anh graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in English Literature and a minor in Southeast Asian Studies.
Ashwin Warrior
Ashwin Warrior studied U.S. domestic and urban policy at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. Prior to graduate school, he worked for an affordable housing developer and community development corporation in Seattle, WA. Ashwin researched the implementation of smart city planning in Bengaluru, India and rent control in Mumbai as part of the class WWS 540–Urbanization and Development. He previously used GIS to develop a methodology to rate New Jersey’s census tracts by access to opportunity on behalf of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance as part of WWS 591a-Creating Smart Growth and Housing Opportunities. Ashwin graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics from Seattle University.