Alekhya Chaparala

Hometown: Newton, MA

Current City: Rockville, MD

Why did you choose McCourt? I chose McCourt for its location in Washington DC, the emphasis on quantitative, technical skills, and for the tight-knit community and incredible support for McCourt students. Coming from a large undergraduate university, I wanted a smaller community where faculty were accessible to students, and McCourt has definitely delivered!

What professional/ work experience did you have prior to coming to McCourt? Before coming to McCourt, I was an Advisory Services Manager at Root Cause, a Cambridge-based social consulting firm, where we partnered with school districts, nonprofits and philanthropic foundations. My work at Root Cause focused on supporting and empowering a diverse range of communities, from older adults in Washtenaw County, Michigan, to historically underserved student groups in Boston, Cambridge and Somerville, MA. Before entering the social sector, I studied and worked in global public health, with a focus on India. As a Research Assistant at the Max Institute of Healthcare Management in Mohali, India, I managed multiple studies on India’s public immunization and family planning programs. During this time, I worked closely with local data collectors, health officials and researchers to understand how public health services were — or were not — reaching their intended beneficiaries.

What has been the best part of your experience so far? The best part of my experience so far has been all the amazing classes and professors — I feel like I’m getting a 360 education in policy skills, from things like statistics and coding to negotiations and political science.

What internships have you had so far during your time at McCourt? DC Tax Revision Commission; Summer Fellow for the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Resources

Undergraduate University, degree, and major: Cornell University, Biology & Society, BA

Hobbies/ Interests: Aging policy, health policy, sports, traveling, learning new languages.

You can talk me me about: I am a military spouse, and am happy to connect with other military spouses.