John Elliott (MPA ’89) was appointed by Secretary Amundson as administrator of the division of safety and permanence at the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families (DCF) in December. Previously, Elliott led the division at DCF for 12 years as the deputy administrator.
Stephanie Murray (MPA ’18) wrote a story on Why Parents Struggle So Much in the Richest Country in the World for the Atlantic. Murray is a contributing writer at the Atlantic, and previously worked as a freelance journalist writing for the New York Times, the Washington Post, TIME, the Guardian, and FiveThirtyEight. As an MPA student, she won the Penniman Prize for the best paper demonstrating the school’s writing and analytic tools.
Ken Smith (MPA ’18) wrote the nomination application for Milwaukee’s St. Hyacinth Roman Catholic Church to be designated a Milwaukee County Landmark, and the church was formally designated on November 13. On November 18, Smith married Adriana G.C. at St. Hyacinth Church, his ancestral family church. The two met when Smith was a graduate student attending the United Nations Habitat III Conference in Quito while G.C. staffed the conference as a communications specialist. Smith works as an urban planner with the City of Glendale, Wisconsin in suburban Milwaukee County. He received a MPA and a master of science in urban and regional planning from UW–Madison in 2018.
Anna Barry (MPA ’21) shared insights from her journey as a mentor in a recent article from American Institutes for Research, where she works as a communications and social media associate. In the story, Barry acknowledges support she received from mentors at the La Follette School and discusses her experiences working with youth around the country to bring their voices to the federal government.
Willem Weigel (MPA ’23) was promoted to senior financial analyst for Waukesha County. Previously, he worked as a financial analyst for the county. While completing his MPA, Weigel interned at the Office of the Wisconsin State Treasurer, where he crafted memos on relevant policy and legislation to the State Treasurer’s Office and coordinated responses and coordination with constituents across the state.
Katherine Rushmann (public policy certificate ’23) completed an internship in the U.S. House of Representatives in the office of Representative Mark Pocan, and in January she started a new position as an administrative assistant for the National Breast Cancer Coalition. Rushmann received bachelor’s degrees in political science and psychology with a certificate in public policy from UW–Madison in 2023.