public policy

Fairfax County Officials Inspire Schar School MPA Students to Pursue Local Government Careers

Andrew J Schappert — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 19:08:52 +0000

Fairfax County Officials Inspire Schar School MPA Students to Pursue Local Government Careers Andrew J Schappert Wed, 11/05/2025 - 14:08

MPA students listen to Fairfax County leaders discuss careers in local government. Photo provided

Nearly 60 current master of public administration (MPA) students and several faculty members in the Schar School of Policy and Government at �鶹��Ƶ attended the degree program’s annual Local Government Night on November 3 at the Fairfax County Government Center in Fairfax, Virginia.

Jim Burroughs, left, and Assistant Chief of Police Eli Cory, MPA ’19. Photo by Buzz McClain/Schar School of Policy and Government

The event was organized by more than 10 MPA alumni employed by the Fairfax County government, including several who served as panelists. Dianne Hon, MPA ’19, a victim specialist with the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, led the organizing effort.

The idea, said Associate Professor Jim Burroughs, is to bring MPA students face to face with graduates of the same program who now hold senior positions in local government. It was the 28th time the Local Government Night took place, Burroughs said. It was also his last as he is slated to retire at the end of the fall semester.

The benefits of the meeting flowed both ways as Fairfax County Executive Bryan Hill, who admitted to earning his MPA from a school other than George �鶹��Ƶ, used his time at the podium to highlight the career possibilities available in local government—particularly within Fairfax County. As he went around the room asking students about their postgraduation goals, he offered examples of how their interests and expertise could translate into careers in county offices in fields including finance, economics, law, and psychology.

Those opportunities were further illustrated by in-depth presentations from several county officials, including Deputy Director of the Department of Management and Budget Katie Horstman, who provided insight as to how she and her staff manage a $11.10 billion budget.

County Executive Bryan Hill addresses the MPA students. Photo by Buzz McClain/Schar School of Policy and Government

Also presenting were members of the county’s first responder agencies, among them Assistant Chief of Police Eli Cory, MPA ’19; Deputy Director of Victim Services Sarai Rivera, MPA ’24; and Assistant Fire Chief John Walser, who emphasized his department’s need for graduates skilled in data collection and analysis to help firefighters and EMTs continuously refine best practices for saving lives and property.

A second panel introduced Schar School MPA graduates active in the county’s emergency preparedness and response departments. Each shared how current federal challenges—such as furloughs, shutdowns, and budget cuts—affect their ability to deliver services to residents.

The speakers included Assistant Director of Domestic Relations in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Marwa Hajahmed, MPA ’24; Senior Social Services Supervisor with Neighborhood and Community Services Keith Grupposo, MPA ’20; and Management Analyst IV with the Department of Family Services Maha Martin, BA Sociology ’04, MPA ’16.

The evening concluded with a session titled “Reflections: The Impact of the MPA Program on My Career” featuring Dianne Hon, and Enterprise Applications Manager for the Fairfax County Park Authority Yeoanny Venetsanos, BA Biology ’00, who is a current MPA student slated to graduate in December.

Deputy Director of the Department of Management and Budget Katie Horstman manages an $11.10 billion budget. Photo by Buzz McClain/Schar School of Policy and Government

“I want to be a more effective public administrator for Fairfax County,” Venetsanos said. “I want to take my management, leadership, and organizational skills and apply them where I can bring value to the organization.”

The MPA program, he added, “is a mile wide and a foot deep—you can see the forest for the trees. It helps because you’re looking at every single service that a government provides.”

For the current MPA students in the audience, the evening was both enlightening and encouraging.

“It was great hearing from so many different county leaders and understanding the various aspects of local government, from budgeting to program implementation,” said Esha Doshi, who works in the county’s Department of Neighborhood and Community Services. “And it was inspiring to have Bryan Hill connect our interests with real career possibilities.”

Dianne Hon, MPA ‘19, left, and Enterprise Applications Manager for the Fairfax County Park Authority Yeoanny Venetsanos, BA Biology ’00. Photo by Buzz McClain/Schar School of Policy and Government

For Jack Potter, BA Public Administration ’25, a fellow in the school’s Center for Energy Science Policy, the evening was about relationships.

“I think every single speaker talked about making connections—getting to know people and forging real relationships outside of work,” he said. “I also learned that Fairfax is a unique county, not just in Virginia but in the U.S., and there are going to be opportunities everywhere—some great opportunities.”

The speakers each reinforced the personal nature of local public administration, a point that was not missed by faculty members.

“It was truly inspiring to hear from local government leaders about what it’s like to work in a setting where your efforts directly benefit your own community and neighbors,” said Associate Professor and MPA Program Director Mirae Kim. “It’s an experience that feels much more immediate and tangible than the broader, often more distant impact of federal service.”

In This Story

James N. Burroughs

Mirae Kim

Request program information

Learn more about the Schar School

Topics

Master of Public Administration

Center for Energy Science Policy

public policy

Schar School of Policy and Government

Schar School Featured Stories

Alumni

Students

For this alumnus, public health and public service are inextricable

Taylor Thomas — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 17:37:56 +0000

For this alumnus, public health and public service are inextricable Taylor Thomas Wed, 09/03/2025 - 13:37

�鶹��Ƶ alumnus Phazhon Nash, BS in Community Health ’21, has taken his commitment to the intersection of public health and public service to the Roanoke City Council. Nash foresaw his future in community service and complemented his public health major with a global health concentration with an American Government minor from the Schar School of Policy and Government. Health and wellness are at the forefront of his mind when designing policies to uplift people physically, mentally, socially, financially, and environmentally.

Roanoke City Council Member Phazhon Nash, BS in Community Health ’21.

“Public health and public service are inseparable. Whether it is housing, transportation, public safety, or economic development, every policy has an impact on health,” said Nash. "As a council member, I think about how decisions will affect people’s well-being, how they will create healthier neighborhoods, reduce disparities, or improve access to resources. We want to create policies to support the whole person and the whole community."

As the youngest elected council member for Roanoke City, Nash’s fresh perspective is amplifying the voices of future generations. A Roanoke native, Nash grew up seeing the city’s health needs go ignored for decades. He was inspired to run for city council because he wanted to give back in a meaningful way, addressing challenges facing the community today that will benefit generations to come.

“I saw a need for younger voices at the table, voices that reflect the future of our communities. My goal is to make Roanoke City the happiest, healthiest, and safest place for all to call home,” Nash said.

City Council is a part-time role, so Nash also serves as an Operations Consultant in Emergency Services at Carilion Clinic in Roanoke. He leads quality improvement initiatives, throughout efficiency projects, and operational strategies across all six Carilion Clinic Emergency Departments in Southwest Virginia.

“I use my background in community health to ensure that the systems and solutions we implement in the emergency department actively acknowledge and respond to social determinants of health, helping bridge gaps in care and address the broader factors that impact patient outcomes,” Nash said.

Nash credits his education from the College of Public Health at �鶹��Ƶ for training him in how to implement sustainable, innovative public health solutions. “The most significant aspect of my George �鶹��Ƶ and College of Public Health education was the diversity. I met people from so many different backgrounds, which opened my mind and broadened my perspective. The professors also consistently challenged me to think outside the box and become truly creative in the way I approached problems,” he said. “That combination of diversity and intellectual challenge shaped the way I see public health and leadership today.”

Topics

bachelor of science in community health

Department of Global and Community Health

GCH Alumni

Alumni

public policy

From Classroom to Real World: Schar School Students Engage at Global Climate Conference

Andrew J Schappert — Fri, 04 Feb 2022 15:46:29 +0000

From Classroom to Real World: Schar School Students Engage at Global Climate Conference Andrew J Schappert Fri, 02/04/2022 - 10:46

For four days in November 2021, eight students from the Schar School of Policy and Government attended COP26, the world’s largest global climate conference, in Glasgow, Scotland.*

The trip, part of the Schar School summer course, Climate Policy: A Global Transdisciplinary Approach for the Future, allowed students the opportunity to meet with delegates, negotiators, youth activists, and indigenous groups at the conference. While there, Schar students received a crash course in the complexities of climate change policy and negotiations.

“It was a really great experience getting to see the general process of COP, but also various types of stakeholders that come to the table and how they interact,” said �鶹��Ƶ senior Conner Cuevo.

The quick jaunt packed a lot of punch, inspiring in Cuevo a passion for how government and international institutions like the U.N. work and how they can solve global issues.

“It has given me a wealth of experiences to draw from and an endless source of materials that I continue to reference and apply to my classes, and even outside of class,” he said.

His network also expanded: “When you’re in a small group like that, you make a lot of friends.”

Schar School and other �鶹��Ƶ students enrolled in the 3-credit virtual study abroad “Climate Policy” course figuratively “travel” the planet, studying global challenges with experiential learning opportunities and collaboration on a group project with students from the University of Rwanda.

The class features TED-style talks from 20 guest speakers from 18 different countries, including Ma Jun, the top Chinese environmental activist and is one of TIME magazine’s most influential 100 people, and Erik Solheim, a former head of the UN Environmental Program.

“The level, the number, and backgrounds of all speakers that came to class really gave a well-rounded viewpoint,” said Schar School senior Jake Mazzoccoli, who took the class and the trip to Scotland.

For Mazzaccoli, the most interesting event at COP26 was a private session hosted by the Norwegian Africa Business Association (NABA) that featured top negotiators and policy makers from Africa, as well as experts from KPMG. Through a collaboration with NABA, the students helped craft a white paper that resulted from the session, which was moderated by Carol Pineau, a journalist and senior fellow at the Schar School.

Attending COP26 really opened his eyes, Mazzoccoli said, and showed him why things don’t move as quickly as he and others hoped.

“COP is the center of the issue, but it’s frustrating because it’s often just words on paper. It really lit a fire under me,” he said. “I didn’t really understand the complexity and sensitive nature. The problems aren’t simple. You can’t just go over there and fix it.”

But the class offered him a way forward, as he heard about issues directly from their sources and made contacts with high-level officials.

“Climate Policy: A Global Transdisciplinary Approach for the Future” will be taught again in fall 2022, with an in-person visit planned to COP, held this year in Egypt. For more information on the Schar School’s study abroad classes, visit abroad.gmu.edu.

*Students followed numerous COVID-19 protocols, including vaccinations, boosters, and testing before and after travel.

Topics

Schar School News February 2022

Graduation Profile: She lifted others as she climbed at �鶹��Ƶ

Damian Cristodero — Wed, 13 May 2020 09:30:00 +0000

Graduation Profile: She lifted others as she climbed at �鶹��Ƶ Damian Cristodero Wed, 05/13/2020 - 05:30

Topics

�鶹��Ƶ

Celebration of Class of 2020

Graduation

Department of Psychology

public policy

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Schar School of Policy and Government

Students

What does it take to understand global terrorism? This �鶹��Ƶ team is finding out.

Mariam Aburdeineh — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 00:05:00 +0000

What does it take to understand global terrorism? This �鶹��Ƶ team is finding out. Mariam Aburdeineh Tue, 04/28/2020 - 20:05

More than a dozen students, alumni and faculty at �鶹��Ƶ are working on a digital terrorism database that will help policy makers and researchers understand and defend against terrorism.
Front row (left to right): Becca Cooper, Alexis Polo, Caitlin Ford, Amanda Darby, Chukwuma Onyia.
Back row (left to right): Ernest Ogbozor, Mathieu Bere, Isaac Williams, Russ Travers (guest speaker during his tenure as Acting Director of The National Counterterrorism Center), Manuela Chyang, Vincent Nicosia, Haider Semaisim. Photo by Buzz McClain.

To defend against terrorism, you have to understand it. Thanks to more than a dozen students, alumni and faculty at �鶹��Ƶ working on a digital terrorism database, everyone from policy makers to researchers around the world will be a step closer to that goal.

“There are many other databases focusing on [terrorism], but very few have the international reach that we do, most of them are regional or country-specific,” said Vincent Nicosia, a 2019 alumnus of the Schar School of Policy and Government who is working on the database at the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC).

Since the early 1990s, the U.S. Congress has mandated that the State Department produce a report on global terrorism. Part of that includes keeping a database of every terrorist incident around the world, said TraCCC Deputy Director Judith Deane.

Development Services Group Inc. (DSG), partnering with �鶹��Ƶ, was awarded the five-year contract from the State Department in August 2018 to work on the reports. �鶹��Ƶ hires and trains the multilingual data analysts who interpret, categorize and enter the information, while DSG produces a statistical annex based on the data, Deane said.

“We’re really thrilled to get this,” Deane said. “It’s an educational opportunity for �鶹��Ƶ students, and it’s a real opportunity for students to contribute something in the world.”

As the database is congressionally mandated, it informs foreign policy decisions, said �鶹��Ƶ professor Mahmut Cengiz, senior data analyst on the project.

�鶹��Ƶ’s team complements DSG’s automated open-source information gathering, by analyzing the incidents to ensure the data is as accurate as possible. It’s an innovative approach, Deane said, and unlike most other data collection efforts, the �鶹��Ƶ team collects up to 52 attributes for each incident, including facts on the perpetrators, targets, victims and weapons.

Team members have cultural and historic understandings of the countries they work on, and all have studied terrorism or counterterrorism. Front row (left to right): Manuela Chyang, Ernest Ogbozor. Back row (left to right): Matheiu Bere, Isaac Williams, Chukwuma Onyia. Photo by Buzz McClain.

Many students have cultural and historic understandings of the countries they work on, as they’ve lived in the regions and can speak the languages, Cengiz said. All have studied terrorism or counterterrorism.

The diversified staff and their expertise help ensure the database is not overly U.S.-centric in its interpretations, which had been a critique of the database before it was in �鶹��Ƶ’s hands, Deane said. There are also members, such as 2017 Antonin Scalia Law School alumnus Haider Semaism, who have been personally affected by terrorism.

The database also looks at trends over time. For some students, the findings have been surprising.

“There’s a lot of different security issues that I wasn’t aware of before,” Nicosia said. “There are hotspots in areas like Chile and the Philippines; most people in the United States would probably imagine terrorism is a Middle Eastern phenomenon, but it’s truly a global issue.”

Being near the hub of U.S. government and policy also allows students to learn from experts who have visited as guest speakers. This semester the team heard from leaders, including former military advisor to the president of Bangladesh General Munir Munirizzaman Ret, former deputy director of the National Counterterrorism Center Russell Travers and former acting and deputy director of the CIA Michael Morell, who is also a Schar School Fellow.

“These are some of the same people who are going to be looking at the data when it’s published,” said Caitlin Ford, who earned her bachelor’s in December and returned to �鶹��Ƶ for her master’s in public policy. “It’s helpful to get multiple points of view so that we can be as objective and well-rounded as possible.”

“For education and professional growth, this is the place to be right now,” said Vladimir Semizhonov, an international security graduate student originally from Kazakhstan. “It has to do with phenomenon that stands very tall in the political and global agenda, and is not a purely academic exercise.”

In addition to learning more about counterterrorism, their efforts have global value.

“It makes me even more proud to be an American knowing that we are helping combat [terrorism] and that possibly one day we don’t have to have a database for this,” Ford said.

U.S. News & World Report National College Rankings for 2019

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 18:54:20 +0000

U.S. News & World Report National College Rankings for 2019 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 10/24/2019 - 14:54

Topics

Higher Education for Military

How �鶹��Ƶ prepared Steven Monfort to be Director of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

Melanie Balog — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 10:00:32 +0000

How �鶹��Ƶ prepared Steven Monfort to be Director of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute Melanie Balog Tue, 11/27/2018 - 05:00