Meghan Doughty, a second-year student in SPA’s doctoral program in public administration and policy, has been named a Founders’ Fellow by the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA).

The honor entitles her to present a paper this week at ASPA’s March 17-22 annual conference and assigns her an academic mentor.  

Doughty’s paper is a study of foster care among American Indian/Alaskan natives. In her research, she found that when domestic violence is present, a higher proportion of these children are removed from their families versus other populations. 

The paper’s topic was sparked by Doughty’s experience as an Americorps volunteer during the interval between her undergraduate and master’s studies. She worked at the Edgecumbe schools in Sitka, Alaska, teaching drug prevention in the elementary school and serving as a mentor in the high school. 

As a Founders’ Fellow, Doughty has been assigned Norma M. Ricucci, as her academic mentor. Ricucci is Distinguished Professor at Rutgers University, and an expert in gender equality issues. The two are meeting at the conference, and Doughty will receive guidance from her mentor in the coming year. 

A native of Portland, Oregon, Doughty earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Seattle University in 2010 and a master’s degree in human rights from the London School of Economics in 2013.