AU Sine Institute Announces 2024 Class of Fellows

In September 2018, American University established the Sine Institute of Policy & Politics as an incubator for policy innovation and a convener of the best minds in the public, private, academic, and nonprofit sectors, as well as journalism. Bringing together experts and top scholars with students to address the nation’s most pressing challenges with nonpartisan policy solutions, the inaugural class included Abdul El-Sayed, former executive director of the Detroit Health Department and former candidate for governor of Michigan; Bill Haslam, former governor of Tennessee; William Kristol, political analyst and founder of The Weekly Standard; Ruth Marcus, political commentator and columnist for The Washington Post; and Karen Zacarías, playwright and founder of Young Playwrights’ Theater and Latinx Theater Commons. The 2024 Sine Institute Fellows include the following:

• Hon. Larry Hogan, 62nd Governor of Maryland; Former Chair, National Governors Association
• Daniella Senior, CEO and Founder, Colada Shop; Owner, Serenata & Zumo; Co-Founder, Bresca; State Department Culinary Ambassador
• Hon. Thomas R. Nides, Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel; Former Managing Director, COO, and Vice Chairman, Morgan Stanley
• Kara Swisher, Host, On With Kara Swisher; Co-Host, Pivot for New York Magazine; Contributor, CNN
• Patrice Willoughby, Senior Vice President, Global Policy and Impact, NAACP

SPA is proud to announce its partnership with Feed the Fridge to address food insecurity in the DC area and beyond.

As the academic sponsor of Feed the Fridge, SPA provides highimpact research and service-learning opportunities for faculty, staff, students, and alumni.

The Lab @ DC uses scientific insights and methods to test and improve policies and provide timely, relevant and high-quality analysis to inform the District’s most important decisions.

SPA collaborates with the Lab @ DC to help District agencies design policy and program interventions that are tailored to the District, based on theory and evidence from academic and industrial research, as well as analyses of available administrative data.

Projects include developing a statistical model to predict the likelihood of finding rat burrows in a given census block in Washington, D.C., and launching a “form-a-palooza” to help overhaul the city’s paper forms to improve the delivery of government services.

SPA also works with the DC Government in an advisory capacity, helping guide policy indicatives with the DC Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) the DC Age Friendly DC Task Force, and the DC Department of Corrections, through faculty participation on advisory boards, policy analysis, and more. These partnerships underscore our commitment to our hometown of Washington, DC and help strengthen public services in our nation's capital.