Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy welcomed the latest cohort of McCourt Scholars — a group of emerging policymakers and academics recognized for their outstanding backgrounds, experiences and academic achievements — the university announced Sept. 16.
The McCourt Scholars program welcomed five incoming students from across the school’s programs for the annual program, awarding each with fully paid tuition, as well as a stipend and health insurance. This year, Divyanshu Jha (GRD ’27), Sofia Kryshtal (GRD ’26), Amy Omondi (GRD ’27), Paul Luu Van Lang (GRD ’27) and Dana Moffat (GRD ’27) comprise the cohort, chosen for their expertise and potential in public service and political research.
Jha, a civil government leader in India who specializes in quantitative research, said he was honored to become a McCourt Scholar.
“It’s an honor for me to be selected as a McCourt Scholar at McCourt School while pursuing my Master of International Development Policy course,” Jha wrote to The Hoya. “I see myself as both a contributor and a bridge, bringing perspectives from my professional experience in government and development, while also learning from diverse ideas, insights and approaches I pick up from faculty as well as peers here.”
Luu Van Lang, a Peace Corps alumnus who hopes to use quantitative research to address poverty, said being welcomed as a McCourt Scholar signifies the school’s sincere investment in students like him.
“It further motivates me to make the most of my time at McCourt, both in terms of the skills and knowledge I can acquire here and in terms of the incredible people I have access to (be it fellow students, faculty or practitioners who come to give lectures or participate in other events),” Lang wrote to The Hoya.
Luu Van Lang added that being a McCourt Scholar brings advantages that will play a critical role in his academic and professional careers.
“Academically, it enables me to focus my time and efforts on what I can get out of my time at McCourt — classes and classwork, internships, events and lectures, networking,” Lang said. “As for how it affects or will affect my career, I think it is mainly the academic and time advantages that this scholars program allows that will help me gear my experiences at McCourt toward best positioning myself to accomplish my professional aspirations.”
Omondi, who grew up in Kenya and has worked for multiple international development programs, said she hopes to work directly with Africans to allocate foreign investment using quantitative analysis.
“My goal is to be able to connect my academic foundation with mentorship, peer collaboration and leadership training that will prepare me to take on roles where I can influence transformative economic development in Kenya and beyond,” Omondi wrote to The Hoya. “In the long term, this experience will help me translate technical analysis into actionable policy that drives systemic change and hopefully moves the needle toward sustainable development.”
Omondi added that the McCourt program will allow her to explore and collaborate with a broader community of like-minded peers.
“I see the McCourt Scholar cohort (and really the McCourt student body) as a diverse and collaborative community where each of us brings unique professional and regional perspectives,” Omandi wrote. “I am already learning so much from my peers outside the classroom. With faculty, I intend to seek mentorship to strengthen my analytical and leadership skills, while also serving as a bridge between academic insights and real-world policy practice in international development.”
Moffat, who seeks to find solutions to economic inequality through quantitative research, said the McCourt Scholars network is one of the most important parts of the program.
“My peers and my professors and everyone else who is connected to McCourt and Georgetown as a whole will be pivotal in starting a new chapter of my life and really trying to make a difference,” Moffat wrote to The Hoya. “Being a McCourt Scholar adds another layer to that network where I can connect with the other McCourt Scholars and it can be a way that I can connect with other faculty and other professionals in the policy fields.”
Jha said being named a McCourt Scholar reflects a commitment to service and global leadership shared by a broad community of scholars, past and present.
“For me, it means becoming part of a tradition of service-oriented leaders committed to using policy as a tool for solving pressing development challenges,” Jha wrote. “It also symbolizes an opportunity to represent voices from the Global South — bringing perspectives from India and other developing economies into conversations at Georgetown, while learning from other global experiences.”
