The McCourt School of Public Policy selected five incoming students with diverse policy interests as McCourt Scholars, an annual award for accomplished future policymakers and scholars.

This year’s McCourt Scholars are Andrew Eichen (MPP ’25), Maleeha Hameed (MIDP ’25), Win Ko Ko Aung (MS-DSPP ’25), Priscila Stisman (MPP ’25) and Tabitha Wilson (MPP ’25). They were selected based on the strength of their applications, including their background, experience and academic excellence. Each scholar’s award includes a full-tuition scholarship, mandatory fees, health insurance and a stipend.

Ko Ko Aung said he wants to use his Georgetown education to make policies that empower people in developing countries through innovative technology.

“The day I received the news of being selected as a McCourt Scholar was a turning point in my life,” Ko Ko Aung wrote to The Hoya. “Even though I had been out of school for nearly a decade and faced numerous obstacles during my first two years in the United States, I am determined to give my best at Georgetown University, achieve great things, and make Georgetown proud.”

Ko Ko Aung, who arrived in the United States in August 2021, said surviving the military coup in Myanmar in 2021 drove him toward policymaking.

“Seeing the impact of unchecked power has ignited a deep passion within me to advocate for policies that prioritize freedom, justice, and international collaboration,” Ko Ko Aung wrote. “I initiated a grassroots movement to combat digital oppression and physical repression by Myanmar’s military dictator.”

McCourt School Dean Maria Cancian said the McCourt School looks for scholars who will benefit from its programs, working inside and outside the classroom to enhance the school community.

“This year’s new McCourt Scholars come from many different countries — the United States, Argentina, Myanmar and Pakistan — and have interacted with the policy world in a variety of different ways,” Cancian wrote to The Hoya. “We expect they will be leaders in the policy world in the future, wherever their interests lead them.”

Eichen, who has a degree from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, believes his experience working in Big Law will help him put policy into practice.

“What interests me most about policymaking is finding the right balance between aspirational ideals and practical implementation,” Eichen wrote to The Hoya. “As a lawyer, I’ve seen how policies that sound great in theory can falter when it comes time to put them into practice. Operationalizing policy requires someone at the table who understands how the legal system works, how courts will interpret statutes and how law needs to be drafted to that end.”

Another McCourt Scholar, Hameed, joins the school after overseeing the education research portfolio at the Centre for Economic Research, an independent research center that informs policymaking through quantitative research, in Pakistan.

Hameed said she will continue to study education programs at the McCourt School.

“The part which I’m really interested in exploring, which would be new, is thinking about what it is that governments require to scale up beyond the pilot phase. It’s how impact evaluations can eventually become programs that are part of government systems and public service delivery, as opposed to just being a one-off impact evaluation pilot that dies out,” Hameed added.

Originally from Tucumán, Argentina, Stisman is interested in the economic factors that drive growth and development worldwide. With a bachelor’s degree in economics from the National University of Tucumán, she previously worked as a research assistant at the International Monetary Fund’s Institute for Capacity Development.

Stisman said she looks forward to exploring new interests and perspectives from her peers as a McCourt Scholar, while also working toward her professional goals.

“I believe that this journey will offer unique insights and opportunities for personal and intellectual growth,” Stisman wrote. “Looking forward, my ultimate goal post-graduation is making a meaningful contribution to developmental policy initiatives, with a specific focus on the Latin American region, and in particular, my homeland, Argentina.”

Stisman and Wilson are both members of McCourt Policy in Practice, a pro-bono student consulting organization that partners with nonprofit organizations in Latin America.

Wilson currently works at Oliver Wyman, supporting Latin American businesses with financial analysis. She brings her perspective from the private sector to the McCourt School — as a recipient of policy rather than a maker.

Wilson said concerns about the climate have influenced her passion for racial justice and indigenous rights since starting at the McCourt School this year.

“These communities are suffering the most when we don’t protect the environment,” Wilson told The Hoya. “I’m particularly interested in international development, particularly sustainable development. I want to focus on how we can make these things right — how we can decolonize.”