Georgetown Global Cities Initiative

Andrew Swank

Andrew Swank is a senior in the School of Foreign Service majoring in Regional and Comparative Studies with minors in Statistics and Economics. He is originally from Bloomington, Indiana. Andrew has a variety of academic interests including democratization, transitional justice, international economics, urbanization, and econometrics. He is excited to be a Global Cities Initiative Scholar and pursue a project on local transportation and economic development in Washington, D.C. and the surrounding area. He hopes to understand the impact of federal workforce cuts on local transportation and economic activity.

Andrew is hoping to start a career as a researcher after graduation this spring. He is passionate about using data to answer important questions. In his free time, Andrew loves playing soccer, baking, and running. He is a big sports fan and loves to talk about Georgetown sports, especially soccer.

Ashlei King

Ashlei is a Master’s student in Urban & Regional Planning at Georgetown University with a focus on equitable development, sustainable tourism, and cultural heritage preservation. Her academic and professional journey has been grounded in exploring how cities can grow while ensuring that minority and underrepresented communities remain central to the process. She is deeply engaged in independent research and fieldwork at the intersection of tourism, infrastructure, and community-based design. Recently, she has been examining equitable tourism and studying civic tourism models in North Jakarta.

Beyond her studies, she serves as a committee member for the Historic Preservation Society and as the Georgetown Student Representative for the American Planning Association. Across these efforts, her aim is to highlight how co-created spaces and inclusive planning can generate economic opportunity while strengthening cultural identity.

As a GGCI Student Scholar, she looks forward to advancing global conversations on sustainable urbanism and contributing new frameworks that integrate design, preservation, and justice into the future of cities.

Lance Song

Lance is a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences, where he studies Economics, Art History, and Environmental Science. His academic interests lie at the intersection of urban development, heritage preservation, and climate resilience. Drawing from both his coursework and personal background, Lance explores how historic cities adapt, or fail to adapt, to modern reconstruction and environmental change.

At Georgetown, Lance has pursued research through the Global Cities Initiative, focusing on how traditional water management systems in heritage cities such as Pingyao, Kathmandu, and Hoi An are disrupted by contemporary infrastructure projects and climate stress. His work highlights the hidden environmental intelligence embedded in ancient urban design, and asks how this knowledge can be integrated into modern planning frameworks.

Beyond research, Lance has engaged in applied experiences ranging from heritage conservation fieldwork to policy analysis. Through these efforts, he aims to bridge history, policy, and sustainability, and to contribute to new approaches in city planning that respect cultural heritage while meeting the demands of climate adaptation.

Adriana De la Calle Viscasillas

Adriana De la Calle Viscasillas is an undergraduate at Georgetown University studying International Politics with a focus on international development. Growing up in Managua, Nicaragua, where unreliable public transit and dispersed urban growth shaped daily life, first sparked her interest in how infrastructure–and the governance behind it–affect opportunity and inequality.

At Georgetown, she has pursued this interest through coursework and research on Latin American cities, including projects on Managua’s public transportation system and Lima’s housing market. Through this work, she has sought to highlight how institutional design and political incentives shape whether investment translates into inclusive development, and how these city-level questions can be situated within the wider context of international development policy. Outside the classroom, she has gained experience in transport and subnational development finance as an intern at the Inter-American Development Bank and conducted comparative governance research with States and Institutions of Governance in Latin America (SIGLA).

As a GGCI Scholar, Adriana aims to expand this comparative work, connect with practitioners and peers, and explore how cities can be engines of equitable and sustainable development across Latin America and beyond.

Justine Brandes

Justine Brandes is a senior in the College, majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies. As an urban scholar, she is motivated by the question of how cities can foster both ecological resilience and community belonging. Through an interdisciplinary lens, she has examined urban issues across multiple fields, integrating coursework in the School of Foreign Service, sociology, environmental science, and anthropology. This approach enables her to understand cities not only as physical landscapes, but also as complex social, cultural, and ecological systems.

For her senior thesis, Justine is analyzing the proposed Frank Gehry–designed park over the Los Angeles River. Using geospatial mapping, she seeks to identify which communities are most likely to benefit from the reintroduction of nature. To complement this quantitative work, she is conducting a qualitative investigation into how the design of public space influences place-based belonging.

Her academic interests have been enriched by study abroad experiences in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Bilbao, Spain, where she focused on urban design. Professionally, she has gained planning experience at the National Capital Planning Commission in Washington, D.C.

Nena Burgess

Nena is a Master’s student in Urban and Regional Planning at Georgetown University, with a focus on equitable, sustainable, and community-led development. Hailing from Houston, Texas, her work explores how urban infrastructure impact Black communities, locally and globally with a specific attention to community empowerment and agency. She brings professional experience in advocacy, stakeholder engagement and digital media from her former role as an Account Executive and Public Affairs Fellow at VOX Global, a D.C. based strategic communications agency. She attended Colby College for undergraduate education, where she majored in Government and Global Studies, with a focus on community development and social movements. During her time at Colby, she served as a Housing Policy research assistant and had the opportunity to conduct field research in Kampala, Uganda and Panama City, Panama, where she studied political movements and development through a global lens.

Through the Global Cities Scholars program, she’s interested in learning from international approaches to urban resilience and applying those insights to shape more just, people-centered planning practices in the U.S. and beyond.

Harry Quinton

Harry Quinton is a Master’s in Real Estate candidate at Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies with a focus on real estate development, investment, and capital markets. He began his career as a consultant advising large public healthcare systems on real estate strategy, programming, and capital deployment across major campuses and facilities, gaining experience from underwriting through stabilization.

At Georgetown, Harry has built on his expertise in investment modeling and acquisitions, connecting the technical side of real estate finance to the larger forces shaping how cities grow and evolve. He was selected as an inaugural 2024 MIPIM Challenger and has led multiple Georgetown graduate real estate teams to success in national case competitions. Since 2023, he has served as a Committee Chairman with ULI Washington’s Young Leaders Group, where he advances dialogue on the future of cities and the
built environment. His career goal is to work at the intersection of real estate investment and development, balancing the demands of capital with the responsibility to deliver efficient, beneficial projects that strengthen cities and their real estate markets.

Sabrina Ciscomani

Sabrina is a first-year Master of Public Policy student at Georgetown, originally from Mexico City. Before coming to DC, she worked on public policy and government relations projects in Mexico, focusing on mobility and transportation. Her work ranged from strengthening transportation systems to advancing regulatory policies that promoted sustainability and accessibility in cities. She served as Operations Manager of the Mexican Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers and Importers (AMFIM) and did lobbying for the railway, aviation, micromobility, and mobility platforms sectors.

She believes mobility and transport are the backbone of thriving cities. Through her work, she has seen how effective policies—when inclusive of diverse perspectives—can reduce inequalities, foster economic growth, and enhance quality of life. She looks forward to contributing this perspective to the Georgetown Global Cities Initiative Scholars Program.

Aqsa Zaidi

Aqsa Zaidi is a first-year candidate in the International Development Policy program at the McCourt School of Public Policy. With over nine years of experience in India's development sector, she has worked across government partnerships, research and evaluation, large-scale program delivery, and public communication at organizations including Educational Initiatives and the Quality Council of India. Aqsa holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University.

Aqsa's urban research interests center on evidence-based city governance and service delivery systems. Through the GGCI Student Scholars Program, Aqsa seeks to deepen her understanding of water security and sanitation systems, and other in urban areas in the LMIC contexts. She will be pursuing applied projects that combine geospatial analysis, administrative datasets, and community-based insights to guide targeted investments, operations, and accountability across urban sectors. Her long-term goal includes active participation in local representative forums, grounding her policy work in community-based advocacy and civic engagement.

Maya Garg

Maya Garg is a senior at Georgetown, studying Economics and History. Through her coursework she became fascinated by the restrictive nature of economic mobility in urban areas and has since developed interests in affordable housing, welfare policy, and inclusive spatial planning. She has been fortunate to have had opportunities to explore these interests outside of the classroom, interning with Brookings Metro to research inclusive growth policies in small- and mid-sized American cities and with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition’s Community Development Fund to help provide technical assistance to loan-seeking small businesses.

As a GGCI Student Scholar, Maya plans to research the potential for institutional coordination and innovative urban planning practices to foster equitable development in Nairobi, leveraging local interviews, GIS mapping, and quantitative research methods for her analysis. She is grateful to join such an impressive group of Georgetown researchers and is excited to learn more about the diversity within the field of urban planning through GGCI workshops and visits to urban policy organizations. After graduating from Georgetown in the spring, Maya hopes to pursue a degree in urban planning and work on projects that enable cities to become hubs of equitable economic opportunity.

Yoonseo Cho

Yoonseo (Yoon) Cho is a Master’s candidate in the Environment and International Affairs program at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. Originally from Jeju Island, South Korea, she draws inspiration from her hometown’s pioneering Smart Grid system, the world’s first large-scale testbed and a model of eco-friendly and intelligent urban innovation. Yoon is a passionate advocate for equal access to nature and environmental justice in cities. Her academic interests focus on how green infrastructure, Nature-based Solutions, and urban design can address health disparities and build stronger community resilience. Her passion for bringing nature indoors to create restorative and shared eco-friendly environments began with a Greenwall Interior Project (a vertical living plant wall) she led as an undergraduate and has since grown to include urban space planning.

As a GGCI Student Scholar, Yoon is exploring how data-driven tools such as Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping, urban tree canopy data, and indices like NatureScore can illuminate inequities in access to restorative nature. She is especially interested in translating environmental data into compelling narratives that shape policy and engage communities. Her project aims to show that nature is a form of essential infrastructure that supports climate adaptation, bridges divides in urban life, and advances healthier and more just cities. Her long-term goal is to pursue a career in environmental communication and policy to help cities prioritize green equity so that all communities can benefit from nature as essential public health infrastructure.

Maria Luiza Delmas Campos

Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Maria Luiza Campos has always been interested in the dynamics of large cities in the Global South. Through her African Studies Certificate, she had the chance to study at Cape Town, Accra and Dar Es Salaam, gaining a comparative perspective of the roles and concerns of cities across the developing world. In her coursework, she has explored the impacts of tourism, cultural festivals, and neighborhood revitalization projects on the urban environment, focusing on questions of informality, marginalization, and urban violence.

She is excited to join GGCI’s community of urban thinkers, and grow from the diverse perspectives and approaches from which scholars understand cities. She hopes to focus her research on informal settlements across different regions, analysing how local policy and community advocacy have shaped spaces such as Rocinha, Langa and Dharavi.

Reem Taher

As a current graduate student at Georgetown University SCS, specializing in Urban and Regional Planning, Reem is passionate about promoting livable and resilient urban environments
through inclusive and evidence-based planning.

Her academic journey began with a bachelor’s degree in architecture followed by a master’s in interior design. Now, as she immerses herself in advanced studies of urban and regional planning, she is focused on integrating these disciplines to approach community challenges with a comprehensive, systems-thinking perspective. The Georgetown Global Cities Scholars Program aligns perfectly with both her academic path and her professional aspirations in pursuing PhD studies in the near future. The program's mission inspires her to guide growth thoughtfully, support natural and cultural resources, and promote equitable access to opportunities.

Her career goal is to become a leading educator in urban and regional planning. Drawing on my international work experience, participating in the Georgetown Global Cities Scholars Program will enable her to gain firsthand insight into global planning issues, contribute meaningfully to existing projects, and further develop the leadership and research skills necessary for a successful and impactful career in public service and urban planning.

Melissa Myrtaj

Growing up between New Jersey and Albania, Melissa became aware early on of how cities shape the opportunities available to people. Having New York as her backyard here in the States, and then returning to Tirana in the summer, seeing how the city evolves over her lifetime, has shaped her interest in transforming urban hubs into developing economies. As a European Studies master’s student, she is also pursuing dual certificates in Global Human Development and International Business Diplomacy to prepare for a career in impact investing and the transformation of urban economies. Her coursework in blended finance, private equity in frontier markets, and investments in emerging economies directly supports this goal.

Professionally, she has been fortunate to work across government, the private sector, and non-profits. On Capitol Hill, in the office of Senator Cory Booker, she worked closely with his legislative aide on housing and infrastructure policy. At BMW, as a government and external affairs intern, she works closely with the trade team, gaining insight into how multinational firms navigate global value chains. These experiences have taught her how external conditions like policy, investment flows, and corporate strategy directly influence whether cities can deliver services, create jobs, and sustain growth.

She hopes to build a career in development finance, with a focus on frontier markets. The GGCI Scholars Program offers the optimal platform to nurture her intellectual curiosity and research on how global capital interacts with local urban realities.

LEARNING