Elian Kai Juarez (’27)

This summer I interned on Capitol Hill and at the World Bank. On the Hill, I worked in Congressman Gabe Vasquez’s office, representing the only battleground district in my home state of New Mexico. I learned much about pressing local and national issues as I helped process and correspond to the concerns of constituents. Here, I experienced first-hand how the policymaking process works, diving in by helping to write bill recommendations or help conduct legislative research for staffers in the office.

At the Bank, I was responsible for setting up their new air quality monitoring network, preparing and deploying 100+ sensor installation kits to Bank offices across the world. Working together with the company AirGradient, I met with partners at UNICEF and UNDP to consolidate our efforts to create replicable instructions that countries may use when establishing their own networks of air pollution sensors. This is a crucial first step to strengthening policy to protect public health against the risks of air pollution, responsible for 8-9 million premature deaths every year.

I’ve learned so much through this experience, and I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to spend this summer in DC to help shape my future goals in environmental policy and atmospheric modeling.