Bailey Haines, INTERIM PRESIDENT
GRADUATE STUDENT COUNCIL – School of Education
Email: soe.gsc.au@gmail.com

Bailey Haines (she/her) is an enthusiastic student in the Education Policy and Leadership Med program at AU. She considers authenticity and community to be paramount in all contexts. Since moving to DC from New England, she has appreciated the genuine connections within her cohort and the School of Education, where she works as a Graduate Assistant for the EPL program. Bailey is eager to represent her peers and center equity in the leadership space. 

In her free time, Bailey can be found exploring the city, taking spin classes, attending trivia and other local events, and scoping out the best study spots and thrift stores in the DMV! 

Lauryn Hankerson, Online Student Liaison
GRADUATE LEADERSHIP COUNCIL – American University
Email:  lh1648a@student.american.edu
Online Program – Master of Healthcare Management

Lauryn Hankerson is a second year Master of Healthcare Management student. Lauryn was born and currently resides in New Jersey. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Health Administration and Policy from University of Maryland, Baltimore County. After graduation, she worked in the clinical research industry as a Research Coordinator and Regulatory Specialist. Currently, Lauryn is an Assistant Clinical Project Manager at Bioclinica, Inc, in which she helps manage a variety of clinical trial projects and acts as a liaison between pharmaceutical  sponsors and CROs. One day, Lauryn aspires to become a director in clinical project management at one of the top pharmaceutical companies. She is very humbled and excited to fulfill this role as the Online Graduate Student Liaison and serve the graduate student and administrative body. 

M. SHEA LAMANNA , GOV REPRESENTATIVE
Program: Master of Public Policy

Melissa Troy is a second year Master’s student of Public Policy and Administration. She holds a Bachelor’s of Social Work from Saint Leo University. She is a born and raised Floridian with a lot of travel under her belt. She worked in human services in the private hospital setting for 6 years.

She is a former union organizer for SEIU1199, conducting contract negotiations for 19 hospitals in Florida and serving as a speaker/advocate in five other states for national negotiations (Midwest).

Since she completed her BSW, she has worked as a professional social worker for DCF ( Certified Child Welfare Case Manager state dependency), Saint Vincent de Paul (rapid rehousing for homeless vets, families, and adult civilians) and Dawn Center (domestic violence and sexual assault survivors advocate).

She also assisted in creating a nonprofit substance abuse peer support and transition center (Rplaces Transition Centre) in Brantford Ontario. In that position, she did a lot of grant writing, proposals, and began an evaluation for program accreditation. She now works at Bic Graphic Inc. in human resources, writing time and attendance policies.

At AU, she is the online representative for student government. She aspires to be a researcher and policy analyst for international social welfare policy, focusing on economic impacts of women in developing countries and community development. She is an applicant for the SPA Phd Public Policy and Administration program and wishes to continue her professional development at this amazing university.

SARAH COUNTS, PROGRAMMING CHAIR
Program: Master of Arts Management
Email: sc4538a@student.american.edu

Sarah is the Programming Chair for the CAS Graduate Student Council and the Arts Management Events Coordinator for the Emerging Arts Leaders Symposium.

She works at the Museum of the Bible, and would like to work in Events Management and Partnership Relations.

Sarah married her high school sweetheart in Jamaica, and they’ve been together for 10 years.

LAURA GIBSON, ADMINISTRATOR
Program: PhD in U.S. History
Email: aucasgsc@gmail.com

Laura Gibson graduated from American University with a B.A major in American Studies and a minor in Cinema Studies. She followed this with an M.A in Cinema Studies from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Currently, she is pursuing a PhD in U.S History.

Laura’s main research interest is the connection between history and popular culture with a strong cinema/television focus.

Her Hogwarts house is Ravenclaw. 

ROBERT DANIEL JONES III, VICE PRESIDENT
Program: Master of International Economics
Email: rj6722a@student.american.edu 

Robert is pursuing a master of international economics where he is focused on the implications and ramifications of multinational corporations and foreign direct investment involvement in emerging markets.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, SHANNON MCNAUGHT
JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL SERVICE
Program: Intercultural & International Communication
Email: ausisjournal@gmail.com

Shannon McNaught is studying public and cultural diplomacy at the School of International Service, where she serves as Editor-in-Chief for the student-run Journal of International Service, which helps promote SIS graduate student research and writing. Additionally, Shannon works as a Graduate Research Assistant and AU Connects Diversity & Inclusion Facilitator (and a District Trivia host on the side!)

Originally from southern California, Shannon studied Art History and French at the University of Notre Dame before moving overseas to continue her studies at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. Since arriving in Washington, DC, Shannon has conducted research on behalf of IO Sustainability, Americans for the Arts, and the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies.

In her spare time, Shannon is usually found wandering the District looking for the best bakeries, breweries, and bookstores.

AHMAD ABDEL RAHIM, VICE PRESIDENT OF PROGRAMMING
Program: Master of Business Administration
Email: Ahmad.AbdelRahim@student.american.edu

Ahmad Abdel-Rahim is pursuing his MBA at American University with a focus in analytics. In addition to serving on the Executive Board of the Graduate Business Association at Kogod, Ahmad is also working as a Project Manager in The Office of Information Technology at American University and is in the process of obtaining the Project Management Professional (PMP) certificate.

Prior to attending American University, Ahmad had 6 years of professional experience in the financial services sector in Lebanon focusing on IT based national and international projects from analysis to design and implementation of complicated, big-scale, distributed, real-time on-line systems as a system engineer, database administrator, consultant, technical support, team leader and project manager.

Ahmad graduated with a B.S. in Computer Science from American University of Beirut.

PARTH TANNA, VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE
Program: Master of Business Administration
Email: parth.tanna@student.american.edu

Parth Tanna is pursuing his Master of Business Administration with a focus in analytics. In addition to serving as Vice President of the Graduate Business Association at the Kogod School of Business, he also works as a research assistant for cybersecurity project and teaching assistant for managerial statistics, financial accounting, and operation management MBA courses.

Prior to joining American University, Parth worked as a research and development engineer at Samsung Electronics in Noida, India where he worked closely with cross-functional teams based in multiple global locations. He was responsible for initial requirement gathering to a final product launch for client organizations.