Our Alumni

Nami was the Director of the Council Office of Racial Equity (CORE). Before being named Director, Nami served as CORE’s Associate Director of Policy and Systems since the team’s launch in 2021. 

Before joining CORE, Nami was a member of The Lab @ DC, an applied research team in the Mayor’s Office, based in the Office of the City Administrator. Nami primarily worked on housing and homelessness projects, supporting District agencies in asking questions, testing policies, and improving how they served residents.

Nami joined DC Government after completing her master’s degree and three years at DoSomething.org, a nonprofit. As a Campaigns Manager there, she developed and managed national campaigns on poverty and homelessness. After two years running campaigns, she joined the organization’s tech team as a Product Manager, designing internal systems and surfacing data to drive decision-making.

While pursuing her master’s degree, Nami worked on issues of gun violence at the Mayor’s Office in the City of Detroit and on improving the release of open data alongside Fellow Erie Meyer at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center. 

Nami earned a BS in Business Economics from New York University’s Stern School of Business and a Master in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, concentrating in social and urban policy. Outside of work, Nami enjoys exploring her Ward 5 neighborhood, planning her next DIY project, and thinking too much about getting a dog. 

Michelle was a CORE Fellow in Fall 2023.

Prior to her fellowship at CORE, she interned at Ayuda, a non-profit dedicated to providing legal, social, and language services to low-income immigrants in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. Her policy interests include immigration, affordable housing, and womxn’s rights. She hopes to one day become an immigration attorney in her home state of Texas and open her own practice. 

Michelle is an undergraduate student at Georgetown University, pursuing a B.A in Justice and Peace Studies with a minor in Women and Gender Studies. At Georgetown, she is the Marketing Director for the Georgetown Scholars Program, which is a community of first-generation and low-income students on campus. 

If she is not doing homework, you can find her planning exciting events for the Georgetown Scholars Program, exploring new coffee shops, spending absurd amounts of money at local farmers’ markets, or scrapbooking!  

Riya was a CORE Fellow in Fall 2023.

She is currently a senior at The George Washington University, where she is studying Political Science and Data Science and minoring in Journalism.  

At GW, she co-founded Students for Indigenous and Native American Rights to bring attention to and engage the GW community in activism and education surrounding Indigenous rights, cultures, and issues in the Americas. She is also Vice President of the Student Consortium on Women, Peace, and Security, where she coordinates with agencies like the Department of State, field practitioners, and students to highlight how conflict impacts women and how they can be involved in peacemaking processes. Riya’s involvement in these organizations helped her develop an interest in how policy and intersectionality work in tandem to affect outcomes of marginalized groups.  

Prior to joining the CORE team, Riya interned at nonprofits Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America), Civic Nation, and Housing Rights Initiative. 

When she’s not in school, you can find Riya trying out restaurants in Ward 2, working out, exploring DC, singing, or attempting to learn new languages.  

Mark was a CORE Fellow in Summer 2023.

Mark is a second year Master of Public Administration student at San Francisco State University. In his program, Mark focuses on labor policy. He is a proud D.C. native, with his paternal relatives and ancestors calling the District home for the better part of the past two centuries. 

Prior to entering his Master of Public Administration program, Mark worked as a legislative aide at the Council under former councilmember Elissa Silverman. He split his time between Councilmember Silverman’s at-large office and the Committee on Labor and Workforce Development. His main responsibilities included legislation benchmarking, research on labor and housing policy, data analysis, and drafting policy recommendations. Much of Mark’s work contributed to District agency performance oversight and committee budget reports, which sought to improve the effectiveness of District-run services, programs, and benefits relied upon by District workers. In addition, he served as an advisor to the Council’s Subcommittee on Redistricting.  

Mark received his BA in Political Science and Africana Studies at the University of Delaware, where he served as a member of the executive cabinet of the university’s Student Government Association. While at Delaware, Mark collaborated with student organizations, faculty, the board of trustees and administrators on numerous campaigns centered around: addressing food insecurity, increasing civic engagement, enhancing campus civil political discourse, and reimagining racial and socioeconomic equity to effectively improve the campus experience for impacted students. 

When he is not working at CORE, he is probably adding to his vinyl collection, playing basketball with friends, reading, watching The Wire, or exploring new cities with friends and family. 

Brian was the founding Director of CORE. Prior to joining CORE, Brian served in several leadership capacities for Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie and the Council’s Committee on Business and Economic Development.  There, he helped lead the District’s efforts to operationalize racial equity into the Council’s legislative process. He also helped provide innovative solutions to increase opportunities for the District’s small and local businesses and in particular, Black and minority-owned businesses. 

Brian received his BA in History at Hampton University, an MA in History from North Carolina Central University, and his PhD in US History, African American History, and Atlantic World History from the University of Memphis. When he is not working at CORE, he can be found roaming local bookstores, somewhere in a local archive, barbecuing, or spending time with his wife and two children at their home in Ward 8.

Tonée joined CORE as an inaugural Racial Equity Fellow during her fourth year as a part time evening student at the University of District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law. Previously, Tonée served as an intern for the National Legal Aid and Defenders Association and as a Teaching Assistant for multiple professors. Tonée received UDC Law’s Dean’s Fellowship Scholarship Award for the last three years, earning a full ride in tuition.  

At UDC, she served as the Student Bar Association Vice President while working as a resident in the DC Bar’s Inaugural Writers In Residence Program. In 2014, Tonée received her Bachelor of Science in Law & American Civilization at Towson University in Towson, MD. Three years later she received her Masters of Professional Studies in Paralegal Studies at George Washington University in Washington, DC.

For the last five years, Tonée worked for the federal government. In 2016, she worked for the Department of Labor as a Pathways Intern in the Office of the Solicitor, in the Division of Federal Employees and Energy Workers Compensation as a Paralegal Specialist. In 2017, she continued her time in the Office of the Solicitor working with the Fair Labor Standards Division as a Legal Assistant. In 2019, she served as a Paralegal Specialist for the Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, General Counsel’s Office. Later, she joined the Department of Justice continuing her work as a Paralegal in their Tax Division.