Meet Our Batten Lead Ambassadors

Each year, the Batten Admissions team recruits Batten Ambassadors to help share the student experience with prospective Batten students. This year, we have eight Lead Ambassadors, four of whom are pursuing a BA in Public Policy and Leadership and four of whom are pursuing their Master of Public Policy (MPP).  

Our four undergraduate Lead Ambassadors–Wyatt, Melinda, Ellie, and Zade–are current 3rd and 4th year students who have pursued a wide variety of majors and minors along with their BA in Public Policy and Leadership. Of our MPP Ambassadors, Sarah, Sean, and Madison are postgraduate students who joined Batten after completing their undergraduate degrees, and Marina is an Accelerated MPP student. Our Accelerated MPP allows current UVA undergraduates to earn both a bachelor’s degree and MPP in a total of five years of coursework, whereas our traditional MPP is a full time, two-year program. 

Each Ambassador brings a unique perspective on life at Batten, and you will see them at many of our events throughout the year such as our MPP Open House on Saturday, October 28, as well as information sessions and special events, all of which can be found here. Read on to learn more about our Lead Ambassadors! 

Meet the Lead Ambassadors 

Name: Wyatt Carter 

Hometown: Salisbury, NC 

Major(s)/Minor(s): Working on my BA in Public Policy and Leadership and Minoring in German 

Email: vdn3js@virginia.edu 

Why I Chose Batten: I chose Batten as I felt I wouldn’t have been happy studying anything else but Public Policy. 

Favorite Batten Project or Class: My favorite class is LPPP 3620: Engaging Policy Communities. 

Fun Fact About Me: I’ve never seen a Star Wars movie, and I want to see how long I can last. 

Name: Melinda Wong 

Hometown: Gainesville, Virginia 

Major(s)/Minor(s): Double majoring between Batten and a BA in Applied Statistics 

Email: vaq9qn@virginia.edu 

Why I Chose Batten: I chose Batten because I’m passionate about applying academic theories to solving real-world problems using data. Batten offers so many ways to support that goal both within the classroom but especially beyond the classroom, so I was really excited about the hands-on opportunities and getting to interact with students and alumni shaping the policy space. 

Favorite Batten Project or Class: LPPS 5720: Data Ethics & Practice with Michelle Claibourn and our project collecting and analyzing data used in the Stepping Stones report for the Charlottesville Department of Human Services. Professor Claibourn helped reshape the way I think about using data for public policy decisions and it was incredible to be able to interact with stakeholders and provide a tangible product that will help the community. 

Fun Fact About Me: I still don’t know my left from my right… but am still happy to direct you to the best study spots on grounds (just not using left/right)! 

Name: Zade Haddad 

Hometown: Oakton, Virginia 

Major(s)/Minor(s): Public Policy & Leadership and Economics 

Email: zth3xca@virginia.edu 

Why I Chose Batten: I initially chose Batten to equip myself with the skills to play a role in influencing and impacting U.S. foreign policy towards Palestine, and have since gained an array of additional policy and professional interests in my experience as a Batten student 

Favorite Batten Project or Class: LPPP 3250: Global Development Policy 

Fun Fact About Me: Last Spring, I participated in a comparative multi-country human rights study abroad program and spent a month each in Nepal, Jordan, and Chilé. 

Name: Ellie Stombres 

Hometown: Fairfax City, Virginia 

Major(s)/Minor(s): Double majoring in Public Policy and Leadership, and German Language and Literature 

Email: ejs7dy@virginia.edu 

Why I Chose Batten: I chose the Batten BA because I loved the practical nature of the classes. I wanted tangible skills I could use to help others, so I leaned into Batten’s combination of passion and practicality. 

Favorite Batten Project or Class: My favorite Batten classes are LPPP 5500: Public Speaking with Denise Stewart and LPPS 6710: Congress 101 with Gerry Warburg. (You can take graduate courses as an undergrad at Batten with permission!) 

Fun Fact About Me: I want to go to culinary school after I graduate! 

Name: Sarah Boch 

Hometown: Abington, PA | Short Hills, NJ 

Undergraduate Institution and Major(s)/Minor(s): University of Rochester with a major in International Relations and a minor in History 

Email: vkp2td@virginia.edu  

Why I Chose Batten: The people. The faculty and staff met with me before I even committed, to answer any questions I had. Their commitment to everyone, not just those who had already committed, demonstrated their level of care, dedication, and vested interest regardless of where a student went. Since then, I have been blown away at how much Batten truly feels like a family 

Favorite Batten Project or Class: So many to choose from! LPPA 6150/LPPA 7160: Research Methods and Data Analysis I and II, LPPA 6100/LPPA 7110: Economics of Public Policy I and II, LPPP 6250: Introduction to Policy Analysis, and LPPP 7559: Geopolitical Underpinnings of Foreign Policy 

Fun Fact About Me: I got stitches because a boat light flew off and hit me in the head! 

Name: Sean Dedmon 

Hometown: Lexington, South Carolina 

Undergraduate Institution and Major(s)/Minor(s): The University of South Carolina, majoring in history and political science with a minor in business administration. 

Email: seanscva@gmail.com 

Why I Chose Batten: I chose Batten because of the program’s emphasis on leadership. I feel like it is important to consider policy from more than just the quantitative analysis perspective. 

Favorite Batten Project or Class: My favorite Batten project so far has been the 48-hour project in LPPP 6250: Introduction to Policy Analysis. Starting with a completely random topic was a very exciting challenge. 

Fun Fact About Me: I grew up visiting family in the mountains of East Tennessee! 

Name: Marina Peebles 

Hometown: Richmond, Virginia and Seville, Spain 

Undergraduate Institution and Major(s)/Minor(s): UVA French and Government Dual Major 

Email: mep6jj@virginia.edu 

Why I Chose Batten: I want to go into public service upon graduation and a master’s degree helps a lot in the job process! I also love the school and the Batten community, and many of my favorite classes during my time as an undergrad at UVA were Batten classes 🙂 

Favorite Batten Project or Class: One of the main reasons I applied to Batten was because of Professor Martin’s LPPP 4725: NGOs in the Policy Arena class — I loved it! 

Fun Fact About Me: I skipped 3rd grade but did 4th grade twice. 

Name: Madison Cohen 

Hometown: Wading River, New York 

Undergraduate Institution and Major(s)/Minor(s): Providence College; Double major in Global Studies and Sociology, Minor in French  

Why I Chose Batten: I chose Batten because of the leadership element of the curriculum. I wanted a holistic policy education and I believe leadership is a central piece of the puzzle. 

Favorite Batten Project or Class: The 48-hour project!  

Fun Fact About Me: I have been to the Matterhorn