Who We Are
Luisa Boyarski, Ph.D.
Luisa Boyarski, Ph.D. is Director of the Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership and Associate Research Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy. She is involved in developing and executing the Center’s many executive education and customized programs, and representing the Center at Georgetown University and in the broader community. She researched and wrote How to Lead Systems Change Work and Advancing Racial Equity Within Nonprofit Organizations. Luisa frequently conducts workshops and gives keynote addresses on NGO Management and High Impact NGOs to international delegations, including trainings in China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Mongolia, Panama, Romania, and St. Vincent. She has also co-taught an undergraduate course on Philanthropy and Social Change. Prior to working at CPNL, she was the Executive Director of a D.C.-based nonprofit, working on global warming prevention with Arctic indigenous people. She currently leads a coalition of grassroots groups in Virginia, representing over 15,000 residents. Luisa received her Ph.D. in Comparative Government from Georgetown University, with a research focus on the role of nonprofit coalitions in public policy advocacy. Click for more
Eliana Mlawski
Eliana Mlawski is the Program Coordinator at the McCourt Center for Public & Nonprofit Leadership. She is responsible for the Center’s office operations, executive certificate programs, communications, event management, and semesterly internship program. Eliana grew up in rural New Hampshire and also calls DC home. She is passionate about environmental justice, international development, and sustainable food systems. She conducted biodiversity monitoring fieldwork with the Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research (ACEER) Foundation and published “Ecological and Sociocultural Systems Create a Strong Foundation for Sustainable Wildlife Management in the Amazon.” She brings previous experience from conducting legislative research in the U.S. House of Representatives, focusing on environmental and health policy, and writing bilingual grant reports in the U.S. Forest Service’s Office of International Programs & Trade. She graduated from the Georgetown College of Arts & Sciences with a dual degree in Government and Spanish and a minor in Environment & Sustainability.
Kathryn Fargione
Kathryn Fargione is the Pablo Eisenberg Public Interest Fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Public & Nonprofit Leadership (CPNL) and a second-year MPP candidate at the McCourt School of Public Policy. At CPNL, Kathryn supports a variety of research projects and in-person programming. Kathryn has prior experience supporting the Offices of Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Representative Laura Gillen, and Senator Charles E. Schumer, with a particular focus on appropriations and health policy. Additionally, Kathryn has worked with Jewish Vocational Services (JVS) Boston, where she assisted clients with assessments to secure vital public transportation and childcare access, and Girls Inc. of Worcester, overseeing STEM and literacy educational programming for girls in underserved communities. She is originally from Garden City, New York and graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 2025 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and in Spanish.
Brennan Gallagher
Brennan Gallagher is a Pablo Eisenberg Public Interest Fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Public & Nonprofit Leadership (CPNL) and a third-year MPP/MBA candidate at the McCourt School of Public Policy and McDonough School of Business. Prior to returning to graduate school, she worked as a reinsurance data analyst focused on natural catastrophe risk. She has also worked as a legal researcher and as an analyst at the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Most recently, Brennan was a Summer Associate with Alvarez & Marsal’s Public Sector practice, where she supported work in the healthcare sector. Originally from New York City, Brennan graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in Legal Studies, with a primary focus on criminal justice policy and reform.
Keonté Lee
Keonté Lee is the 2026-2027 Kathy Kretman Leadership Fellow at the Center for Public & Nonprofit Leadership and is also pursuing an Executive Master in Policy Leadership at McCourt. With more than eight years of experience spanning government, nonprofit leadership, political strategy, and fundraising, she has dedicated her career to building partnerships, strengthening communities, and eliminating barriers for women of color who are running for political office. She has held leadership and engagement roles with the U.S. General Services Administration, EMILY’s List, and political campaigns where she has cultivated relationships that drive meaningful change. As a former Senior Advisor and Workshop Facilitator with DemocraShe, Keonté designed and led leadership development programs that equipped young women with the skills, confidence, and tools to become the next generation of civic and community leaders. Keonté is originally from Cross, South Carolina and a proud graduate of Spelman College. She believes that creativity and centering community are powerful tools for creating lasting impact.
Urvashi Suraj
Urvashi Suraj is a 2026-2027 Waldemar A. Nielsen Philanthropy Fellow at the Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership and a second-year Master of International Development Policy candidate at the McCourt School of Public Policy. She began her career in finance before moving into development work in India, where she spent over five years focused on social protection. Most recently, she led the internal impact team at Haqdarshak, a social enterprise working to improve access to welfare services in India, surveying thousands of individuals from underserved communities and building partnerships with academics, philanthropies, and grassroots organizations to strengthen this work. Urvashi is committed to centering community voices in philanthropy and to co-creating policy solutions that genuinely work for the people they’re meant to serve. She is also a 2022-23 Banyan Impact Fellow, formerly known as the William J. Clinton Fellowship for Service in India, and a certified Chartered Accountant.
Emma Zhou
Emma Zhou is the Communications & Operations Intern at the McCourt Center for Public & Nonprofit Leadership, and she is currently pursuing a BS in Foreign Service in International Politics at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She brings experience from her roles in Payna and BOLTBOLT, where she supports marketing and communications across different platforms. Most recently, she interned in the Audit Department at Ernst & Young, drafting working memos and analyzing financial data. At Georgetown University, she is serving as the Director of Marketing and Media for the 64th iteration of the North American Invitational Model United Nations (NAIMUN LXIV) and a Development Coordinator for the Georgetown Undergraduate Journal of International Politics (GUJIP). She calls both San Francisco and Shanghai home and is deeply passionate about women’s healthcare.