Meet our Fall 2023 interns!

This fall, GGWash is thrilled to welcome Maya Hopkins, Dean Howell, and Adriana Vance to our team as the newest GGWash interns – and to welcome Paul Medvetsky back for a second semester.

Maya and Paul will be supporting our community engagement, education, fundraising, and events, while Adriana and Dean are working with our policy team on research, data analysis, and advocacy. You may also see some posts from them over the course of the fall: we’re excited to learn from them!

As we work toward our vision of a Washington region where housing is abundant and affordable and it’s safe and easy to get around without a car, we’re so glad to have some of these rising leaders at the table. We wanted to give Maya, Dean, Adriana, and Paul a chance to introduce themselves in their own words.

Maya Hopkins, Engagement Intern

Hello everyone! My name is Maya Hopkins and this fall I am working as one of the GGWash Engagement Interns, where I assist with communications, event planning, and outreach. I have lived in the DC Metro area for my entire life and am proud to call it my home. Growing up in Montgomery County, Maryland, has connected me to a diverse community of people and given me an upbringing that I am forever grateful for.

Living in an area where I was able to easily find people both different from and similar to me opened my eyes to understanding the unique value of every person I meet on an individual level. The people in my life fostered a deep sense of community within me, and I now choose to carry the importance of community with me everywhere I go.

Currently, I am a senior at the University of Maryland, College Park. I am pursuing a double major in Operations Management and Business Analytics, and Information Systems, as well as a minor in Nonprofit Leadership and Social Innovation. In the long term, I hope to use my studies to help nonprofits operate more efficiently in the age of technology.

Last summer, I interned at Housing Initiative Partnership, an affordable housing counseling and developer nonprofit, where I explored how organizations around the country are combating the housing crisis with home-sharing. Home-sharing is an alternative to single-family housing and allows unused housing space to be beneficial for both the homeowners and home seekers. This experience taught me about the importance of growing the housing supply and how affordable housing is crucial in the fight against social and economic inequities within communities.

I am passionate about GGWash’s mission and eager to learn more about the power of our words and advocacy.

Dean Howell, Policy Intern

Hello Hello! My name is Dean and I’m a first semester graduate student at American University. I’m in the School of International Service and pursuing a Master of Arts in Global Environmental Policy. I’m thrilled to join GGWash’s policy team, as I’ve been a reader of GGWash for years!

After attending high school in Bethesda, I attended the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, New York. There, I became more involved with environmental justice research and activism. I worked as a research fellow for the Center for Environmental Medicine and Informatics, where we explored the connection between air pollution and COVID-19 mortality, as well as different methods of mapping environmental justice areas.

If you haven’t heard the term before, “environmental justice” or EJ, refers to the right of people to fair treatment and meaningful involvement in environmental policy, planning, and law. The environmental justice movement was started by individuals, primarily people of color, who sought to address the inequity of environmental protection in their communities.

After moving back to the area, I became more interested in climate change adaptations for flooding and urban heat in the Washington region. Particularly, I’m interested in how environmental justice can be built into climate change adaptation projects.

When I’m not working at GGWash or at school, I’m at my apartment in NoMA! I’ve lived there for the last year, and am constantly trying not to spend all my money on the food at Union Market. It’s also a great area if you like to run because it’s so close to the MBT. My pride and joy is my plant collection, but I also like to embroider, sketch, and paint regularly. When possible, I do walks in Rock Creek Park or trek out to Maryland/Virginia to get some hiking in.

Adriana Vance, Policy Intern

Hi there! My name is Adriana, and I am a second year Master of Public Policy student at Georgetown University. I went to college in Michigan, but I am originally from Alexandria. At Georgetown, I have been focusing on improving my data analysis and research skills while focusing on urban development and the intersection of housing and transportation issues.

After graduating from Kalamazoo College in 2020 with a BA in political science and French, I moved to Detroit where I worked as a tutor/mentor at a local high school. Detroit quickly became one of my favorite cities because of its vibrant culture, great food, and strong local community. During my time there, I realized that I wanted to focus on local policy and advocacy work. I think that urban development should be about creating places where people not only have access to basic necessities and amenities, but feel a sense of belonging. Local-level policy work and advocacy are integral to creating and protecting these communities. I moved back home to Alexandria in 2021 to pursue a career in policy, and began my graduate program in 2022.

Since then, I have had the opportunity to intern in Congress, work with the DC Office of Planning on food security issues, and (over the summer) work in the Detroit Budget Office as a mayoral fellow, where I conducted research on participatory budgeting among other projects. All of these experiences further solidified my interest in working in urbanism, which is why I am thrilled to add my internship at Greater Greater Washington to the list!

At GGWash, I will be helping the Policy team with research and advocacy work, as well as organizing their database of candidate endorsements. When I’m not working, you can find me at the climbing gym, jogging on the parkway, or editing articles for my school’s policy publication.

Paul Medvetsky, Engagement Intern

Hello everyone! My name is Paul, and I’m currently a senior in my last semester at Georgetown. I’m pursuing a Culture and Politics degree with a focus on urban studies and global cities. I’m excited to be rejoining the engagement team this fall, after spending the summer working on corridor planning in Staten Island as a planning intern with the NYC Department of City Planning. This experience was profoundly important to me, as I helped plan a major corridor for my home borough. I am a born and raised New Yorker, born in Brooklyn and have lived in Staten Island since the age of five.

I have always been fascinated by cities and the ways in which they work. Having grown up using transit, I am particularly interested in its improvement and immense value, and the ways it can be combined with micromobility and better land uses. My love for transit is also inspired by my experiences of being car-lite since late 2019. I’m a firm believer in the transformative power of transit; planned and executed well, it can turn the Washington region into a powerhouse. Working with GGWash reinforces my desire to join the group of talented and determined people working to help cities like DC realize their full potential to be the hosts of thriving, inviting, and just places for all who seek them.

This fall, I will be continuing my work of helping GGWash further this mission. Since completing my internship in the spring of this year, I have fallen in love with DC for its distinct charm and scale. This city is full of neighborhoods that are full of life; there is something new to learn and behold around every corner. I’m looking forward to getting back into the swing of urbanism in DC, and to meeting even more amazing and brilliant leaders and practitioners. I am hoping to keep building upon my planning experience while exploring the possibilities for my future. More than anything, I’m excited to soak up all things DC all the time!