Shyama is Distinguished Lecturer and Director of the Public Policy Program at Roosevelt House. She has over fifteen years of experience in research, policy and advocacy focusing on social justice issues, both in the U.S. and globally. Before coming to Hunter College, she worked at the National Council for Research on Women (NCRW), where she served as Director of Research & Programs, and helped provide the vision and strategic direction for the Council’s policy agenda on economic security for low-income women, diversity in higher education and the corporate arena, women’s leadership, and ending global violence against women. She is co-author of two recent NCRW reports, Caring for Our Nation’s Future; and The Challenge and the Charge: Strategies for Retaining and Advancing Women of Color in addition to numerous commentary and opinion pieces on poverty, job creation, peace-building, and immigrant rights published in The Miami Herald, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Asia Times, The Indian Express, and the Chicago Sun-Times. She has given Congressional briefings, and presented her research findings to academic, policy, advocacy and corporate communities.

In addition to her work with NCRW, Shyama served as an Academic Adviser for Queens College, City University of New York, where she helped to shape the content and programs for a proposed Immigration Center, and design the structure and curriculum for the College’s Year of India Initiative. She also served as a consultant to the President of Queens College on strategies to advance gender diversity and multiculturalism among the College’s faculty and senior administration.

Shyama’s previous positions include: founding Executive Director of Mercy Corps’ Action Center to End World Hunger; Director of the Asian Social Issues Program at the Asia Society; and Program Officer at the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University and is a graduate of Smith College.

Emily Apple is a senior at Hunter College majoring in Political Science with minors in Public Policy and Human Rights. Her policy interests range from food security to international development; from national security to investigating the impact of money in politics. Emily spent the summer of 2013 working at Common Cause/New York researching the impact of money in politics in New York State. She will expand upon this work in the Fall of 2013 working at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU researching issues surrounding money in politics and voting rights. She also serves as the Northeast Regional Coordinator for the Roosevelt Institute | Campus Network, a national network of student-run public policy think tanks.

Brian Lamberta is a junior at the Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College majoring in Urban Studies with a minor in Public Policy. Brian’s policy interests include income security and public transit. Brian is an Associate Fellow at the National Academy of Social Insurance, and spent the summer in Washington D.C. working on elder advocacy with The Alliance for Retired Americans. This semester, he hopes to continue working in Social Insurance policy, with a particular focus on engaging college-aged Americans on the issue. Brian serves as the President of the Hunter College chapter and as the Northeast Communications Coordinator for the Roosevelt Institute | Campus Network, a national network that empowers student voices on policy issues.