Elisabeth Schmeissner is a dual BA/MIA student at Barnard College and SIPA studying international affairs, human rights, and economic and political development. Her Ukrainian heritage has informed her academic interests in post-Soviet states, peacebuilding, autocracies, and democratic development. She has previously worked for local political campaigns, and over the summer, was an Athena Advocacy Institute Fellow working for All In Together, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering women who want to enter politics. Outside of school, she volunteers at pro se asylum clinics around NYC and is involved in the Columbia Policy Institute’s Human Rights and Foreign Policy centers.