David Gergen fellows: Brandon Moore, Ruthie Gottesman, Paul Garbarino, Afreen Ahmed, Camy Pearson

The Center for Public Leadership launched a new program, the David Gergen Summer Fellowship, this past summer. The fellowship was established in recognition of David Gergen, the founding director of the Center for Public Leadership, whose dedication to developing effective public leaders has made a significant impact at Harvard Kennedy School.

This highly selective program—which provides financial support to cover expenses during a 10-week summer internship in the public or nonprofit sectors—enables students who are passionate about public service and leadership to gain hands-on experience. Five talented students were chosen as the inaugural fellows, and they took on transformative roles across sectors, working on artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure, providing nonpartisan campaign advisory support to veterans, dissecting economic development in Detroit, and more.

Read below to learn about each fellow’s internship experience.

Afreen Ahmed headshot

Afreen Ahmed MPP 2025

Afreen Ahmed MPP 2025 shared her experience as an intern at the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. Working closely with the immigration policy team, Afreen helped speed up work authorization permits and reduce barriers to relicensing for skilled immigrants. 

Paul Garbarino headshot

Paul Garbarino MPP 2025

Paul Garbarino MPP 2025 assisted the City of Detroit by studying the city’s tax abatement expiration effects. In this internship, he worked closely with Detroit CFO’s Chief of Strategy and HKS alumnus, Kevin Bain MPP 2020. 

Ruthie Gottesman headshot

Ruthie Gottesman MPP 2025

Ruthie Gottesman MPP 2025 worked in London, England this past summer, where she was an intern at the Tony Blair Institute studying the impacts of AI and digital public infrastructure.

Brandon Moore headshot

Brandon Moore MPP/MBA 2025

Brandon Moore MPP/MBA 2025, a former Army officer, worked as a state-level campaign intern with New Politics, a nonpartisan organization that provides campaign advisory support to veterans and service-oriented candidates. 

Camy Pearson headshot

Camy Pearson MPA 2025

Camy Pearson MPA 2025 spent her summer as an intern at the Office of the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services at their headquarters in Washington, D.C. Here, she supported the deputy secretary and her team on projects related to technology and operations. 

Interested in learning more about the David Gergen Summer Fellowship Program?
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