Woodbridge Fellowship

Established in 2005 by President Richard C. Levin, the Woodbridge Fellowship introduces recent Yale College graduates to the work and administration of Yale. The fellowship provides valuable professional experience for potential careers in higher education and non-profit organizations, particularly for recent graduates belonging to minority communities currently underrepresented in university administration. 

Fellowships are full-time paid positions in the offices of university leaders, who take active interest in fellows’ professional development. Fellows directly report to senior members of their offices and work with a variety of university staff, at all levels. Fellows most often combine day-to-day duties with responsibilities for specific projects that utilize their research abilities and other higher-level skills. Organizational and writing skills are particularly valuable, as is the ability to work well with multiple constituencies: staff of all kinds (clerical, technical, service, maintenance, managerial, and professional), faculty, alumni, and students.   

Fellows meet regularly together, including for lunchtime conversation with the president, provost,  secretary, and other university leaders. These conversations about roles and responsibilities, and the career paths that led people into academic administration, give fellows a broad understanding of many facets of working in higher education.

Profiles on current and past Woodbridge Fellows can be found below.

For prospective fellows

April 10 update: One position in the Yale College Dean’s Office is now open for applications, which are due April 21 at 4:30 p.m.  Applications to the other Woodbridge Fellow positions are now closed.

General Information

Applications are open to Yale College graduates of the Class of 2022 and Class of 2023.

The Woodbridge Fellowship is a full-time paid position in the offices of a university leader, offering an introduction to the work and administration of Yale. 

It provides valuable professional experience, particularly for students belonging to minority communities currently underrepresented in university administration.  

Fellows receive a salary of approximately $55,000 with medical, dental, and vision insurance, and other managerial and professional benefits.

Participating offices and centers are:

  • Education Studies program
  • Good Life Center
  • Office of International Affairs (2 positions)
  • Office of New Haven Affairs
  • Office of Public Affairs & Communication
  • Office of the Secretary and Vice President for University Life
  • Center for the Study of Race, Indigeneity, and Transnational Migration
  • Yale College Dean’s Office 

Application Instructions

To apply for the Yale College Dean’s Office positions, please submit by April 21 at 4:30 p.m. a cover letter, a resume, and an unofficial transcript as a single pdf file.  Use with the following file name format: LastName.OfficeName (Example: Thorkelson.EDST).

Questions about the fellowship or application process can be directed to Blake Thorkelson (blake.thorkelson@yale.edu) and Christian Milian-Santiago (christian.milian@yale.edu).

Current Woodbridge Fellows

Seina Cho
Office of International Affairs, Communications & Research

Seina Cho is from Vancouver, Canada and graduated from Yale College in 2022 with a B.A. in Sociology, with an East Asia Studies concentration. She is currently the Woodbridge Fellow supporting communications and research in the Office of International Affairs, managing media outreach and conducting research for upcoming international programming. As an undergraduate, Seina served as a board member in Yale’s Interpretation Network and was heavily involved in Yale’s Varsity Gymnastics Team, serving as Team Captain her senior year. Seina was also a President’s Public Service Fellow where she worked with LEAP, a local New Haven educational non-profit. After college, she is looking to pursue a Master’s in International Relations where she hopes to focus primarily on political and economic relations between East Asia and the world.

Laurie Gomez
Schwarzman Center

Laurie Gomez is an alum of Ezra Stiles College with a major in Film & Media Studies. While a student at Yale, Laurie was active with the Yale College Council and Her Campus at Yale. She concentrated her studies in political science and film production. Laurie filmed and produced a short documentary on Yale influencers for her senior thesis project. She hopes to work in documentary filmmaking in the future. As YSC’s Woodbridge Fellow, Laurie supports the director of marketing and communications in a broad range of activities, including internal and external marketing of the Center and its programs, institutional advancement, and special events. Laurie graduated from H. C. Wilcox Technical High School in Meriden, Connecticut, and has a background in graphic design.

Kevin Han
Office of Public Affairs and Communications

A native of Denver, Colorado, Kevin Han graduated from Yale College in 2022 with a B.A. in Political Science. He is the current Woodbridge Fellow for the Office of Public Affairs and Communications (OPAC), assisting both the editorial and media relations teams in promoting the work of the university. Prior to his time at OPAC, Kevin interned for The Brookings Institution and for Governor Jared Polis of Colorado. As an undergrad, he devoted his time to writing and editing for The Yale Politic, serving as marketing director for the Yale International Relations Association, working as a research assistant for the Political Science department, and more. Kevin is excited to continue his Yale journey and gain valuable experience in communications at OPAC. He spends his free time watching tennis, participating in book clubs, and avoiding the New Haven humidity at all costs.

Christian Milian-Santiago
Office of the Secretary and Vice President for University Life

Christian is a Class of 2021 graduate from Waterbury, CT with a Bachelor’s in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and a Certificate in Education Studies. He is the current Woodbridge Fellow for the Office of the Secretary and Vice President for University Life (OSVPUL). In the OSVPUL he works alongside university leaders in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) work, the management of YaleConnect, and crafting the vision for university-wide student life activities such as major ceremonies. During his time at Yale as a student, Christian was involved in Despierta Boricua, the Puerto Rican Student Organization at Yale, Matriculate, and AIESEC at Yale. Christian also held a variety of mentorship positions, having served as a STARS Peer Mentor, First-Year Counselor (FroCo), and FSY Residential Director. Christian hopes to help in advancing the OSVPUL’s work in DEI by supporting university activities that will help further a sense of belonging across Yale’s graduate and undergraduate student body.

Alex Rocha-Álvarez
Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Alex Rocha-Álvarez (she/they) calls Watsonville, California and its strawberry fields their first home. In 2023, however, her second home will be the Humanities Division of Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences where she is working as a Woodbridge Fellow!

While at Yale, Alex majored in American Studies with a concentration in the politics of American communities–specifically, she studied the politics of the immigrant farmworker communities that call Watsonville home. Outside of the classroom, she wrote and edited for DOWN Magazine, a student publication dedicated to highlighting the voices of students of color on campus, and published work in The New Journal, Broad Recognition, Soft Punk Magazine, and the Monterey County Weekly. Alex is a proud alum of Saybrook College, and loves yelling “Say-WHAT?” on the streets of New Haven just to see who responds.

In her free time, Alex enjoys taking inappropriately long naps, binge watching documentary series, reading way too much into Taylor Swift lyrics, and asking the tarot cards for advice on any minor (or major) inconvenience that comes her way. They are excited to face this year with an ethics of bravery, empathy, and love.

Audrey Yeung
Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning

Audrey Yeung is originally from Cherry Hill, New Jersey and graduated Class of 2022 majoring in Neuroscience. She is currently the Woodbridge Fellow for the Academic Strategies Program of the Poorvu Center for Teaching & Learning, and aids in developing programming for undergraduate students navigating the curricula and student life at Yale. During her undergraduate years she enjoyed dancing in Yale Movement, playing violin in the Davenport Pops Orchestra, serving as an Academic Strategies Peer Mentor, and getting involved with the Yale QuestBridge Chapter board. Audrey is excited to continue working with ASP while pursuing medical school.

Jackie Zhang
Good Life Center

Jackie is the Woodbridge Fellow and Programming Director for Yale’s Good Life Center, working to cultivate a campus culture that prioritizes students’ physical and mental health. Originally from Fair Lawn, New Jersey, he graduated from Yale in 2022 with a B.S. in Psychology. During his time as an undergrad, his work on campus centered around his love for community building and community care. He served as a Project Coordinator for Yale’s Communication and Consent Educators (CCE) program and as a First-Year Counselor for Silliman College. His professional experience lies in marketing in the tech industry, sales in the events/services industry, and his over a decade-long experience working and managing his family’s Chinese take-out restaurant. Jackie is deeply passionate about eating delicious foods, documenting memories, practicing self-care, consuming content, contemplating said content, and spending quality time with his loved ones.

Past Woodbridge Fellows

Nadira Abdihali, Office of International Affairs

Allison Bensiger, Office of Public Affairs and Communications

Alec Bernal, Schwarzman Center

Abby Lee, Office of New Haven Affairs

Christian Milian-Santiago, Office of the Secretary and Vice President for University Life

Xán Miñan, Chaplain’s Office

Alexa Vaghenas, Good Life Center

Nadira Abdihali, Office of International Affairs

Jorge Anaya, Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning & Yale College Dean’s Office

Ruhi Manek, Schwarzman Center

Xán Miñan, Chaplain’s Office

Olivia Roth, Office of International Affairs

Alexa Vaghenas, Good Life Center

Jorge Anaya, Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning & Yale College Dean’s Office

Valentina Guerrero, Office of the Secretary and Vice President for University Life

Kevin Kim, Chaplain’s Office

Stephanie Reynolds Ramos, Office of Public Affairs and Communications

Anita Norman, Office of Public Affairs and Communications,

Sabrina Rostkowski, Office of International Affairs

Lekha Tlhotlhalemaje, Office of International Affairs

Christian De Leon, Office of the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Eilaf Elmileik, Office of International Affairs

Nic Harris, Office of Public Affairs and Communications

Saatchi Kalsi, Office of International Affairs

Kevin Kim, Chaplain’s Office

Madeline Lemberg, Office of General Counsel

José López, Center for Teaching and Learning & Yale College Dean’s Office

Katie McCleary, Office of the Secretary and Vice President for Student Life

Stephanie Reynolds Ramos, Office of Public Affairs and Communications

Emma Smith, Office of Sustainability

Mallory Isburg, Chaplain’s Office

Jacqueline Ly, Office of International Affairs

Ewurama Okai, Office of International Affairs

Steven Roets, Office of the Secretary and Vice President for Student Life

Keni Sabath, Office of General Counsel

Leah Salovey, Office of the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Karin Shedd, Office of Public Affairs & Communications

Kendall Teare, Office of Public Affairs & Communications

Renee Bollier, Office of International Affairs
Amanda Stephanie F. Farrell, Office of the Secretary and Vice President for Student Life
Beata Fiszer, Office of Sustainability
Dianne Lake, Office of International Affairs
Mustafa Malik, Chaplain’s Office
Esther Portyansky, Office of the General Counsel
Keni Sabath, Center for Teaching and Learning
Kyle Sevel, Office of the Secretary and Vice President for Student Life
Karin Shedd, Office of Public Affairs and Communications 
Christian Soler, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office

Román Castellanos-Monfil, Office of Public Affairs and Communications
Elena Gonzalez, Office of Development
Tiffany Ho, Office of International Affairs
Maxwell Knapp, Office of Sustainability
Christian Maxwell, Chaplain’s Office
Matthew Ribeiro, Office of the Deputy Vice President for Human Resources and Administration
Sara Samuel, Office of the Secretary and Vice President for Student Life

Ifeanyi Awachie, Office of International Affairs
Armando Ghinaglia, Office of the Secretary and Vice President for Student Life
Isadora Italia, Office of International Affairs
Ryan Laemel, Office of Sustainability
Christian Maxwell, Chaplain’s Office
Aubrey Renault, Office of International Students and Scholars
Wazhma Sadat, Jackson Institute for Global Affairs
Jack Zhao, Office of the Deputy Vice President for Human Resources and Administration

Marj Berman, Office of the Secretary and Vice President for Student Life
Abigail Braden, Chaplain’s Office
Leslie Bull, Office of International Affairs
Omar Dairanieh, Office of Public Affairs & Communications
Lily Lewis-McNeil, Office of Development
Ryan Mendias, Office of Digital Dissemination and Online Education
So Yoon Sim, Office of International Affairs
Christian Vazquez, Office of the Deputy Vice President for Human Resources and Administration

Aala Abdelgadir, Office of International Affairs
Katie Carmody, Association of Yale Alumni
David Demres, Yale-NUS College
Bezawit Getachew, Office of Administration
Brandon Levin, Office of the Vice President
Jennifer Mosby, West Campus Administration
Julia Myers, Office of Public Affairs & Communications
Umar Qadri, Office of the Chaplaincy
Emmanuel Quartey, Office of Public Affairs & Communications
Erin Schutte, Office of International Affairs
Chandrika Srivastava, Office of the Secretary and Vice President for Student Life

Sarika Arya, Office of International Affairs
David Demres, Yale-NUS College
Grace Fisher, Office of the Secretary
George Harris, Office of International Affairs
Faye Maison, Association of Yale Alumni
Ivy Onyeador, Office of the Chaplaincy

Adam Haliburton, Office of Federal Relations
Khadija Khan, Office of Administration
Neli Lazarova, Office of International Affairs

Erin Johnson, Office of the Secretary
Amy Jones, Office of the General Counsel
Neli Lazarova, Office of International Affairs

Fiza Ahmed, Office of International Affairs
Jamal Fulton, Office of Administration
Deeona Gaskin, Office of the General Counsel
Erin Johnson, Office of Public Affairs
Yuan Ren, Office of International Affairs
Clairelise Rodriguez, Office of Federal Relations
Altaf Saadi, Office of the Chaplaincy
Adam Scharfman, Office of International Affairs
Thuy Tran, Office of Development

Yusuf Samara, Office of International Students & Scholars and Office of International Affairs
Ricardo Sandoval, Office of New Haven and State Affairs
Iris Shih, Office of the University Printer
Erin Thomas, Office of the President and Office of the Secretary
Lauren Thompson, Office of the General Counsel
Luis Vasquez, Office of Public Affairs

Yusuf Samara, Office of International Students & Scholars and Office of International Affairs
Ricardo Sandoval, Office of New Haven and State Affairs
Lauren Thompson, Office of the Secretary

Lauren Thompson, Office of the Secretary