Five exceptional master’s students have been named the 2024 Weill Scholars. Weill Scholars Beth Hartsog (MPP ‘26), Sunny Huang (MPP ‘26), Milena Saakyan (MPP ‘26), Tierra Tresvant (MPP ‘26), and Jessica Vivar (MPP ‘26) are recipients of the prestigious Ford School Rackham Master’s Award (RMA), one of the Ford School’s and the University of Michigan’s highest honors. They are awarded to graduate students underrepresented in the public policy field and with outstanding qualifications and tremendous promise. With it, students receive full graduate school tuition, a stipend, and health and dental insurance.
Prior to coming to the University of Michigan, Beth Hartsog (MPP ‘26) worked as a research associate at an urban economic consulting firm in California, focusing on housing policy issues. Her experiences of growing up in the Bay Area have led to a deep passion for housing affordability and homelessness alleviation. During her time at the Ford School, she intends to further explore infrastructure as a tool of economic development, particularly in South Asia. She holds a Bachelor of Science from San Jose State University, where she majored in economics and minored in philosophy, after entering as a transfer student. In her personal time, she enjoys baking, studying foreign languages, and hiking with her husband and their dog.
Sunny Huang (MPP/MBA ‘26) grew up in Philadelphia as the oldest child of a single immigrant mother. Her early experiences sparked an interest in understanding the history of minority communities that came to be marginalized yet thrive today and inspired her motivation to work in community development. Before coming to the Ford School, she studied sociology at Lehigh University, worked as a Philadelphia grassroots nonprofit director and a two-time Fulbright Taiwan grantee, and continued her studies at Taiwan’s National Cheng Kung University as a Chinese language scholarship student. Now, Huang is working towards her goal of becoming a social impact consultant. She is excited to integrate practicality with a social impact imagination to devise creative tri-sector solutions that improve socioeconomic mobility and intergenerational impact for underestimated communities.
Milena Saakyan (MPP ‘26) was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan and raised in Buffalo, NY. Her passion for combatting educational inequities stems from her own experience as an immigrant and first-generation college student, and she has spent much of her academic and professional career working to reduce barriers to postsecondary access. Before joining the Ford School, Saakyan worked as a researcher at the University of Chicago Inclusive Economy Lab evaluating the impact of college access and success programs across the city, including through partnerships with Chicago Public Schools and City Colleges of Chicago. She also previously conducted research with SKDK, the Cornell ILR Buffalo Co-Lab, and with Cornell University Sustainable Design across a variety of social policy issues. After graduation, Saakyan hopes to continue using research to promote more accessible pathways to college access and completion. In her free time, she loves lap swimming, cooking Armenian and Uzbek food, and reaching her daily 10,000 steps. She holds her BA from Cornell University, where she studied applied economics and management, and minored in public policy.
Tierra Tresvant (MPP ‘26) grew up in Detroit, Michigan where her experience in the public education system inspired her to pursue a career in education and youth policy. She earned a BA in public and nonprofit administration with a minor in Africology and African American studies from Eastern Michigan University in 2024. At EMU, she was a Presidential Scholar and participated in the McNair Scholars program. She also served as a Diversity Fellow at the Honors College and an Advancement Student Ambassador at the EMU Foundation. She participated in the Summer Education Research Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she analyzed the relationships that community-serving organizations built with schools and families during the pandemic. Tresvant is excited to continue her education at the Ford School, and plans to use that education to make a difference for young people in Michigan. In her free time, she likes to crochet, rollerskate, and play video games.
Jessica Vivar (MPP ‘26) is a first-generation high school and college student from Queens, New York City. Before joining the Ford School, she was the government affairs associate at the Institute for Higher Education Policy in Washington, DC. She also previously served as a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Public Policy Fellow at the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, working on education issues within the committee’s jurisdiction. Vivar taught Algebra in New York City and was awarded a Fulbright Program grant to represent the United States as an English Teaching Assistant in Colombia. As a first-generation student and the daughter of two Ecuadorian immigrant parents, education was the most important aspect of her life while growing up. Upon graduation, she hopes to continue her mission to create more accessible educational opportunities for historically underserved communities through higher education policy. Outside of policy, she enjoys roller skating, traveling, and spending time with friends.