Dabria Taylor (BAIR’27) has been selected for the Public Policy & International Affairs (PPIA) Junior Summer Institute Fellowship. Taylor’s selection comes as Pardee joins PPIA Program as a consortium member, a noteworthy milestone for the school. This partnership will create additional pathways for Pardee students interested in graduate study and public service careers.

Dabria Taylor (BAIR’27), rising senior at Boston University and 2026 PPIA Fellow.

A fully funded, seven-week program hosted at Harvard, Princeton, and the University of Michigan, the PPIA fellowship will enable Taylor to strengthen her policy knowledge as well as build a strong professional network. The rising senior at Boston University, majoring in international relations, economics, and French, is pursuing this fellowship at Princeton University.

We spoke to Taylor about the fellowship’s significance, and how it builds on her academic interests and supports her long-term career goals.

What does this fellowship mean to you?

A fellowship with PPIA is an opportunity to explore my interests in the field of international relations through exploring techniques in research, writing policy memos, and gaining insight from several speakers in the area of domestic and international policy and diplomacy. This fellowship has also helped in sharpening my professional abilities, notably through quantitative skills that I have gained through graduate level coursework in microeconomics and statistics, providing me with the fundamental tools of policy making and global leadership.

Additionally, the opportunity to deepen my interest in going to graduate school has shown me that it is possible for people of my background to excel in places that can seem out of reach. As a first-generation, African American student, this fellowship at Princeton has given me the courage to believe that I can accomplish the goals that I have to make the world a better place.

Taylor at the 2026 PPIA Future Leaders Summit Expo at Washington D.C. with Josh Diosomito (center) and her Princeton cohort. At the summit, the rising senior attended a PPIA alumni panel, attended a graduate school fair, and networked with members of other cohort schools.

What have you been studying or focusing on while at Pardee, and how will this fellowship support this development?

At Pardee, I have been especially focused on the intersection of international law and its effects on economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in the post-colonial era. Conversations with Dean Scott Taylor; taking courses like Diplomacy and Statecraft with Professor Rhodes and Introduction to Security Studies with Professor Verschuren; interning in Paris through BU Study Abroad; and even Intermediate Macro has helped me develop my understanding of conflicts and topics under this subject.

At my fellowship, I have had opportunities to talk to professors, researchers, and staff at Princeton who share similar interests as me and give me other insights into international law’s impact on development. They also give me the opportunity to focus on these topics through multiple chances to create several research questions, policy memos, and presentations of these topics.

What are you looking forward to during the fellowship?

I’m looking forward to the graduate school fair and symposium. Throughout the fellowship, we have already had the opportunity to hear from speakers like the Dean of Princeton’s SPIA Amaney A. Jamal and Senator and Attorney Eduardo Bhatia, and ask questions about their careers and experiences. I’m excited to continue exploring possible career paths and learning about the different ways I can use public service to address injustices within our global society.

I also want to take advantage of the many opportunities the fellowship provides to strengthen my public speaking skills, as it is something I can sometimes get nervous about. Being surrounded by people with a wide range of global policy interests has also allowed me to build relationships, learn from different perspectives, and become more confident sharing my own ideas. I’m looking forward to more site visits to important international institutions as well. Being close to New York City, I was able to listen to the speaker for the UN Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, which was an unforgettable experience that made international policy feel tangible.

Taylor at the UN General Assembly in New York City after a Q&A panel with the Speaker for the Secretary General of the United Nations, Stéphane Dujarric.

What are your future goals, and how will this fellowship help you achieve them?

I plan to attend graduate school and am currently interested in pursuing a master’s degree in international relations or public policy. I’m interested in a career in law, particularly international arbitration and comparative law. In the long term, I hope to conduct field-based work focused on economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially issues surrounding critical minerals, natural resource governance, and wealth distribution.

I also have a strong interest in animal welfare and hope to find ways to incorporate the causes I care about into my broader career in public service. The fellowship is helping me explore how these interests can connect and giving me greater exposure to the academic and professional paths that can help me reach these goals.

Visit Dabria Taylor’s LinkedIn profile to learn more about her academic and professional endeavors.

See Pardee’s page on PPIA here.