Leadership
Abby Adigun
Co-President
Abby is a fourth year student majoring in Economics and Public Policy. She joined the PDI community in the fall of 2021, and her first project focused on commercial corridors in Chicago and other major cities in the United States. As the former Co-Vice President of Recruitment and Community Cohesion, Abby is excited to be one of the Co-Presidents of PDI this year. She is thrilled to make PDI a rewarding experience for not only its members but the UChicago community, as well. Outside of PDI, Abby is actively involved with Campus Catalyst and loves watching trashy reality TV shows, exploring different neighborhoods of Chicago, and building upon her breakfast-making craft.
Zara Chapple
Co-President
Zara (she/her) is a joint degree student pursuing a B.A. in Sociology and Public Policy from the College, as well as a Master of Public Policy from Harris. She joined PDI as a researcher her first year before serving as a project lead and VP of Research. Outside of PDI, she has worked as a research assistant at GenForward and the American Bar Foundation. In her free time she performs standup comedy with Life of the Mic and she loves reading, baking, and knitting.
Arjun Mazumdar
Co-Vice President of Research
Arjun is a fourth year student majoring in Economics and Law, Letters and Society. Arjun became a part of PDI in 2021, diving deep into media and technology related policy projects. As the Co-VP of Research, Arjun is passionate about harnessing data-driven insights to shape impactful policies, and equipping students with valuable research experience. Outside of PDI, Arjun is involved with the Chicago Maroon, as a senior news reporter and internal business consultant. Arjun is currently interning at Snowflake, where he specializes in cloud FinOps and financial modeling for enterprise gen AI use cases. He has previously interned at Microsoft Research, where he analyzed the evolving news media ecosystem, and Fox Corporation, on the Advertising Sales and Analytics team. In his free time, Arjun enjoys discovering new music, biking, and watching weird movies.
Pascal Descollonges
Co-Vice President of Research
Pascal is a third year majoring in Math and History. He joined PDI in the fall of 2022, and has worked on projects focused around criminal justice and rural infrastructure. Outside of PDI, he's involved with various math-related campus organizations, coaches debate, and is part of the UChicago Ballroom and Latin Dance association. Originally from California, Pascal enjoys reading and baking in his free time.
Elayna Whiteman
Co-Vice President of Recruitment and Community Cohesion
Elayna is a triple major studying Economics, Human Rights, and Public Policy. She has been at PDI since her first year, first as a researcher and then as a project lead. Last summer, she interned at the Corioli Institute doing human rights research. Most of her work involved completing a 10,000-word comprehensive report on ways to improve the lives of communities living under the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico using raw data from an initial survey carried out last year. She used some of the skills she built through her participation at PDI, like data visualizations, to make the report. She is here to help build a supportive community, and is excited to meet you and answer all of your questions about our amazing organization!
.jpg)
Isabela Ávila
Co-Vice President of Recruitment and Community Cohesion
Isabela (she/her) is a Chicago native with roots from Zacatecas, México. As a first generation Mexican-American, her work is heavily influenced by the experiences of her parents and grandparents as once undocumented immigrants. Her history of workplaces ranges from community and social justice organizations to school districts and government offices. Supporting, uplifting, and advocating for the immigrant community, specifically undocumented students, through policy changes remains her focus across these different spaces. She has founded two Chicago organizations supporting undocumented students, one of which has led the work in expanding undocu-support through policy reform and resource development in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) District, and the other connecting CPS Alum to learn how to navigate higher education while undocumented. She is currently a third year at the University of Chicago, studying Political Science, and works running her own business, Avila Rios Consulting LLC, as a consultant for school districts to train students into being advocates for their schools and creating equitable learning environments.
Ben Weathers
Co-Vice President of Media and Outreach
Ben is a fourth year student at the University of Chicago majoring in Economics and Public Policy. He has been in PDI since fall of his first year and this is his second year on the Board. Ben has been an intern at the Institute of Politics, Save the Children, Seven Letter, and most recently at the White House. A native of Lexington, Kentucky, in his free time Ben enjoys exploring Chicago and watching University of Kentucky Basketball.
Saia Patel
Co-Vice President of Media and Outreach
Saia is a third year student majoring in Economics and Political Science (but also enjoys learning about public policy). She has been involved in the PDI community since the fall of her second year, and she is so excited to join the board this year! Last summer, she interned at the Aspen Institute, where she was able to build on the skills she learned at PDI workshops. Outside of PDI, Saia loves exploring new neighborhoods and restaurants in Chicago (she’s a huge foodie).
Adam Jensen
Co-Vice President of Finance and Operations
Adam is a third year student studying Public Policy and CEGU (Environment, Geography, & Urbanization). He has been a researcher and a project lead in his past years in PDI, and is excited to be returning on the Board. He is passionate about environmental, forestry, and land management issues, and spent this last summer in DC working in politics and building out an innovation competition for wildfire mitigation technology. He is looking forward to keeping all of our events funded and organized throughout the year!
Angela Joo
Co-Vice President of Finance and Operations
Angela is a second year student planning to study Economics and Political Science. She loves being in PDI as she is very interested in public policy and changing our societies for the better. In her free time, she loves playing golf and squash and exploring new places and restaurants to visit in Chicago (her current favorite restaurant is Alla Vita; their pizza is SO GOOD!)