Participation
The participation component of the Designing Democracy Project studies the voter participation gap between higher-income and lower-income Americans and seeks to advance policy solutions aimed to close the gap.
Madeline (Maddie) Franklin ’24 has served as development editor for the Journal of Law & Politics and in the Workplace Rights Clinic. Franklin’s interests lie at the intersection of law, politics and inequality. Prior to law school, Franklin worked in senior management roles on political campaigns at the federal, state and local levels, including for California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Vice President Kamala Harris. She received her B.A. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley. Most recently, she was a summer associate at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., and a judicial intern for U.S. Judge Paula Xinis of the District of Maryland.
Sumit Kapur ’24 is a proud Oregonian at heart, having grown up in Oregon and attended the University of Oregon for his undergraduate studies. Kapur is interested in how state constitutions can secure protections for voting rights in the absence of federal voting rights legislation. Outside of voting rights, his academic interests include studying reparations and mass incarceration. While at the University of Virginia, he has been the president of the Law School’s American Constitution Society chapter, and is an active member of the Innocence Project, the National Lawyers Guild and the South Asian Law Students Association. In his free time, Kapur loves playing basketball, reading and painting.
Rahul Ramesh ’25 has worked on the Designing Democracy Project since his first year, researching at the intersection of political mobilization and social media influence. Prior to law school, he served as a policy fellow on the Hickenlooper Senate campaign in Colorado and worked at End Citizens United/Let America Vote in Washington, D.C. Additionally, Ramesh is on the executive board of the Student Bar Association at UVA Law and is an articles editor on the Virginia Law & Business Review
Daniel Thomas joined the Karsh Institute last year, where he is currently working as a fellow on various research projects focused on access to voting. The Institute’s commitment to creating a more democratic and just society is a driving force behind Thomas’ work. He is working on his master’s degree in economics through UVA's Bridge to Doctorate Program and completed his undergraduate studies in political science and economics at Davidson College.
Fernando Mercado Violand ’24 was born in La Paz, Bolivia, and grew up partly in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Arlington, Virginia. He went to UVA for undergraduate school, where he majored in government and history. During college, Mercado Violand was involved in various organizing campaigns for immigrants and workers on Grounds. After graduating, he continued that work as a community organizer for the Legal Aid Justice Center before transitioning to electoral campaigns. Mercado Violand worked on a few statewide races in Virginia and as well as two presidential campaigns. He has also worked in state and federal government, as an aide to Gov. Ralph Northam, and as the deputy White House liaison for the Environmental Protection Agency in the Biden administration.
Andrew White ’25 completed a B.A. in history and economics at Cornell University and an M.Phil. in Russian and East European studies at Oxford University. Before beginning law school, White worked in electoral politics and at an artificial intelligence startup. He is originally from San Francisco.
Representation
The representation component of the Designing Democracy Project studies the state of democratic representation in the United States and seeks to advance policy solutions to remedy present deficiencies within such representation.
Ashley Anumba ’24 completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania, where she obtained her B.A. in health and societies. Anumba’s interest in the Designing Democracy Project is based on the main drivers of voter turnout in various counties across the country. She aims to understand the reasons for low voter turnout and the importance of representation of smaller communities. Outside of her studies, Anumba is training for the 2024 Olympics in discus and mentors high school athletes in utilizing athletics to pursue their dreams. In her free time, Anumba enjoys baking and playing organized sports with friends.
Jake Fulton ’25 completed his undergraduate studies at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business and earned his license as a certified public accountant in Virginia while working for a global accounting and consulting firm prior to law school. He has served as an intern at the Government Accountability Office, a legislative intern in Congress and a pro bono legal research assistant in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, focusing on constituent service and education policy. In his free time, Fulton enjoys hiking, baking sourdough bread and taking road trips through national parks.
Alyssa Gao ’25 earned her bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College, where she majored in environmental studies and minored in public policy and women’s, gender and sexuality studies. Gao first developed an interest in problems of representation during an internship with the Brookings Institution, where she researched transparency, accountability and participation efforts in natural resource spaces. She continued to explore issues of representation through her senior honors thesis, which examined the landscape of diversity, equity and inclusion at leading environmental advocacy organizations. In her free time, Gao enjoys watching documentaries, discovering new music and playing the violin.
Joshua Goldstein ’24 completed his undergraduate studies at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business and earned his license as a certified public accountant while working for a global accounting firm prior to law school. He has volunteered at local polling locations in Arlington County and in the city of Charlottesville since March 2020, supporting local, state, and national primary and general elections. In his free time, Goldstein enjoys running, listening to podcasts and taking care of his many house plants.