Mastman headshot

Emerson Fellow

Katherine Mastman

11th Class, 2004-2005

Katy earned a BA from Brown University, with a double major in political science and honors community health.  She spent studied abroad Sydney, Australia, and in Quito, Ecuador, and conducted research in Guatemala and Mexico on foreign assistance and women's health. She worked with Oxfam in Australia, served as a mentor in an outdoor learning program for Dominican girls, and interned for her state assembly woman and the Global Policy Forum.

Field placement: Massachusetts Law Reform Institute

Boston, Massachusetts

Katy researched immigrant access barriers in the Massachusetts Food Stamp Program.  She conducted outreach in Spanish and English in ESL classes, on radio shows, and in local newspapers to recruit a population of food stamp eligible immigrants.  She then helped them apply, tracked their applications, and assessed the obstacles to their participation in the program.  Additionally, she interviewed local human service providers and legal service advocates about chronic barriers to participation.  She also participated in meetings with the State Agency responsible for administering the Food Stamp Program, Food Stamp Improvement Coalition meetings, and numerous advocate trainings.

Policy placement: U.S. Department of Agriculture

Washington, D.C.

Katy worked with the Child Nutrition Division at the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service to create implementation and evaluation resources for the Wellness Policy.  She helped to coordinate Wellness Policy core group meetings with representatives from the Department of Education, Center for Disease Control and USDA and was the point person for meetings of the 15 non-governmental organizations that are collaborators on the Wellness Policy.  She also edited and redesigned USDA’s Wellness Policy website.

Publications