Graduate School
Boston University School of Public Health

Undergraduate School
U.S. Military Academy

Mentor
Dan Kennedy, Associate Professor, Northeastern University School of Journalism and Rappaport Institute Advisory Board Member

Agency
Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs

Supervisor
Robin Lipson, Chief of Staff

Description of Fellowship
As part of the Rappaport Public Policy Fellowship, Kara had the privilege of working under Robin Lipson, Chief of Staff and Chief Strategy Officer at Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Executive Office of Elder Affairs. Her main policy focus was social isolation, loneliness and depression in older adults.

As part of this, she drafted a report for Fiscal Year ’18 Behavioral Health Initiatives comprising of all programs and actions of the Executive Office of Elder Affairs related to Behavioral Health in older adults. This provided a good base to launch her main report focusing on problem of social isolation, loneliness and depression in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts: defining the issue and the importance of addressing the situation; current initiatives; and best practices the Commonwealth can pursue.