Returned Peace Corps Volunteer [Coverdell Fellow]
Katherine Nace, MPP’24, grew up in Springfield, Mo. and attended Truman State University for undergrad where she initially studied psychology. After taking a sociology class, however, she realized she was interested in more macro-level topics – specifically, the intersection of mental health and criminal punishment systems.
After graduation, she joined the Peace Corps, where she worked to promote adolescent health in Guyana. In March 2020, after just 10 months, the U.S. State Department evacuated Nace and all other Peace Corps volunteers in response to the growing COVID-19 pandemic.
Back home in Missouri, she began working as a program assistant for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Nace says that experience taught her a lot about how the federal government works – both the good and the bad – but she always knew graduate school was somewhere in her future.
Nace, who describes herself as very detail-oriented, says she spent about a year-and-a half researching graduate schools before applying to Heller. As a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer [Coverdell Fellow], the financial aid made her dream possible.
“I wanted to make sure I was applying to a school that was best for me,” she says. “When I found Heller, I loved the mission and their values, and the MPP [Master of Public Policy] program specifically.”
With a concentration in Economic and Racial Equity, she is eager to learn how she can help improve the criminal punishment system and mental health policy in the U.S.
“One thing that I was looking for was flexibility in the curriculum,” she says. “Heller's program requires courses that provide a great foundation, while giving me the agency to pick other topic areas I am interested in. This combination creates a really well-rounded degree.”
In addition to the knowledge of systems and technical skills, Heller has also given Nace a sense of community among her faculty and classmates. She says being able to network with and learn from people who are doing real work in the field creates a rich environment of support both in and out of the classroom.
“The professors, mentors, classmates – everyone who comes to Heller makes for a really rich environment,” she says.
Nace is currently interning at the ACLU’s national office. After graduation, she would like to do advocacy work with an organization that focuses on reforming the criminal punishment system. She’s also open to new opportunities and discovering where the rest of her program takes her.
“Heller has really pushed me out of my comfort zone and is equipping me to be a better advocate of change,” she says.