Zayna Basma graduated with a dual Master of Business Administration and Master of Public Policy candidate at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, concentrating in Children, Youth and Family Policy, with a focus on education policy. Currently, she works as a Research Associate at The MassINC Polling Group. Zayna believes that everyone deserves equal access and opportunities to education, and she is particularly interested in the intersectionality of education and immigration. In 2018 she received her bachelors from UMass Lowell, majoring in political science, with minors in Arabic and Spanish studies. As an undergraduate, she worked on research related to the media coverage and educational experiences of refugees in the United States. She also worked as an intern for MA State Senator Jennifer Flanagan, and then for Senator Elizabeth Warren’s office, supporting Warren’s Immigration Specialist. In addition, Zayna served as the co-coordinator of a mentoring program at SayDaNar Community Development Center, a non-profit focused on Burmese refugees in Lowell. Zayna is originally from Shirley, Massachusetts, and she enjoys being the oldest of four siblings, playing scrabble, and endless espresso shots in her coffee.