Politics and Education

Kianna Pete is a MA student in the Politics and Education program. She graduated from Columbia University, earning a BA in Political Science and Ethnicity and Race Studies with a specialization in Native and Indigenous Studies. At Columbia, she was part of implementing the first housing building on campus dedicated to Indigenous students, as well as providing mentorship on navigating university life while increasing prospective Indigenous student outreach in undergraduate admissions.

Previously working with her Diné community, state congressional representative, and in non-profit environmental organizations, Kianna seeks to find an understanding of Native identity within US political spheres. She has explored this through psychological research at the University of Michigan, examining the political discrepancies between tribal communities and the US government. Moreover, she uses her social media platform to teach about Indigenous issues and amplify pressing issues facing communities around the world.

Motivated by the matriarchs within her family, she hopes to improve education policy for Native American students and preserve Diné teachings by integrating them into her graduate school education, future research, and professional career in politics and teaching. In Fall 2023, Kianna will also be a research assistant for the Teachers College Center for Educational Equity and serve as an Arthur Zankel "Youth Historians in Harlem" Fellow. 

Research Associate on the State Fiscal Policy Team at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), Washington D.C.

Iris came to Teacher College after completing her undergraduate degree in Political Science with minors in Asian American Studies and Education Studies at the University of California Los Angeles. The Politics and Education program offered opportunities for Iris to gain quantitative analysis skills and delve deeper into the issues of school choice and privatization.

Iris enjoyed connecting with the broader TC community. She was a Community Assistant with the Office of Residential Services and served in TC’s Student Senate for 1.5 years, first as a Student Resources Senator, then going on to chair the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and represented student interests at President Bailey’s Committee for Community & Diversity during the fall of 2021. Iris was awarded the 2022 Shirley Chisholm Trailblazer Award from the Provost.

Partway through the Politics and Education program, Iris began working as a Research Associate on the State Fiscal Policy Team at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). CBPP advances federal and state policies to help build a nation where everyone — regardless of income, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, ZIP code, immigration status, or disability status — has the resources they need to thrive. She has written on state child tax credits, earned income tax credits, K-12 unfinished learning, immigrant-inclusive policies, grocery sales taxes, and spending State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds from the American Rescue Plan of 2021.