Our Team
Katie Hilton
Research Analyst, CIRCLE
Email
Katie Hilton is a Research Analyst at CIRCLE, where they do data analysis and visualization in support of CIRCLE’s research, primarily focused on voter registration. Katie has a strong background in data analytics working in both the private and public sector. Their last job was at Priorities USA, where they worked on the analytics team to support Priorities’ mission of using digital advertising to mobilize voters. They hold B.A.’s in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Virginia.
Liz Kopecky
Project Manager, CIRCLE
Email
Liz Kopecky started at CIRCLE as a Project Manager in September 2022. She collaborates with CIRCLE leadership to oversee project implementation, strategize about process improvements and hiring, and monitor grant processing. Liz splits her time between CIRCLE and the MGGG Redistricting Lab, another research center at Tufts University's Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life. She is interested in community engagement and passionate about supporting CIRCLE’s mission and research.
Alberto Medina
Communications Team Lead, CIRCLE
Email
Alberto Medina leads CIRCLE's communications. He collaborates with CIRCLE leadership on strategic communications, oversees the editorial work to produce and disseminate research, and maintains CIRCLE’s digital presence. Alberto began working with CIRCLE in his previous role as Communications Specialist at the Tisch College of Civic Life—CIRCLE's institutional home—where he led a variety of communications efforts and initiatives. A graduate of Yale University, Alberto previously worked as a freelance writer and editor and at national newspapers in his native Puerto Rico. He is a commentator and advocate on Puerto Rico’s political status and a member of the boards of directors of Boricuas Unidos en la Diáspora and the Denver Urban Debate League.
Sam Searles
Communications Coordinator, CIRCLE
Email
Sam Searles joined CIRCLE as Communications Coordinator in March 2024. She graduated from Suffolk University in 2021 with a BA in Journalism after transferring from UNH Manchester where she studied Communication Arts.
Prior to CIRCLE, she was a Report For America Corps member, reporting on Gun Violence Prevention at WHYY News in Philadelphia. Searles has interned with New Hampshire Public Radio, Skillsoft, and NECN. She has deep passions for lifelong learning, justice, youth initiatives, and media literacy, and has served in various civic and mutual aid volunteer positions in her home state of New Hampshire.
Kelly Siegel-Stechler
Associate Director for Research, CIRCLE
Email
Kelly Siegel-Stechler is the Associate Director for Research at CIRCLE, where she studies civic development and political socialization in schools. She is primarily focused on projects that advance civic learning and development in K-12 education, as well as questions related to youth political and electoral engagement. Prior to joining CIRCLE, Kelly worked as a Research Fellow with the Institute for Education Policy at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education, where she supported their work on civic development as it relates to curriculum, instruction, and school culture. Her professional background is in educational programming and youth outreach and engagement. She has led programs in global and multicultural education including Model UN, interfaith debate, and international exchange programs. She also has a background in political science and international relations. Kelly is passionate about advancing equity and strengthening democratic institutions by improving opportunities for all young people to access and use the skills and knowledge they need to meaningfully participate in civic life.
Part-Time Team Members
Katherine Pinney
Program Assistant for Research
Email
Katherine is the Program Assistant to Research, supporting CIRCLE, the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE), and the Tisch College Community Research Center (TCRC) in an administrative capacity. She’s also involved with various projects and research with the teams. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Westfield State University.
Affiliated Scholars
Scholars (temporary and part-time) working with NSLVE to advance knowledge about student learning for and institutional engagement in democracy. For more information, email nslve@tufts.edu.
Dr. Nancy Thomas
Senior Advisor to the President for Democracy Initiatives and Executive Director of IDHE at AAC&U
Dr. Nancy Thomas founded the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education at Tufts University as the home for the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (“n-solve” or NSLVE). She now serves as the Senior Advisor to the President for Democracy Initiatives and Executive Director of IDHE at AAC&U. Her research interests and advocacy include student learning for and institutional engagement in democracy, student voter participation, access, and equity, campus climates for student political learning and participation, controversial discussions in and beyond the classroom, free speech and inclusion, academic freedom, and higher education’s role in democracy in question. She is the author or editor of multiple book chapters, papers, articles, and collections, including the monograph, Educating for Deliberative Democracy. Dr. Thomas holds her undergraduate degree from St. Lawrence University, a law degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law, and a doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In addition to being a devoted mom of two great (all grown up) kids, she is an avid kayaker, skier, and anything else outdoors.
Matt Nelsen, Ph.D.
Affiliated Scholar
Assistant Professor, Political Science
University of Miami
Matt Nelsen is an assistant professor within the Department of Political Science at the University of Miami. His research examines how local-level institutions, especially schools and neighborhoods, act as microcosms of democracy. He finds that these institutions can simultaneously serve as sites that exacerbate existing racial inequalities while also holding the potential to foster agency and equal political voice. He investigates these roles and their effects on political participation by leveraging multiple methodological approaches, including lab-in-the-field experiments, survey data, in-depth interviews, focus groups, and archival research. Matt's research is featured in a number of publications, including Perspectives on Politics, Political Behavior, the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, the Washington Post, and GenForward's Race and Place: Young Adults and the Future of Chicago. His book, which examines how to make civic education courses more empowering for racially marginalized youth, is forthcoming at Oxford University Press.
Matt received his PhD in Political Science from Northwestern University in June of 2020 and previously obtained a MA in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago and BAs in Political Science and Asian Studies from St. Olaf College.
Amanda L. Wintersieck, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Political Science
Virginia Commonwealth University
Amanda L. Wintersieck, Ph.D., is an associate professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her research interests lie in political behavior and political communication. Specifically, she is interested in the effects of political campaigns on voters’ evaluations of candidates, on the role the media plays in citizen’s vote choice and the conditions that advantage a candidate’s campaign. Her current research focuses on the role of news media and the impact of the electoral context in political campaigns. She pursues these interests utilizing a multi-methodological approach, including experiments, surveys and content analysis.
Her work has appeared in the Political Communication, American Politics Research, Politics, Groups, and Identities, The Praeger Handbook of Political Campaigning in the United States, The Politics of Truth in Polarized America, and The London School of Economics American Politics and Policy Blog. Professor Wintersieck teaches undergraduate courses on political behavior, public opinion, research design, American government, campaigns and elections, and the media and politics.