Sierra Kaplan, she/her
Class of 2027
sierra.kaplan@duke.edu
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Hailing from New York City, Sierra is an MPP student specializing in Health Policy. She recently graduated from Syracuse University, where she studied Health Humanities and Political Science and minors in Gerontology and History. While at Syracuse, Sierra shifted her career aspirations from medical malpractice litigation to health policy, cultivating a deep interest in Medicare, Medicaid, and reforming the long-term care system for older adults. Internships with Senate Majority Leader Schumer and the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, as well as opportunities assisting in public health research and overseeing health and wellness initiatives, solidified this growing passion and led her to pursue an MPP at Sanford to develop a quantitative skill set to complement her undergraduate background. All these experiences contributed to Sierra publishing a policy brief and defending her Honors Thesis on America’s current inability to support its aging baby boomer cohort. As she pursues her MPP, Sierra is simultaneously working as a Caregiving and Health Intern at AARP, learning and helping develop initiatives to support familial caregivers. In her free time, Sierra enjoys baking, cooking, and thrifting.
Areas of Policy Interest: