Tufts University

Institute for Global Leadership

Alliance Linking Leaders in Education and the Services (ALLIES)

Student Leaders

                               CURRENT LEADERSHIP

  Katherine Monson (’13)

Co-Chair

Katherine Monson is a junior from Iowa City, Iowa.  She is majoring in International Relations and Economics, with a minor in Chinese.  She will be returning to China for the fall semester to study abroad in Shanghai, but will be back in Boston for the spring semester.  She has been a proud ALLIES member for the last two years serving as the Programming Director and the Chairperson for the National Security and Civil Liberties Project.  In her free time, Katherine enjoys going on trail runs and being outdoors.  

 



 

Mae Humiston (’13)

Co-Chair


Mae Humiston joined ALLIES during the first semester of her freshman year because she wanted to try something completely outside of her comfort zone, and she has never looked back. Through ALLIES, she has been challenged to view her interests in anthropology and conservation science in the lens of civil-military relations, which has led to some fascinating conversations and realizations. Mae has both participated in and helped plan FIELD-EX, and she helped plan the 2010 China Symposium and the 2010 National Security and Civil Liberties Conference. She is excited about the direction ALLIES is heading and she looks forward to forming new connections with members of all the ALLIES chapters.  
 
 
 
 

Madeline Pennebaker ('13)

Co-Chair

Madeline Pennebaker is a junior from Houston, Texas majoring in Child Development. She fell in love with ALLIES her freshman year and has since come to see it as a highlight of her Tufts education. Through ALLIES, she has become a part of an extraordinary group of students who push her to think globally and to make things happen right where she is. With her background in child development and psychology, Madeline is passionate about discussing military families and mental health issues specific to service members. When she is not thinking about the military, Madeline is thinking about special needs education or her next embroidery project.

 

 

Phil Hoffman (’14)

Media Director

 

Phil Hoffman is a sophomore from Mountain Lakes, New Jersey majoring in Arabic. He is extremely interested in national security issues and ALLIES has given him a fascinating perspective on many different related topics. As a member of ALLIES he has attented the Student Conference on United States Affairs at West Point and the FIELD-EX crisis simulation. He hopes to have many more interesting experiences as a part of ALLIES. He loves to read and sings in the Tufts Chamber Choir.

 

 

 

 

Aparna Ramanan ('13)

Logistics Director

Hailing from sunny California, Aparna is a junior studying International Relations and Arabic. She has been a member of ALLIES since arriving at Tufts and is interested in how the military influences perspectives on foreign policy decisions. She spent her sophomore year helping to plan FIELDEX (Field Exercise in Stability and Peacekeeping Operations) and hopes to work in similar real life crisis operations in the future. Last summer, Aparna was a Data Analysis Intern at Madura Microfinance in southern India, where she worked on a village mapping project to bring socioeconomic change to India and to better understand the changing role of microfinance in Asia. Aparna also enjoys writing theater and dance reviews for the Tufts Daily as well as teaching courses for the Art of Living Foundation. 

 


 

 

 

Phil Ballentine ('14)

Secretary

Philip Ballentine is a sophomore from Denver, Colorado. He's majoring in International Relations and Chinese. He has been a member of ALLIES since January 2011 and had the pleasure of attending the Naval Academy's 2011 Foreign Affairs conference as a delegate from Tufts last April. In addition to ALLIES, Philip is a member of Theta Chi fraternity. 

 

 



 

 

 

Carolyn Pruitt ('13)

Financial Director

Carolyn Pruitt is a junior from Austin, Texas. She is studying History and Communications. Carolyn has been a member of ALLIES since the beginning of her freshman year. She spent the summer interning at the Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute of the U.S. Army War College researching Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan. She is particularly interested in issues of transitional justice and reconstruction. Carolyn is also a member of the Alpha Omicron Pi Sorority and the Tufts Film Series. (Sept. 2010) 

 

 


 

Eric Peckham ('13)
Network Director
Eric Peckham is a sophomore from Wellesley, MA who is studying Political Science and Economics. He has been an active member of ALLIES since arriving at Tufts and is particularly interested in civil-military partnerships in nation building. Last summer, Eric was a communications intern at the US Global Leadership Coalition in Washington, DC where he helped raise awareness of the strategic role that development and diplomacy play in furthering the nation's national security and economic interests. In his current role as Network Director, he is in charge of building a closer community between current and graduated ALLIES members from every chapter and as well as promoting ALLIES within the civil-military relations community in order to attract new speakers and internship opportunities. Eric is also a member of Tufts Cycling and the Tufts Democrats, and leads the Institute of Political Citizenship at the Tisch College. (Sept. 2010)