Biography
Pragya is an undergraduate at UNC-Chapel Hill studying Public Policy, Journalism, and Education. Originally from Lexington, Kentucky, she has spent the last several years organising education policy issues through investigative journalism and collective action, serving as both Senior Advisor to the Kentucky Student Voice Team and co-leader of TransparUNCy. As a research assistant with the Education Policy Initiative at Carolina, she analyses teacher retention and staffing models to address education policy disparities in school districts across the U.S.
While living in South Africa recently, Pragya worked in the Integration Pathways department at the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town—an NGO supported by the United Nations. There, she supported refugees from across Africa as they navigated asylum processes, pursued skills development, and sought access to education. Her research interests lie at the intersection of migration and education policy, with a focus on developing more equitable education systems to serve displaced populations better.