References

(In reverse chronological order)

Mindy Hernandez, Supervisor, Design for Humans: Kayla and I met at the 2017 USAID Global Innovation Week Conference. I was immediately impressed by Kayla’s initiative, proactivity and curiosity in understanding the intricate terrain of the fields of behavioral science and international development. Many interesting candidates approached my Design for Humans table during the organization fair component of the conference, and Kayla stood out among them.

Kayla has excelled on the assignment she has been working on. My firm, Design for Humans, was awarded a USAID contract to construct a starter pack for implementing partners in Uganda to monitor and evaluate their projects. USAID requires that all implementing partners – many of whom are not native English speakers – submit detailed, complex plans for this task. I assigned Kayla the job of editing, organizing and formatting the starter pack. When I sent her the original document, it was a brain-child with input from many different contributors and, as a result, there were also gaps in the information. Without any prior knowledge of the subject area, Kayla was able to familiarize herself with the information, fill in those gaps through extensive research, translate the document into words accessible to the layman, and shape it into an easily consumable experience. She adapted to a high-responsibility project that contributes to the oversight of American-sponsored projects on an international scale. Her dedication to ensuring these projects are running efficiently and effectively illustrates Kayla’s clear investment in improving circumstances of the disadvantaged.

Much of the work I do is focused around understanding the minds of diverse audiences, empathizing with their perspective and shaping experiences to fit those worldviews. A mitigation investigator on death row cases does something similar: she works to understand and empathize with her clients and their histories as well as with the judge or jury who decides their fate. She narrates a storyline that explains factors that led a person to commit a serious crime(s) and why those factors are reason not to execute them. She bridges mental and emotional gaps and translates between experiences. I cannot think of a better person to envision and present such nuance than Kayla. In the brief time we have worked together, she has shown a commitment to improving lives and a curiosity for understanding the unfamiliar. She has proved capable of excelling at the diverse tasks I have thrown her way and displayed a unique ability to envision intricacies and present them accessibly to a wide audience. Kayla approaches her work with a seriousness and reliability that are rare. She communicates well, encourages constructive criticism and follows through on all assignments. She is an exceptional writer. I give her my highest recommendation…

Ronald Kuby, Supervisor, The Law Office of Ronald Kuby: “Kayla is a very strong writer, excellent researcher, very organized and analytical in her written and oral advocacy, and exceptionally mature.  She is also a lot of fun to work with and has a rocking great sense of humor.  Unlike many of her contemporaries, Kayla genuinely wants and responds well to mentorship.  She is anxious to learn from people who know what they are doing.  We have remained in contact since her internship, and she stops by every month or so for coffee and talk. I give her my highest recommendation…”

Alan Feuer, Reporter, The New York Times: “As a reporter for the New York Times covering criminal-justice issues, I met Kayla Pincus more than a year ago when she was working as a paralegal in the office of the lawyer, Ron Kuby. I was immediately impressed not only by her diligence—she was enormously helpful in tracking down obscure case documents for me—but also by her passion for social justice. Kayla is that rare find, possessing both an authentic desire to change the world and the skills that can make those changes a reality. She is, as well, a genuinely warm person who fits in almost everywhere she goes.”

Julia Puaschunder, Professor, Behavioral Economics: “Kayla enjoys learning about new environments and different work cultures and shows sensitivity and adaptability to a fast-paced, demanding work atmosphere. Throughout the semester she proved to have natural leadership skills and seemed to be very close to her peers — always expressing interest in their research projects… Kayla is a well-rounded person who enjoys artistic, athletic, social, and other interests besides academic endeavors.  Kayla’s work and performance throughout the semester were organized and precise.  Her rhetorical skills proved her speech to be pointed and well-thought-through.  Her texts were engaging and written in a highly professional style and she still constantly strives for opportunities to learn and improve her performance.  It was always a joy to read her work and I can imagine that her gift in expression will improve further in an applied work environment.”

Eileen Cheng, Professor,Women, Gender, and Politics in American History: “[Kayla’s] reflections overall offered a thoughtful and clear analysis that demonstrated a good understanding of the most important themes in the readings. Her analysis showed careful attention to detail, and the questions and issues she raised were interesting and important.”

Linwood Lewis, Professor, Intersectionality of Multiple Identities: “Kayla’s conference work focused on intersectionality of race, gender, class and sexuality in hip hop. Kayla went through some difficulty in narrowing down her topic to this one and some ‘trouble’ in narrowing down what she wrote (58 pages of strong writing)… Kayla’s conference meetings with me often went over as we discussed the existence of White privilege – a lively discussion that ended (I believe) with the idea that the implications of the concept have had a tough effect in her own life. This is a sentiment that I can respect; I think that it signifies a true engagement with her experience of race that a flat denial of the existence of White privilege does not. The writing of Kayla’s final paper was very strong. There was an encyclopedic knowledge of hip hop combined with some very good analysis. As much as Kayla wrote in this paper, in the end she is still left with questions – the best way to end a conference paper…..”

Rico Speight, Professor, Digital Documentary Storytelling: Development and Process: “Kayla is a bright, intellectually curious, interesting young woman who brings intensity and passion to her pursuits.”

Elizabeth Johnston, Professor, Mindfulness: Neuro-scientific & Psychological Perspectives: “Kayla is a bright and motivated student who did well in this Mindfulness seminar. She was an engaged and active participant in seminar meetings, often formulating key questions for our discussion, and always approaching the material with a spirit of open inquiry. Her long blog entries demonstrated her reflective approach to the reading materials; her drive for clarity served her well in making her way through the complex and rapidly expanding literature on the effects of mindfulness mediation on brain structure and function. Her class papers reflect her strong efforts to be clear and open-minded. In the first on the definition of mindfulness Kayla made good use of a wide range of class readings to produce a coherent informative essay that balanced relating details of neuroscience experiments with conceptual issues. In her second class paper on the applications of mindfulness to healthcare reform Kayla again marshaled considerable evidence and wrote about it in a clear, balanced, and focused manner.”

Gina Philogene, Professor, Introduction to the Theory of Social Representations: “Kayla is very much dedicated to her learning experience at SLC. She never failed to present honestly and clearly how much she cares for a particular position. She consistently tried to clarify her arguments until she reached the intended meaning  she tried to convey. Being a determined person, she maintains focus on the question being discussed or the conclusion being elaborated in the classroom setting. In that process of engagement she has the uncanny ability to take account of the total situation presented, in all of its facets. She starts her essay on Moscovici’s “The Invention of Society” with a series of important questions aimed at understanding the relations between people and how they impact on one another. In this essay she highlights the need for a balanced approach between psychology and sociology. She demonstrates her understanding of Durkheim’s arguments and effectively rejects it in favor of Moscovici’s plea for a social psychology.”

Marek Fuchs, Professor, Wrongfully Accused: “It is not overstatement to say that you found a sense of where you are (or, more accurately) where you might very well be going through your prodigiously good work in Wrongfully Accused.

“Whether that takes you into investigative journalism, a career as a detective (I love the idea of Kayla the Gumshoe) or something related is, as we discussed, still an open question.  But you displayed the passion, keen ability to absorb and organize vast stores of information and steely resolve that can conceivably take you to the peak of an investigative field.  Wherever you end up – and let’s keep talking about it, as time goes by – I’ll be able to say that I knew Kayla when.  A top-notch level of talent and drive are clearly bred into your bones.

“I still marvel at one of the best days’ work a student has ever put in: you spent an entire day at one courthouse looking for information, then scooted to another before closing time before hitting the night bus (then a cab, by morning) to spending the entire next day visiting our subject in solitary confinement in Attica.

“Oh, and that was before you secured and read thousands of pages of court documents, looking for threads to the story that we had missed.  Did you dispatch your duty in this class?  Pu-lease.  To paraphrase Nathan Hale, I regret that I have but one A to give to you…

“All in all, though – and obviously – your performance in class was expansive, invigorating, thunderously good and I’m going to go Mad Libs here: FILL IN YOUR OWN WILDLY COMPLIMENTARY PHRASE.  Kayla, any would apply.

“Best Wishes for Health and Happiness Always.”

Kim Ferguson, Professor and Advisor, Rainbow Nation: Growing up South Africa: Apartheid/Post-Apartheid: “It was truly a pleasure to work with Kayla this semester. She was always passionately engaged in class discussions, and was unafraid to broach controversial topics. In fact, in our in-class debate Kayla and her group members chose to make an argument in support of apartheid. This proved challenging, of course, but Kayla and her fellow group members were extremely well prepared, and Kayla was particularly effective in her role as the team’s attacker. I have to say that, after such a stellar performance, I was happy that Kayla and her group members were not alive at the time that apartheid was instituted, as their arguments in support of this obviously unjust system were as effective as, if not more effective than, those made by the politicians who orchestrated apartheid policies. In addition to taking on a controversial role in our in-class debate, Kayla effectively facilitated two class discussions on contentious current issues, the first on a news article of her choice on corruption within the South African government and the second on an extensive research report on affirmative action. In both, Kayla demonstrated keen insight into both historical and contemporary South Africa. In this, as well as in her original and astute comments in class and on our discussion board, Kayla proved to be an invaluable member of the class.”

Aurora Donzelli, Professor, Language, Culture, & Performance: “I really enjoyed working with Kayla this spring. She is very bright, sharp, and passionate and was a very diligent and thorough student in my lecture this semester… [S]he always offered a very engaged participation in group-conferences and was always timely in submitting all her assignments, which were all excellent. The annotated bibliography that she prepared for all the course readings was incredibly polished and to the point, it offered a very good combination of conciseness and depth, and showed that she managed to achieve a very good grasp of all the major concepts covered throughout the course… I was truly impressed by the great observational and analytical skills that Kayla revealed…”