Congratulations to Apolline Ancel, GS'26, Ileane Barrera, CC'26, Monisha Gunasekera, CC'26 & Greta VanZetten, CC'26 on being named 2026 NYC Urban Fellows!
The New York City Urban Fellows Program is a selective nine-month fellowship combining work in mayoral offices and city agencies with an intensive seminar series that explores current urban issues impacting public policy. Fellows' experience in the field is supplemented by a series of workshops that help promote a deep understanding of the structure of New York City government. During the year, fellows make group trips to Washington, D.C. and Albany, where they meet face-to-face with representatives and policy-makers who help shape life in New York City.
Apolline Ancel, GS'26 will graduate this spring from the Columbia University and Sciences Po dual degree program. Originally from Strasbourg, France, Apolline's education at Sciences Po grounded her in a wide range of disciplines, from economics and sociology to history and law, shaping her into a generalist who loves exploring different policy issues and jumping into new projects. At Columbia, Apolline studies Political Science, as well as enjoying many graduate courses at SIPA and Urban Studies courses focused on New York City. As an NYC Urban Fellow, she is interested in civic engagement that gets New Yorkers involved with governance outside of elections. She is particularly drawn to projects such as the NYC Civic Engagement Commission's annual citywide participatory budgeting process, The People's Money, where New Yorkers decide how to spend part of the city’s budget to help their communities thrive.
Ileane Barrera, CC’26 was raised between Queens and Long Island, New York. She studies Political Science and Public Health, and her commitment to public service is rooted in the belief that no New Yorker’s tax bracket should determine their access to quality education and opportunity. On campus, Ileane created and led the inaugural Introduction to Law course at the Roger Lehecka Double Discovery Center. She taught the course for two years, reaching more than 60 local high school students. As a research assistant with the Annual Poverty Tracker Study at Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy, as well as the Bronx Redevelopment Project at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, she has also examined how socioeconomic status and neighborhood conditions shape New Yorkers’ quality of life. As an NYC Urban Fellow, Ileane aims to deepen her understanding of how city agencies and leaders collaborate to serve New Yorkers with integrity.
Monisha Gunasekera, CC'26
studies in Human Rights with a concentration in Public Health. On campus, she has served as a Student Conduct Navigator for the Dean’s Discipline process with the Center for Student Success and Intervention, a Peer Educator for Sexual Violence Response at Columbia Health, and a Coordinator for the One-to-One Tutoring program at Columbia Community Impact. She has also held research assistant positions in the Energy Equity, Housing and Health (E2H2) Program at the Mailman School of Public Health and the Sauti Mashinani Lab at the Columbia School of Social Work. As an NYC Urban Fellow, Monisha looks forward to gaining hands-on experience in local government and public policy prior to applying to law school. She is excited to learn from New York City leaders about city-level initiatives, work on city-level projects, and gain insight into what a long-term career in the public service sector looks like.
Greta VanZetten, CC'26 studies Data Science and Women’s and Gender Studies. Originally from Holland, Michigan, at Columbia, Greta has found community through club sports. She is a member of the Club Water Polo team and has served as Team Sports Representative and President of the Club Sports Governing Board. Greta has also worked as a tour guide, statistics tutor, and Resident Advisor on campus. With the NSF-STC LEAP, Greta researched equation-recovery techniques for parametrizing atmospheric turbulence with the goal of improving climate models. She also interned as a nonprofit data analyst and spent a summer as a Government Fellow in Santa Clara County. As a NYC Urban Fellow, Greta hopes to work in technology and public policy. She is interested in AI governance, data policy, and combating encoded biases, particularly in discriminatory surveillance practices.
For more information about the New York City Urban Fellows Program, please visit Undergraduate Research and Fellowships.
