Baker Blog

Bridging Research and Reality in Nonprofit Leadership

June 11, 2026 Tara Kolar Bryan did not set out to become a professor. She started her career in nonprofit fundraising, working in corporate and foundation giving. At the time, her focus was on building relationships, securing resources, and keeping mission-driven work on track. However, the deeper she worked in that space, the more questions…
Claire McCarthy: Building a Career in Public Service Through the Baker School

As a sophomore at the Baker School, Claire McCarthy is already exploring how policy decisions shape communities and impact people’s daily lives.
From Classroom to Capitol: Makayla Paris’s Legislative Experience

Makayla Paris is not just studying policy, she is already inside the process, working where Tennessee’s biggest decisions are made.
Jaxon McQueary: Investing in Community and Leadership

Sophomore Jaxon McQueary is helping shape how Baker students support one another.
Solving Public Problems, One Budget at a Time

Before he was teaching public finance at the Baker School, Assistant Professor John Stavick was watching policy decisions unfold in real time, and seeing the results firsthand.
Gabriel Karatantcheva: Building Systems That Respond in Crisis

Originally from Bulgaria, graduate student Gabriel Karatantcheva has long been aware of how systems shape people’s lives.
Louie Perry: Bridging Policy and Global Dialogue

Well before Illinois native Louie Perry set foot in the Howard H. Baker Jr. School of Public Policy and Public Affairs, he had already stepped into the world of politics.
Listening First: Madison Lackey’s Journey From Community Conversations to Policy Research

Graduate student, Madison Lackey, found herself sitting across from community leaders in the Cumberland Gap region listening to effects of industrial decline.
Half a World Away, Familiar Challenges

Director of the Center for National Security and Foreign Affairs, Krista Wiegand, spent three weeks at Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University the Philippines as a Fulbright Specialist.
How Voting Rights Have Evolved in the United States

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, understanding the history of voting rights helps illuminate how American democracy has taken shape across generations.