Our “Extra” Offices Are Filling Up Fast

We’re back with another edition of Hey, Who’s That New Face in the Office? We’d like to welcome four fresh faces to our PAEA team.

Emily Yunker

Emily joined PAEA on July 12 as our new manager of assessment programs. In this role, she will serve as project manager for development, implementation, and regular updates of our assessment tools (PACKRAT™ and the End of Rotation™ exams). Prior to joining our team, Emily worked on diversity programming and coordination of workforce research for the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Many of you may know her from her work coordinating AAMC’s Health Workforce Research Conference for the past three years. Emily earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from DePauw University, followed by a master’s degree in public affairs from Indiana University. She is also a certified project management professional. In her free time, Emily enjoys watching movies with the ambitious goal of watching a new one for every day of the year. She is also fond of art museums, theater, and cooking.

 

Tia Carter

As of July 25, Tia became PAEA’s new executive assistant to the CEO. In this position, she supports Timi Agar Barwick, along with managing the Board of Directors and Governance Council. Before coming to PAEA, Tia worked as the manager of administration at the ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC), where she led administration for the office and supported the ERIC team on all administrative matters. She also assisted with ERIC’s communications, meeting, and membership development efforts. Before that, Tia worked at The Pew Charitable Trusts, where she was responsible for event logistics and ensuring project compliance with federal, state, and local lobbying and ethics laws. Tia holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, and received her master’s degree in health care administration from the University of Maryland University College. When not working, she likes to spend time with her family and friends, especially her new niece and godson.

 

Zeina Makky

On August 2, Zeina joined PAEA’s public affairs team as our new web developer. She is tasked with helping build and maintain websites and apps, such as our primary and Education Forum websites. Prior to joining our team, Zeina worked as a newspaper designer who enjoyed coding in her spare time before making the transition to full-time web development. She received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of South Carolina and her master’s degree in journalism from the Missouri School of Journalism. Aside from watching cat videos and Jane Austen adaptations, Zeina loves to play Cards Against Humanity (and win!).

 
Cynthia (Xin) Yuen

Xin also came on board on August 2 as our new research manager. In this role, she will help design, implement, and manage studies of applicants, students, and faculty at PAEA’s member programs. She will also be in charge of analyzing the resulting data and writing reports based on the findings. Originally from Michigan, Xin received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, followed by a master’s degree in psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Before coming to PAEA, she was a research fellow at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, focusing on research about the effect of adolescents’ family relationships and social environments on their well-being, particularly among immigrant and racial/ethnic minority families. In her spare time, she likes to paint, dance awkwardly (but enthusiastically), vie for her cats’ attention, and win at Bananagrams.