Sydney Garfinkel

Sydney holds an MPA from the UW Evan School of Public Policy and Governance and a BA double major in International Studies and French and a minor in Global Health from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Prior to her graduate studies, Sydney worked at the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a United States federal foreign aid agency. At MCC, Sydney built and implemented the monitoring and evaluation framework for a joint MCC-PEPFAR data capacity and health systems strengthening project in Cote d'Ivoire and Tanzania. Sydney was also an intern at PATH where she translated data and evidence into policy recommendations for a maternal, newborn, and child health nutrition project. Sydney has experience working as an RA in the Department of Global Health on a neglected tropical disease project with the Global WACh team. Sydney is motivated by working with global health organizations and stakeholders in low- and middle-income countries, and translating data and evidence in to actionable, locally-driven policy, messaging and impact.

Reflecting on her experience with START, Sydney said, “START was a particularly special opportunity that I feel grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of for a year. I feel grateful for the relationships I made — both professionally and personally — with the staff and clients of START, and it helped me build community in Seattle. It was a joy to work with a group of students who feel equally passionate as me about improving social outcomes both domestically and abroad.”

Sydney currently works at Gates Ventures as a Senior Analyst - Health & Life Sciences.