A native of Bolivia, Micaela's interest in human capital development and desire to improve the social and economic conditions in Bolivia led her to social work. The skills and knowledge from her MSW will allow her to work with organizations to develop solutions to key social problems.

"Applied solutions, not theoretical ones, sparked my interest in social work.

"I hope to strengthen the middle class. Specifically, I want to impact the programs and policies that can help prepare adolescents to succeed.

This is a close-knit community with tremendous opportunities. Professors know and work with senior levels of management at organizations in the community. They give you access.

"I love St. Louis. Everything you need is here and it is centrally located."

Micaela is currently working on her PhD at the University of North Carolina,Chapel Hill. Her area of study is understanding human capital development, defined as skill aquisition, among at-risk (low-income, minority) high school and college students.

Micaela also served as an Education Pioneer Fellow in Washington, D.C., and worked for Jobs for the Future (a non-profit policy-research organization) researching and writing policy briefs for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, specifically for Race to the Top funds (federal funds for education reform), and Achieving the Dream Initiative, an initiative aimed at policy reforms to increase college completion rates.