“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” -Franklin D. Roosevelt
Evan is second Sondheim Public Affairs Scholar in the Leiter-Mason family. While following in his sister’s footsteps, Evan is also blazing his own trail at UMBC and in the Sondheim program. He is passionate about creating a world in which working families not only get by, but thrive. As a freshman, Evan sought out a service-learning experience that matched his interest in economic policy. Evan served as a Financial Resource Volunteer with the Baltimore CASH Campaign, a nonprofit organization with a mission to build the assets of working families in Baltimore by providing free tax filing services and financial education. Evan returned to the Baltimore CASH Campaign last year as an IRS-certified Tax Preparer. In these roles, Evan has both encouraged families to build their assets and aided them in tax preparation, gaining significant insight into the financial experiences of low income families. Evan is also the President of the UMBC College Democrats, a blogger for USDemocrazy, and has served as the SGA Election Board Chair. This past summer, Evan participated in the Governor’s Summer Internship Program, where he worked on public budgeting with the Maryland Department of Health & Mental Hygiene.
For Evan, the Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program helped him form powerful bonds with like-minded students through cohort classes and events for all Sondheim Scholars. Evan spent the Fall 2015 semester abroad in Denmark where he studied their approach to economic policy and the welfare state.