Zachary Leffel

Zachary joined the council in January 2021 as an intern with the public opinion team. He is a sophomore from the University of Chicago studying political science and data science. He is passionate about how data science can be applied to foreign policy to improve the outcomes of global initiatives from sustainability to diplomacy, and hopes to explore big data questions with concrete applications for governments and international organizations. Zachary previously worked with Securrency Inc. to explore the nascent field of decentralized governance and its unique applications, including local community-building and secure voting. He has also worked for the Allied Drive summer school program, where he led health and fitness exercises for elementary and middle school students in an underserved area of Wisconsin. Outside of classwork, Zachary is a varsity cross country athlete and explores the city of Chicago on foot and bike. In his free time, he enjoys cooking and reading up on current affairs.