Our Team

Katrina Burgess, Ph.D.

Director, Henry J. Leir Institute

Professor of Political Economy

Office: Cabot 603C

Email: katrina.burgess@tufts.edu

Dr. Katrina Burgess is Professor of Political Economy and Director of the Leir Institute for Migration and Human Security at the Fletcher School at Tufts University. She has published widely on labor politics, migration, remittances, and diasporas, including her most recent book, Courting Migrants: How States Make Diasporas and Diasporas Make States (Oxford, 2020). She is also writer and producer of Waylaid in Tijuana, a 2020 documentary about Haitian and Central American migrants whose journeys to the United States are disrupted by shifts in U.S. policy. Her current project, Hopes, Fears, and Illusions, addresses how migrants traveling north through the Americas assess risk and process information regarding their prospects for making it to the United States.

She previously taught at Brown University, Syracuse University, UCLA, and the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM) and received her PhD in Politics from Princeton University.

Marcela Millan, MALD F05

Associate Director, Henry J. Leir Institute

Office: Cabot 603

Email: Marcela.Millan@tufts.edu

Marcela Prieto-Millan joined the Leir Institute as a full-time Associate Director in January 2024. Marcela graduated with a Fletcher MALD in 2005. During her time at Fletcher, Marcela studied migration and remittances issues and was research assistant to Professor John Hammock. She was a panelist at Harvard University’s Colombian Migration Conference where she presented her capstone project titled, “Impact of Remittances on Colombia.” After graduating, she worked alongside Adjunct Lecturer Lawrence Harrison as program officer for Fletcher’s Cultural Change Institute. In 2008, Marcela moved to Hong Kong with her husband and two children, where they resided for the past fifteen years before returning to the Boston area in summer 2023. While in Hong Kong, Marcela built on her entrepreneurial experience by opening two businesses, and continued to hone her professional skills through her volunteer, advisory and board positions at the Hong Kong International School, the Girl Scouts of America, the Boy Scouts of America and the Fletcher School’s Hong Kong Alumni Club.

Prior to Fletcher, Marcela worked in financial advertising and marketing. She is a proud alumna of the Universidad Externado de Colombia.

Chris Hauptfeld

Program Coordinator, Henry J. Leir Institute

Office: Cabot 603

Email: christopher.hauptfeld@tufts.edu

Chris Hauptfeld joined the Leir Institute in September 2024 as a Administrative Coordinator. Originally from Connecticut, Chris obtained his undergraduate degree at Middlebury College. He later earned an MAT from Brown University with a concentration in Secondary Mathematics, and completed a capstone project focused on the intersection of mathematics and social justice. Before coming to Leir, he taught math at Narragansett High School in Rhode Island.

Chris provides a wide range of administrative support to the Leir Institute, including onboarding students and contractors, reconciling Leir-related expenses, assisting with event planning, and tracking Leir budgets.

Rebecca Kelly, MALD Candidate

Events Coordinator, Henry J. Leir Institute

Email: Rebecca.Kelly@tufts.edu

Rebecca is a second-year MALD student studying gender/intersectional analysis and human security. She is particularly interested in the gendered aspects of issues like violence, peacebuilding, and migration. During undergrad, she studied international relations, history, and French at Tulane University.

After graduating in 2019, Rebecca interned at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and for Senator Tammy Duckworth. She then worked for a Chicago-area Congressman for several years as a Constituent Advocate and assisted constituents having issues with USCIS, the Department of State, and Social Security. She was especially passionate about VAWA visa issues and helping refugees navigate the immigration process. At Fletcher, she is a board member for the Conference on Gender and International Affairs and leads the French table. Rebecca is excited to work with the Leir Center and expand her understanding of migration issues while supporting the center’s mission and events.

Sarah O’Rourke, MALD Candidate

Social Media, Henry J. Leir Institute

Email: Sarah.O_Rourke@tufts.edu

Sarah O’Rourke is a second-year MALD student concentrating on International Security and Conflict Resolution and Negotiation. After graduating from the College of the Holy Cross in May 2021 with a BA in Political Science and Peace and Conflict Studies, she worked as a paralegal at Ropes & Gray and then as an associate at PwC.

While attending Holy Cross, Sarah interned in the Office of Iranian Affairs at the State Department and wrote a thesis on the impact of U.S. sanction policy on human rights in Iran. Sarah is interested in the intersection of national security policy and human security.

Sara Sharpe, MALD Candidate

Communications – Editor This Week at Leir, Henry J. Leir Institute

Email: sara.sharpe@tufts.edu

Sara Sharpe is a first-year MALD student at Fletcher concentrating in Human Security and Humanitarian Affairs, as well as Global Governance and International Organizations. She graduated from the University of Vermont in 2021 with a BA in Spanish and Global Studies.

After graduation, Sara moved to Spain to work as an English Language and Culture Ambassador through the Spanish Ministry of Education. She has a strong interest in migration and labor rights, shaped by her experience researching migrant farmworkers’ dental health and advocating for immigrant workers through legislative and community-focused initiatives. At Fletcher, she is an organizing chair for the Decolonizing International Relations Conference and co-director of the Fletcher Latin America Group. Sara looks forward to contributing to the Leir Institute’s work and deepening her understanding of migration issues.