The UAA is a volunteer-run organization led by the UAA Board of Directors.
We currently have four committees (Webinars, Communications, Regional Networks, and Mentorship) in addition to our Executive Team (President, Vice President, and Treasurer).
Kendra Held
President
2021 Udall Scholar (Environment)
Kendra was born and raised in Minnesota and completed her Bachelor’s degree in Geography and Environmental Studies at a small liberal arts college called Gustavus Adolphus College in 2022. She studied abroad in Sweden for 5 months her senior year and had the opportunity to visit 7 other countries on the weekends! She moved to Telluride, CO in September 2022 to be an Americorps VISTA and is now the Climate Action Coordinator for a sustainability nonprofit that facilitates and support climate action implementation across 7 municipalities and 3 counties in Southwest CO. She works part time at a restaurant called The Butcher and The Baker where she gets to practice Spanish and bartend occasionally. She loves to ski, swim, go for walks, practice yoga, read, cook and have insightful conversations.
Grace Fox
Vice President, Communications Director
2021 Udall Scholar (Native Policy) and 2023 Congressional Intern
Grace is from Edmond, Oklahoma, and is an enrolled member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma. She recently graduated from Columbia University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and ethnicity and race studies (Indigenous Studies). Through non-profit management, policy creation, and community-centered organizing, she plans to work directly with Native American communities worldwide as an aspiring education activist. Last summer, she worked for the U.S. Department of the Interior in the Bureau of Indian Education as a recipient of the esteemed 2023 Udall Congressional Internship Program. Awarded admittance to the Oxford University Blavatnik School of Government for a Master of Public Policy, Lady Margaret Hall, and inducted to the 2023 Eisenhower Global Scholars Program, she is continuing her education in England. With unwavering tenacity, she proudly works towards creating a better future for the generations to come, ensuring the success and well-being of her future ancestors.
Audrey Cho
Treasurer, Mentorship Co-Director
2022 Udall Scholar (Environment)
Audrey is a current senior in the Environmental Policy Analysis and Planning Program at UC Davis. She is originally from the Bay Area and spent two years of her undergraduate education at Smith College before transferring. She has goals of working in a California state agency on water rights policy and environmental justice before eventually going back to school for her J.D. She has experiences in the nonprofit and local government spaces working on water quality initiatives, but ultimately is most interested in bringing about reforms to the California water rights system. She is currently writing a thesis tracing Anti-Asian sentiment as it relates to water access, property ownership, and agriculture in the state. She is a big time dog lover, and loves hiking along the coast in the Bay Area.
Jonnie Bray
Webinars Director
2021 Udall Scholar (Tribal Policy)
Jonnie is a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation. She recently graduated from Washington State University with dual bachelor degrees in Economics (Policy & Law (BS)), a minor in Philosophy, and Social Sciences (Political Science, History, and English (BA)). Presently, she is working on her MPA through the University of West Georgia and works for the WA State Gambling Commission developing, analyzing, researching state-tribal gaming compacts and appendices.
Torre Lavelle
Regional Networks Director, Mentorship Co-Director
2015 Udall Scholar (Environment)
Hailing from Macon, Georgia and graduating with a degree in ecology from the University of Georgia, Torre spent the year after college based at The Nature Conservancy’s China office. After a few years in New York City working at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy and joining the founding team of the Columbia Climate School, she is now in PhD mode at Georgetown University’s Center on Global Health Science and Security. Outside of this, she volunteers with Girl Scouts, is in a book club (always looking for additional recs!), and loves to pet dogs.
Hogan Dwyer
2018 Honorable Mention
Hogan has served in various roles on the UAA Board since 2020. Passionate about climate change solutions, he is currently a Program Manager at Efficiency Maine Trust, where he manages Maine’s electric vehicle rebates programs. He grew up in New Jersey and graduated from St. Lawrence University in 2019 with a degree in Environmental Studies & Philosophy. Outside of work, he loves road biking, making epic salads, hosting a philosophy book club, and traveling all around the U.S.