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MEET OUR TEAM

Man with Green Shirt

William Duncan

Founder

William is a founder and director of the Midwest Policy Institute. Foreign Policy has been an interest and pursuit for him since he began to see the impact state decisions had on all aspects of peoples' daily lives irrespective of geography. His perspectives have been shaped at a global level through involvement with the Global Governance Institute, the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre, the Oxford Hub and the former One Woman a Year organization. At a more local level, he has been involved with the TNK Children's Foundation, Kansas City Mother's in Charge, and organizations at Baker University such as Zeta Chi.

 

Research interests are motivated by the idea that many narratives and beliefs do not account for heterogeneity across time and geography. While there are many developments in recent history that make geography less meaningful in determining state decisions, understanding geopolitics is still a vital perspective to analyze the foreign policy of any government. World history also holds many lessons. Dynamics have changed over time, and at different times for different parts of the world, and these understandings can be crucial in assessing the outcomes of specific decisions. As such, Will is interested in international economics, international relations, and capturing both through world history.

 

Will is a current PhD student in Economics at the University of Kansas and an Adjunct Faculty member at Baker University. He completed his MSc in Global Governance and Diplomacy at the University of Oxford, and has a BS in Mathematics and BA in International Studies and Music from Baker University.

Man with Blue Sweater

Jacob Mogle

Founder

Jacob is a Founder and Director of the Midwest Policy Institute. A lifelong Midwesterner and product of a rural farm town, from an early age he understood the power of a community when its members work together to achieve goals for the common good. He is passionate about exploring these values within a global context by helping others around the world realize and actively partake in their global citizenship.

 

A 2015 graduate of Baker University, Jacob has a BA in Communication Studies with a specialization in Conflict Management. His interest in building better communities called him to nonprofit fund development work with Phoenix Family, a growing agency providing social services and community development programs to more than 6,500 people on any given day who live in low-income housing communities across the Midwest.

 

Jacob is a member of the International Relations Council of Kansas City, and currently serves on Baker University's Alumni Advisory Council and as a Trustee of Zeta Chi Fraternity. He resides in the Kansas City area where he enjoys experiencing the city's evolving arts and culinary scenes.

Young Man with Checkerd Shirt

Caio Vigo

Advisor

Caio is a founder and fellow at the Midwest Policy Institute. His area of expertise is in financial economics and quantitative methods. In particular, he has specialized knowledge of data analysis through econometric software packages R and Stata, as well as programming languages such as Python, SQL, and VBA. His previous work experience includes positions at Kraft Foods (now Mondelēz International) and Patria Investments, a Blackstone subsidiary in Brazil. He has also been a peer reviewer for the Brazilian Finance Review (RBFin). 

 

He completed his MSc in Applied Economics at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil, and has a BS in Economics from University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil. He is fluent in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, and proficient in French.

 

He is a current PhD student in Economics at the University of Kansas (KU). His current research interests are in Quantitative and Econometrics Methods.

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