Maria Andersen

After receiving the International Baccalaureate diploma in Copenhagen in 2008, Maria came to the United States on an F-1 visa for her collegiate studies. She is a rising senior at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, pursuing a B.S. in Economics and a B.A. in French. During the summer of 2007, she travelled to Ghana on a Glaxo Smith Kline financial scholarship to do microfinance work for the Amanfro Women's Club. This experience, coupled with a week volunteering at a school run by Orphan Aid Africa, opened her eyes to the real effects of economic policies on women and their children. Her main interests include policies regarding development, education, immigration and labor-both domestically and abroad. At Mason, she is a brother to the service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega and secretary for the GMU Economics Society. Her passion is research and writing, and in 2008 a few of her own and co written economic articles were published in the Copenhagen Post. In the spring of 2009, she was the recipient of an honors award for her Hayekian essay on the current financial crisis. Currently, she is a Koch Summer Fellow for the summer of 2010. She is very excited to be part of the team at IWF and looking forward to many fun and productive months in the future!