Maya Guzdar

Maya Guzdar is a junior majoring in International Relations with interests in East Asia, human rights, and national security. She is passionate about working to understand the essential connections between American domestic and foreign policy. 

At Stanford, Maya studies topics ranging from mis- and disinformation in the 2016 election to the state of education in rural China to Huawei and 5G policy in the Baltic States. She speaks Mandarin, and thanks to the Stanford Global Studies program, has had the opportunity to live and work in China. 

Maya also has a strong passion for advocacy and social justice. In the summer of 2020, she co-founded POPS, a non-profit that works to support grassroots organizations working toward educational equity in Oakland. The following fall, she took time off of school to work for National Security Action, an NGO that supported democratic Presidential and Congressional campaigns on issues of foreign policy.

Most recently, Maya took time off this spring to work at Starling Strategy, a boutique consulting firm headed by Macon Philips, Obama’s former White House Director for New Media. At Starling, Maya has worked on projects that range from refugee integration into the U.S. to the need for innovative firms in the international development space. She also had the opportunity to direct and moderate a podcast that her two bosses created called “Talk About Power.” Most recently, she and her boss co-authored a piece in Foreign Policy on the need for USAID reform. 

Maya could not recommend her time at Starling more--and, they are hiring! You can read more and apply here, and feel free to reach out to her with any questions.   

On campus, Maya is a class President and a tour guide. She is from Piedmont, California. In her free time, she enjoys running, reading, and crosswords.