Sydnee Wilke is originally from North Carolina. She graduated from the Ohio State University in 2020 with a B.A. in International Studies and Russian. She recently spent a year teaching English in Italy and a year studying Russian, in Riga, Latvia. In addition to MAERES, she is pursuing a certificate in Global Human Development. Her areas of interest include democracy, governance, and anti-corruption work in Moldova, Ukraine and the Baltics.