Taylor Adams

Taylor Adams is from Riviera Beach, FL. She received a B.S. in Economics, Psychology, and Leadership Studies from Florida State University in 2013. While at Florida State University, she spent one year working with Jumpstart Americorps and three summers working with Camp Boggy Creek, a SeriousFun Network camp that serves children with chronic and life-threatening illnesses. “As a childhood cancer survivor myself, Camp Boggy Creek is my community and it was incredibly rewarding to volunteer there.  However, I quickly learned I also had an interest in working in more diverse communities and settings.”

Her interest in international development began after teaching elementary students in Mombasa, Kenya in 2011. There she developed a citizenship and service unit that allowed her elementary students to volunteer in a neighboring village’s school.  After leaving Kenya, she worked in Maseru, Lesotho consulting in the staff training of Camp ‘Mamohato a Global Partnership Program that works with children living with HIV/AIDS. She then received a Social Entrepreneurship/Leadership in Public Service Moellership grant from Florida State University, which she used to work with a children’s rights NGO in Cambodia during the summer of 2012.

Taylor Adams will begin the Payne Fellowship in 2014 after deferring to complete a U.S. Fulbright grant in Taiwan. During her Fulbright year, Taylor is working in Luodong Township on the eastern coast of Taiwan. She is teaching English and taking classes in Mandarin Chinese.

Taylor will attend Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. She looks forward to building her skills in economic and policy analysis. She will also continue studying Mandarin Chinese and Spanish in preparation for working in USAID. “I am grateful for the opportunity the Payne Fellowship has given me. It is an incredibly supportive program that is investing in creating quality public servants. Becoming a USAID FSO will allow me to face complex challenges and be of service around the world. I am excited to begin this journey.”