Europe Week 2025 | TAM Alumni Panel

Sam Hart

TAM 2024- Sam is a policy analyst with FiscalNote, a global SaaS consultancy firm, wherein he specializes in U.S. state and federal education, civil rights, and HHS policymaking. Sam graduated from North Carolina State University with dual Bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and History in 2019, and he completed his graduate studies through the European Governance track of the TAM program. He spent his first year in Chapel Hill, and his second in Gothenburg, Sweden. Sam interned with the U.S. Department of State and Defense during his undergraduate and graduate studies, and wrote his Master’s thesis on Arctic security. Sam lives in Northern Virginia with his fiancé, Maddie; in his free time he enjoys fishing, traveling, and watching Wolfpack football.

Cory Breaux

TAM 2016- Cory graduated from UNC in 2016, with a degree in Geography. He enrolled in TAM in the summer of 2016, spending two semesters at Bath University. His research interests included how direct democratic mechanisms impact politics in the US and EU. During his final semester in TAM, he interned at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, working on the annual Chicago Council Survey on attitudes towards US foreign policy.
In the fall of 2018, he joined the U.S. Census Bureau’s Economic Indicators Division as a Survey Statistician with the Quarterly Services Survey. Cory has remained with the Bureau since, moving to a data science role in 2022 with EID’s Big Data Team, where he worked on a variety of projects including research into the PPP Loans program and the experimental Monthly State Retail Sales data product. Since 2023 he has worked as a Team Lead for the Business Trends and Outlook Survey, a bi-weekly survey analyzing business attitudes and performance. BTOS also collects data and research on supplemental topics, including Artificial Intelligence, findings which were published in the November 2024 issue of Economic Letters. In February 2025, BTOS released new data on Work from Home adoption across the US economy.

Cassie Rice

TAM 2020- Cassie Rice is a dedicated political professional with a strong commitment to public service and community engagement. Cassie currently serves as the President of the Association of County Chairs and the Chair of the Orange County Democratic Party in North Carolina.
Growing up in a politically active family, Cassie was inspired by a grandparent to advocate for those without a voice and to uphold principles of justice and equality. This early influence led to a career in politics, beginning with work on Congressman David Price’s re-election campaign. Following the campaign, Cassie joined Representative Price’s staff, serving for seven years in both Washington, D.C., and Raleigh offices.
Cassie holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of North Carolina and a Master’s degree in European studies from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. Studies in Sweden provided firsthand insight into the impact of gender-neutral policies on societal perceptions and interactions.
A native of North Carolina, Cassie resides in Chapel Hill with family and two dogs. In free time, Cassie enjoys practicing yoga and spending time in nature.

Laura Slater

TAM 2016- Laura is the Head of SpringForward at The Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation, where she leads a Department for Education-funded programme aimed at increasing the number of care leavers accessing higher education.

With a background spanning education, social impact, and strategic communications, she has held leadership roles at tutoring company Equal Education where she managed marketing, partnerships, and bid-writing, securing key grants and recognition for impact reporting. Her experience also includes community sports management at The Queen’s Club Foundation and corporate communications in the financial and energy sectors.

Laura arrived at TAM from the UNC women’s tennis team and focused on International Security, spending time at Bath and Siena before finishing up with an internship at the United Nations Regional Information Centre in Brussels before eventually returning to London where she started her career.