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UPenn senior Sonia Banker bags Carnegie fellowship
A fourth-year student at UPenn, Banker is pursuing a College of Arts and Sciences major with a special focus on comparative politics.
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Jeffin T. Kaleekal - Sun, 05, Apr 2026
- 00:21 EDT
- 26
UPenn senior Sonia Banker / Sonia Banker via LinkedIn
University of Pennsylvania student Sonia Banker has been accepted as a James C. Gaither Junior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., the University announced on April 2.
Banker is among the 18 students in the country chosen for a one-year fellowship. Carnegie offers the Gaither fellowship to uniquely qualified graduating seniors and individuals who have graduated during the past academic year.
The winners are selected from a pool of nominees nominated by several hundred participating universities and colleges and have the opportunity to work as research assistants to Carnegie’s senior scholars.
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The Gaither Junior Fellows Program is designed to provide a substantive work experience for students who have a serious career interest in the area of international affairs. Junior Fellows are paid a monthly salary and receive a benefits package.
A fourth-year student at UPenn, Banker is pursuing a College of Arts and Sciences major with a special focus on comparative politics and she is minoring in English.
She has also served as editor-in-chief of the Penn Political Review, an executive board member of Penn’s Government and Politics Association, a research assistant in the Department of Political Science, and music director of Quaker Notes, Penn’s oldest a cappella group.
Her fellowship selection is backed by her experience in local, state and federal policy initiatives at the American Civil Liberties Union. She has also worked with Philadelphia City Council, the office of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and as a 2025 Henry A. Wallace Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies.
She has also led two successful education policy campaigns to increase public school funding in Philadelphia and California.
Her work in California was even profiled in the 2024 book 'Don’t Wait: Three Girls Who Fought for Change and Won'.
As a Carnegie fellow, Sonia Baker will have the opportunity to assist Carnegie Endowment senior scholars with research and editing in areas including nuclear nonproliferation, foreign policy, economics, technology, and democracy and governance.
She will also get the opportunity to conduct research, participate in meetings with high-level officials, and contribute to books, reports, Congressional testimony, and other works.
Banker applied for the James C. Gaither Junior Fellowship with the assistance of Penn’s Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships.
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