Molly Hayes is a research fellow for the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Her work centers on building transatlantic partnerships and the role of diaspora communities in international politics. Until June 2019, she served as deputy chief of staff and speechwriter to the President of the University of Minnesota. From 2016-2017, she was the program director for workforce development and education at a refugee resettlement agency based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She served as a foreign policy advisor at the U.S. Department of State from 2008-2014 focused on human rights, refugee policy, and security issues in North Africa and East Africa. She holds an M.P.A. from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, a graduate certificate from Johns Hopkins' School of Advanced International Studies, and a B.A. in English and Arabic from the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana.