MPP student Aysia Dukes: From case manager to policy leader

Aysia Dukes had no intention of attending the University of Minnesota Twin Cities when she set out with her mom to visit colleges while in high school. As a native of Grand Forks, North Dakota, all she knew was that the Gophers had long been bitter hockey rivals of her hometown University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks.

On their way to a university in St. Paul, Dukes’ mom suggested they stop at the Twin Cities campus for a quick look. When Dukes stepped out of the car, the beginnings of her future became apparent. “I took one step onto campus and was like, ‘This is where I’m going,’ and we cancelled my other tours,” Dukes laughs. “There was just something about the architecture and the bigness of it all.” 

From there, a version of the snowball effect took hold. Her tour of campus was terrific. She was accepted into the College of Liberal Arts and the University Honors Program at the same time. And after briefly considering majoring in accounting, she set her sights on a sociology major. 

After obtaining her degree in the sociology of law, criminology and justice and working in the field for a couple of years, Dukes determined she needed to return to school to gain the knowledge and the skills necessary to propel her career. She was looking for a program in nonprofit leadership and wanted to stay in Minneapolis, and a scholarship offer helped seal her decision to pursue a Master of Public Policy (MPP) at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. 

Coming into focus at the YMCA

In her first semester as an undergraduate, Dukes enrolled in a course on incarceration and public health — a combined honors and Master of Public Health offering taught by Associate Professor Rebecca Shlafer, whose research focuses on the welfare of children of incarcerated parents. Between the class’s prison tours, conversations with incarcerated people, and another project with Shlafer developing and teaching a course at the women’s prison in Shakopee, Minnesota, Dukes had another revelation: She decided she wanted to work with people who were currently or at risk of being incarcerated.

After earning her degree, Dukes worked at the YMCA of the North as a case manager for young people aged 12-24 who were at risk of entering the juvenile justice system or were on probation, engaging with them to maintain healthy behaviors. A promotion elevated her to a program manager overseeing youth advocacy boards lobbying on behalf of foster care and juvenile justice. 

Then she made the leap to being a program director of the YMCA’s Neighborhood Centers program serving youth and families in low-income apartment complexes, where she oversaw close to 20 staff. It was in feeling “so underqualified” for that role, Dukes says, that she decided to continue her education at the Humphrey School.

Learning from (and with) her instructors and classmates

Through the Humphrey School, Dukes became involved with the Integrated Leadership minor under the guidance of Professor Kathy Quick — one of her biggest advocates in the school, she says. “Anytime there’s an open position, she’ll send it to me,” Dukes says. That resulted in an internship last summer with the ECMC Foundation, which works to improve pathways to higher education and career success among underserved populations. 

“I feel like I’ve gotten connected with so many other things because of this internship,” Dukes says. “There have been a ton of doors that have opened since being in Kathy’s class.”

Growing up in Grand Forks, Dukes never had a Black teacher, so she has relished taking two courses with Associate Professor Brandi Blessett, including the spring 2026 topics class “U.S. Contemporary Issues in Crime and Justice.” It’s a discussion-based class with just nine students, and Blessett guides the conversations. 

“I feel like I’ve learned so much from these discussions,” Dukes says. “And I’ve been able to feel in real time [that] the way that I think about things has changed. That has been so cool.

“We’re not being talked at but we’re being talked with,” she adds. “We’re learning ‘from and with’ — that has been really helpful.”

From changing one outcome to changing hundreds

Dukes’ time at the Humphrey School has been both eye opening and mind expanding — exactly what she was envisioning when she enrolled. “I think I’ve learned more in the last two years than I had in my four years of undergrad,” she says. “I feel like this program has expanded my view of what I can do … and will make me feel more comfortable in the skills that I’m bringing and what I can provide to the next space I’m in.” 

What that may look like remains to be seen, but Dukes hopes to be a part of meaningful, broad-based policy work. When she was involved in case management, she felt hamstrung by helping one person into a good spot, only to have to start over and do the exact same thing for someone else. “I would rather make some sort of change that can impact five, ten, … 20 or 100 people,” she says. 

Dukes admits that when she first arrived on the Twin Cities campus, she wanted to be a fly on the wall. Her advice to potential students now? The opposite: get deeply involved and get to know your instructors.

“The more your professor knows who you are, the more they can properly recommend you if roles come onto their desk or if you need references in the future,” she says. “It’s not just you getting to know them, it’s them getting to know you.”