Thay Graciano

Thay Graciano was born in Brazil and spent much of her life in London. She is pursuing a master’s degree in international policy at Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute and a PhD in communication, with a focus on political communication and deliberative democracy. She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at Stanford, with a focus on political economy and development. She was co-president and co-founder of the Stanford Society for Latin American Politics. She joined Stanford as a nontraditional student, after spending many years in the U.K. promoting human rights through Amnesty International’s education team and as co-founder and co-director of Skaped, a charity that engages young people with human rights. Thay aspires to encourage citizens to participate in politics more fully through the use of deliberative democracy. She also aims to use the methodology to reduce polarization and to inform policymakers of the wishes of citizens.