Rutgers Transparency and Governance Center Hosting Four Visiting Scholars in Fall 2024

This fall semester, Rutgers Transparency and Governance Center (TGC) is hosting four visiting scholars. Gabriela de Brelàz (Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil); Maria D’Agostino (PhD'06) (John Jay College of Criminal Justice); Yifan Guo (Renmin University of China); and Irakli Petriashvili (University of Georgia, Tbilisi, Georgia) are collaborating with TGC Director Suzanne Piotrowski, professor at Rutgers SPAA, on various open government initiatives. TGC focuses on programming, research, and projects related to public sector transparency and governance at both the local and global levels.

Gabriela de Brelàz is a professor at the Paulista School of Politics, Economics, and Business (EPPEN) at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp). Her research focuses on advocacy, transparency, open government/open state, investments, and businesses with socio-environmental impact. At SPAA, she is conducting research regarding open government. At a Fall 2024 SPAA PhD Colloquium, she presented on open governments and the backsliding of democracy and transparency in Latin America’s populist governments.

Maria J. D’Agostino (PhD'06) is a SPAA alumna and a professor of public administration in the Department of Public Management at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, as well as the founding co-director of the Initiative for Gender Equity in the Public Sector. Her research focuses on gender, leadership, diversity, equity, and inclusion in the public sector.

Yifan Guo is a visiting doctoral student from Renmin University of China. Her research focuses on open government and public value. At SPAA, she is conducting research regarding public value in digital governance.

Irakli Petriashvili is an associate professor at the University of Georgia in Tbilisi, Georgia. His research focuses on counter-corruption and public finance and budgeting. At SPAA, he is conducting research regarding the role of technology in combating corruption and informal governance. At a Fall 2024 SPAA PhD Colloquium, he shared insights on the real-world challenges in fighting corruption, and explored how emerging technologies, especially AI, transform public finance management.