Ella Duus

Masters Student at Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy ('27), University of Virginia Computer Science ('26)

Ella Duus is a policy advocate with a technical background dedicated to shaping ethical and trustworthy AI systems through governance. With her experience as a two-time NASA contractor and former entrepreneur in the ML space, she is able to leverage her technical understanding to craft sound policy. Currently, Ella serves in the Policy Working Group at Encode and is an Expert Board member at Fidutam. She is also a research assistant at Sloane Lab and Faruqe Lab at the University of Virginia's School of Data Science, focusing on AI governance. Ella is set to graduate from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in computer science in 2026, followed by a Master of Public Policy in 2027. Her long-term goal is to shape AI policy within the federal government, particularly through legislation.

Education

University of Virginia, Jefferson Scholar

Bachelor of Arts, Computer Science

GPA: 3.85

Applying for Masters of Public Policy for 2026-2027.

Previous Coursework: Computer Systems and Organization 2, Discrete Mathematics 1, Data Structures and Algorithms 1, Calculus 3, Media Law, Great Speeches, Forms of Reasoning

Current Coursework: Reinforcement Learning, Probability, Data Structures and Algorithms 2, Software Development Essentials

August 2023-May 2026

New Century Technology High School

Computer Science Track

August 2019 - May 2023

Experience

FARUQE LAB

Research Assistant (Part-time)

Jun 2024 - Present

  • Writing scholarly publication in AI Ethics on transparency, interpretability, and explainability in corporate AI governance frameworks under PI Farhana Faruqe.

SLOANE LAB

Research Assistant (Part-time)

Mar 2024 - Present

  • Developing a blueprint for student technology councils with Dr. Mona Sloane and the Karsh Institute of Democracy.
  • Managing three research assistants to study student governance and create student-run technology councils across American universities.
  • Conducted wide-ranging literature review; currently drafting scholarly publication with findings.
  • Proposed and designed brief for related legal study, found faculty sponsor and helping to spin off as separate project.

Supervised Program for Alignment Research (SPAR), Remote

Mentee

June 2024 - Present

  • Writing short paper on multi-agent risks of AI and analogs in other high-risk governance areas.
  • Researched and analyzed case studies from aviation on identifying and managing multi-agent risks.

Intelligence, Data, Ethics, And Society Research Program, Harvard University & Northeastern University

Fellow

June 2024 - July 2024

  • Completed course from leading academics, experts, and industry leaders on AI ethics and socio-technical approaches to technology.
  • Conducted an independent project to operationalize NIST's Risk Management Framework for industry with an integrated maturity model and web application.

DATAKATA LLC

Chief of Operations, Member

Sep 2020 - Present

  • Awarded NASA Sole Source Prime funding for a natural language processing (NLP) solution, winning over a similar proposal by IBM Watson, outlining the usefulness of a novel NLP approach for requirements engineering.
  • Utilized agile project management methodologies to coordinate cross-functional teams, successfully delivering a positively received NLP solution on time and on budget.
  • Edited and significantly contributed to a NASA-deliverable technical whitepaper that outlines Datakata's novel approach to contradiction detection with NLP.

JUV CONSULTING

Consultant

Jun 2020 - Present

  • Ideates social media campaigns & partnerships for top companies and nonprofits
  • One such original campaign got 160k views, 75k engagement on TikTok & Instagram (10x normal engagement rate).

MALLORY HAGAN FOR AL STATE HOUSE DISTRICT 25

Youth Coordinator

Aug 2022 - Nov 2022

  • Recruited and coordinated youth volunteers for canvassing, phone banking, and awareness events.
  • Out of all the volunteers, young volunteers contributed the most hours per person and the most total hours.

Activities

ENCODE JUSTICE

Advisory Council Member, AI x Democracy team

Aug 2023 - Present

  • Composed policy memo for Senator Chuck Schumer’s office on AI issues to support SAFE Innovation Framework.
  • Working on self-led projects within Encode Justice.

INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FORUM, SCHMIDT FUTURES

Working Group Member “Improving Global Content Moderation & Exploring Approaches to Disinformation”

Mar 2023 - Present

  • Funded by former CEO of Google Eric Schmidt, the working group takes an interdisciplinary approach to innovate new solutions to misinformation considering the new AI paradigm.
  • Writing whitepaper on global governance and framework for regulation.

UNIVERSITY JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

Counselor

August 2023 - Present

  • Advised and represented parties in disciplinary cases, from case strategy to witness interviews to oral arguments regarding breach of UVA Standards of Conduct and laws
  • 100% rate of favorable outcomes.

JEFFERSON LITERARY AND DEBATING SOCIETY

Probationary Committee Member, Alumni Relations Committee Member

August 2023 - Present

  • Awarded Best Presentation for Fall 2023 Semester
  • Probationary Committee: guiding new members through an individual presentation and other membership requirements.
  • Alumni Relations Committee: maintain good relations with alumni of the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society
  • Programs Committee: find, host, and advertise for the Society's Speaker Series, a semesterly line-up of world-class experts, leaders, and intellectuals. This semester, the Society has hosted former PM of the Palestinian National Authority, Salam Fayyad, and former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore.

Honors

  • Best Policy Governance Project for BlueDot Impact AI Safety Fundamentals paper on Antitrust x Responsible AI research collaborations.

  • United States Senate Youth Program Delegate, 2023.

  • One of two high school students chosen to represent Alabama at Washington Week, where delegates meet with a Supreme Court Justice, Senators, Cabinet members, and other top ranking officials from each branch of government.
  • Recipient of a $10,000 scholarship sponsored by the Hearst Foundation through the US Senate.

  • RISE Global Winner, 2021.

  • Chosen as one of 100 Global Winners from 500,000 applicants.
  • RISE identifies and invests in exceptional young people early. It is an initiative of the Rhodes Trust and Schmidt Futures.
  • Participated in 3-week leadership and social entreprenuership-focused residential summit.

  • Jefferson Scholar, 2023.

  • A full-ride merit scholarship to the University of Virginia
  • Selected on the basis of excellence in leadership, scholarship, and engaged citizenship from 2,300 nominating high schools.

  • Third in Technical Computing and Best Communication of Results :
    Mathworks Math Modeling Challenge, 2022.

  • International competition in math modeling judged by international panel of Ph.D.-level mathematicians.
  • Produced three-part solution paper utilizing machine learning techniques over 14-hour period.
  • Placed out of 612 teams.

  • Echols Scholar, 2023.

  • Honors program of UVA's College of Arts and Sciences.
  • Awarded to top 5% of incoming class

  • National Merit Finalist


  • Presidential Scholar Semifinalist


  • Girl Scout Silver Award

Projects

POLYTWEET

  • Utilized Tweepy API and natural language processing to create an online tool that assesses the bias of Twitter accounts while also providing topic analysis.
  • Featured on Good Morning America and in the Associated Press.

Raise Your Hand Campaign

For the Raise Your Hand Campaign by the Committee of 100's Creative Cities Fund, I created reports on the current number and distribution of nationally board certified teachers (NBCTs) in my county. Below are a couple of those reports made with publicly available data from the National Center of Education Statistics and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.