Ada McKinney
Spring 2023 John Jay Fellow
Hometown: Bakersville, NC
College: Wheaton College
Degree: B.A. International Relations; B.A. Spanish Language and Literature
Ada McKinney is a native of Bakersville, NC, in the rural Appalachian Mountains where she grew up with her family of four. She graduated in May 2022 from Wheaton College with a double major in international relations and Spanish language and literature. During her time at Wheaton she studied abroad in Jordan and began pursuing fluency in Modern Standard Arabic and Ammiya.
During her summers she continued to study Arabic full time or worked as an intern with The Telos Group in Washington D.C. From these experiences, Ada believes she would like to work to support and protect the American people and constitution after finishing her time at the John Jay Institute.
Ada’s other interests include weightlifting, gardening, reading, and wild swimming.