Julia Bentley
Spring 2019 John Jay Fellow
Hometown: Houlton, ME
College: John Brown University
Degree: B.S. Psychology
Julia Bentley graduated from John Brown University in 2018, where she majored in psychology and obtained minors in English and philosophy. During her time at John Brown, Julia completed numerous research projects in her major field, was an active member of her university’s debate team, and spent time building relationships with members of her community by volunteering at the local nursing home and literacy center. While attending university, Julia discovered an interest in welfare policy through her participation in extracurricular, policy-oriented colloquiums. At these colloquiums, Julia had the opportunity to consider the philosophical and pragmatic assumptions underlying our political system and to discuss potential solutions for the problems that exist in various spheres of policy.
During the spring of 2018, Julia interned at the Heritage Foundation. While at Heritage, Julia spent her time in the Domestic Policy Studies branch, where she researched national and state welfare policies and learned about the process of developing and promoting public policies.
Julia has a heart for child advocacy work, and she hopes to either develop responsible and useful welfare policies or pursue a degree in the field of family law. She expects that her time as a John Jay Fellow will spiritually prepare her for affecting change and living out God’s purpose for her life in the public sphere.