Student Leadership
Ashley Agostinelli // Statewide Board Chair
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Ashley is the State Board Chair of MASSPIRG Students. She is a Senior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst majoring in Psychology and Linguistics. She first started during Fall 2020 to help register students to vote in the 2020 election. Since then, she has gone from the Secretary to Chapter Chair at UMass Amherst. Outside of MASSPIRG, Ashley likes to knit, read and play board games with friends. After graduation, Ashley plans to attend law school and apply all that she has learned in her future career.
Caitlyn Egan // Statewide Board Vice Chair
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Caitlyn Egan is the current Vice Chair of MASSPIRG at UMass Amherst, and also the MASSPIRG Statewide Board Vice Chair. She started volunteering with MASSPIRG when she was a freshman and has continued to take on leadership with the organization ever since. Her passion for the environment got her interested in the organization, and her experience with MASSPIRG has sparked an interest in pursuing Environmental Policy at the federal level. She is excited to have met so many amazing people through working with MASSPIRG, and will remember her experience forever!
Isabel Rojas // Statewide Board Treasurer
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Isabel is the Statewide Board Treasurer for MASSPIRG. She transferred to UMass Amherst in the fall of 2022 for her junior year and is studying Microbiology. She joined MASSPIRG as an intern for the New Voter’s Project and helped register students to vote and educate them about their voting options in the 2022 midterm elections. She is now the campaign coordinator for the Democracy campaign (previously known as the New Voter’s Project) and is excited to continue to work with the UMass community to get classes off for the next elections in 2024 and gather support for same-day voter registration in Massachusetts to present to legislators in a future lobby day. Outside of MASSPIRG and academics, Isabel enjoys reading, spending time with her dog, and painting with friends. After graduation, Isabel plans to attend medical school and apply what she has learned about advocacy and leadership to her practice of medicine.
Our Staff
Leigh-Anne Cole // Organizing Director
Leigh-Anne is the Organizing Director for MASSPIRG Students and the Deputy Director of the Student PIRGs. She coordinated the Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project from 2008 to 2012, which registered more than 300,000 people to vote and made more than 1 million “get-out-the-vote” contacts. Prior to her current role, Leigh-Anne directed the recruitment department for The Public Interest Network, where she recruited hundreds of candidates to join our movement. Leigh-Anne lives in Milton, Massachusetts, where she loves to go hiking with her dog, Aspen, and her daughter, Rosie.
Andy MacDonald // National Organizing Director
Andy manages the staff who work on 37 campuses in eight states, as well as training, staff development, volunteer programs, campaign strategy and canvassing for the Student PIRGs. Andy has maintained a funding base for the student chapters, built a pipeline for students and staff to become lifelong activists, and been a part of a variety of social change campaigns. He has held numerous positions within the network, including regional director and assistant national summer canvass director for Fund for the Public Interest. Andy lives in Amherst, Mass., with his family, and enjoys all outdoor sports, especially running.
Dan Xie // Political Director
Dan directs the national political strategy and grant fundraising for the Student PIRGs. Dan has managed successful campaigns from coast to coast to cap global warming pollution, fight the high cost of higher education, and make voting more accessible for students. She has recruited and trained hundreds of students and staff on public interest campaigns. Dan lives in St. Petersburg, Fla., where she is an avid cyclist and climber.
Brooklyn Darling // Campus Organizer
Brooklyn is a campus organizer for MASSPIRG Students, based in Lowell, MA. Prior to working with MASSPIRG, she graduated from the State University of New York at New Paltz in 2022 with a degree in International Relations and focus on Environmental Policy. Brooklyn is passionate about advocating for a 100 percent renewable energy future and preventing hunger and homelessness. In her free time, she enjoys paddle boarding and camping, and is working to climb all of New Hampshire’s forty-eight 4,000 foot mountains!
Kirby Sikes // Campus Organizer
Kirby is a campus organizer for MASSPIRG Students, based in Amherst, MA. Before joining staff, Kirby graduated from California Institute of Technology with a degree in geophysics, and worked in a laboratory studying river deltas and sea level rise. Kirby is excited about promoting civic engagement among young people so that we enter adulthood knowing how to protect ourselves and our communities from environmental degradation and predatory companies, and how to organize society to promote human well-being. An avid Wikipedia editor, Kirby is passionate about free education and information, and enjoys hiking, cycling, and recreational mathematics.
Maria Ayala // Campus Organizer
Maria is a campus organizer for MASSPIRG Students, working with the UMass Dartmputh chapter. Prior to working with MASSPIRG, she worked with our NCPIRG clubs in North Carolina, working primarily with students at the University of North Carolina – Charlotte, also her alma mater. As an undergraduate, she facilitated the start up and development of a nonprofit and worked with a team of interns to support and grow local nonprofits. She started with NCPIRG as an intern where she worked on the Break Free From Plastics and New Voters Project campaigns. Maria enjoys reading and being in nature.