Samuel Whittemore is from Dresden, a small town on the coast of Maine. He graduated magna cum laude from Carleton College in 2008 with a degree in Political Science and a concentration in Political Economy. While at Carleton, he spent a semester abroad studying European politics in Copenhagen. For two years after graduating, he worked in Boston as an economic consultant for Analysis Group, Inc. before moving to West Africa where he worked for BRAC in Sierra Leone and Liberia in the research and evaluation division. He has also worked at the New York City Council as a Policy Intern and at the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan. While in West Africa he gained a deep appreciation for distance running and the joys of street food.