Every year, two Mt. Lebanon residents in their junior or senior year of high school serve as Mt. Lebanon Junior Commissioners, attending Commission meetings and presenting on student issues, each working for one semester of the school year. Mt. Lebanon Magazine reached out to some former Junior Commissioners to see what they’ve been up to since.
Mark Klemencic studied neuropsychology and biology at Penn State. After completing his undergraduate studies, he moved to Nashville to work in an autism research laboratory, the SENSE lab, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. His work there focused on SENSE Theatre, which is an intervention program for children, adolescents and adults with autism that blends socio-behavioral treatment with practices such as acting and singing. He now lives in New York City and works as an associate director in the division of cardiology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. While Klemencic did not end up pursuing politics or local government, he believes his time as Junior Commissioner developed valuable skills that he brings to his career.
“When individuals in leadership positions give actual stakeholders the space to communicate openly and honestly, a foundation of trust is built,” Klemencic explained. “This concept has shaped the way I interact with colleagues and my employees — I prioritize and value their feedback and ideas.”
Danielle Deiseroth graduated from Columbia University with a degree in chemical engineering in 2018. After starting her career in management consulting, she pivoted into the world of politics, first working as an aide on Senator Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign in 2020 and then serving as the executive director of a nonprofit public opinion research firm called Data for Progress.
Deiseroth is currently the chief of staff at the Searchlight Institute, which generates policy ideas and public opinion research on topics such as housing, the social safety net, healthcare, immigration and energy. Deiseroth lives in Washington, D.C.
Her experiences as a Junior Commissioner, observing the public questions about mixed-income housing at Castlegate Avenue, informed her policy work.
“We face myriad crises in our country — from housing shortages to a lack of clean energy infrastructure — and I am dedicating my career to trying to figure out how to build this type of large-scale infrastructure at the speed and scale that is necessary,” Deiseroth explained. “And I can trace that interest all the way back to my time at the municipal building on Monday evenings.”
Nikola Ranick graduated from Duquesne University in 2019 and volunteered for three years with AmeriCorps during the COVID-19 pandemic at an inner-city charter school before attending graduate school at the London School of Economics in 2022. He’s also worked in
education, events, sales, research and the nonprofit sphere. Most recently, Ranick has undertaken contract work as a brand ambassador for dozens of marketing companies, which allows him to work with different businesses, make his own schedule and fulfill his passion for travel. After a recent trip to South America, Ranick has visited 57 countries.
Ranick values his experience as Junior Commissioner and the perspective it gave him.
“Working within the municipality is still a reminder that the actual machinations of government can and should be cordial … productive and based on a love of home and community as opposed to self-aggrandizing,” Ranick said.
Haley Silverman graduated from Wake Forest University in 2019, majoring in psychology with a double minor in entrepreneurship and communications. After graduating, she moved back to Pittsburgh and started working for PNC Bank. Silverman started as an intern in retail lending product management in 2018 and was recently promoted to product manager senior. She bought a house last year in Lawrenceville and got engaged to her fiancé in April 2026. They have a goldendoodle named Benji who they love taking on adventures.
Silverman’s father, Steve Silverman, was a Mt. Lebanon Commissioner for 12 years. Her time as Junior Commissioner not only gave her perspective into her dad’s work but prepared her for her own career.
“I learned how to be confident in front of a podium, command a room and do so regularly,” she said. “Some of my favorite memories were drafting my speeches and sharing them with my dad for feedback.”
Katherine Izzo attended Wake Forest University and graduated in 2022 with a degree in political science and economics. After graduation, she worked as a government consultant at Deloitte in Washington, D.C., where she supported the Internal Revenue Service on digital transformation and policy implementation projects. Last fall, she began pursuing a Master of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and now lives in Boston. Following graduation, Izzo hopes to pursue a career in early education and childcare policy at the state or local level. In summer 2026, she interned with the Child Care Action Council in Washington state.
Izzo believes her time as Junior Commissioner played an important role in shaping her understanding of government and public service.
“As I move toward a career focused on local policy, I often think about how those Commission meetings demonstrated the importance of setting local priorities, listening to constituents and building responsive public institutions,” Izzo said.
Daniel McNulty graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 2024 with a degree in international relations and politics, and a minor in Arabic. He studied abroad in Jordan and interned at CAIR, a group that advocates for the rights of Muslims in the U.S. After graduation, he worked as an ESL teacher for immigrants and refugees at Literacy Pittsburgh through AmeriCorps. In his spare time, he served as the digitization committee lead for the Historical Society of Mount Lebanon, ran a small project to raise money for ESL textbooks and donated more than $1,000 worth of books to South Hills Interfaith Movement. McNulty then deferred admission to the University of Pittsburgh’s law school with a full scholarship until after he spends a year studying Arabic in Cairo, Egypt, also on scholarship.
McNulty believes his time as Junior Commissioner revealed the nuances of public government, while making it more accessible.
“It definitely fostered an interest in local politics and made me feel that the idea of being a politician myself was more achievable,” McNulty said.
Ruby Siefken graduated from the University of Maryland, with a degree in journalism in 2026. As an undergrad, she held journalism internships with Pittsburgh Magazine and the University of Maryland Office of Marketing and Communications, where she wrote for Maryland Today and TERP Magazine. She worked with Capital News Service in Annapolis and covered immigration courts, local Immigration Control Enforcement activity and national political elections, including the 2024 presidential election. Siefken also runs a photography business and served as vice president of Zeta Tau Alpha at her college. She is currently the Morning Edition and Politics Intern in NPR’s D.C. office.
Siefken’s experience as Junior Commissioner developed communication skills that are key to her current career.
“As a journalist, I frequently interview and communicate with civilians and leaders alike, and [being Junior Commissioner] taught me to effectively communicate between groups and clearly and concisely consolidate my information into written reports,” Siefken said.
Raafay Khan-Afridi graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2025 with a degree in economics and political science. During college he interned with the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General and at a private firm in D.C. He was part of the founding team for Pitt’s first student-run think tank, the Pittsburgh Policy Initiative, and received the David Frederick Public Service award and the University Scholar award. After graduating he worked as a legal assistant, and is now attending Yale Law School. Khan-Afridi recognizes his time as Junior Commissioner as an important part of his path to pursue law and litigation.
“Representing the student body constituency helped me to confirm my interest in advocacy work, which eventually led me to a career aimed at representing individuals and organizations in the courtroom,” Khan-Afridi said.
Anna Mares graduated from Wheaton College in 2026 with a major in international relations and minors in English and Spanish. At Wheaton, she was a part of the Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society for Political Science and presented original research at the Midwest Political Science Conference. She also studied abroad in Spain in 2024 and served as the features editor and associate editor of campus life for the Wheaton Record. She spent three summers interning at the Tribune Review as a Jim Borden Memorial Scholar. Mares now lives in Spain and works as an English teacher at a private English academy.
After traveling in South America, Mares looked back on her time as Junior Commissioner with new eyes.
“If there aren’t accountable institutions where topics like trash and roads can be discussed and managed, then residents can’t count on safe roads and reliable garbage disposal,” Mares said. “While traveling in South America, I watched everyday citizens pave the potholes in the road using rocks and asphalt.”