College of Social Science Young Alumni Award presented to Chayse Hurley and Elias Kokaly

September 21, 2023

The College of Social Science Young Alumni Awards go to graduates who have achieved a high level of achievement early in their careers and have demonstrated a commitment to our college through service, volunteering or mentorship activities. This year, both awards were presented to alumni of the Department of Political Science.

Chayse Hurley is a Political Science-Prelaw, Political Science Scholar and Master of Public Policy alumna. After graduating, she joined Teach for America and taught Secondary Science in Detroit. She currently serves as Program Coordinator for the Detroit InnovateGov Internship in the Political Science Department at Michigan State University. There, she places students in public service-based internships in the City of Detroit. In her spare time, Chayse spends time with her family and pastoring the youth in her local church. 

"I was able to attend the closing event for this year’s session of InnovateGov and it was clear how much of an impact that Chayse had on her students. It was really impressive," said Social Science Dean Brent Donnellan.

 

Elias Kokaly, an Anti-Money Laundering Specialist, is the Head of Deployment Strategy at TRM Labs, a blockchain analytics company that provides anti-financial crime solutions to crypto businesses, financial institutions and government agencies. In this role, Elias ensures TRM’s public and private sector clients are successful - whether establishing a risk-based anti-money laundering program, to efficiently conducting crypto investigations. Prior to joining TRM, Elias was Special Investigations Team Lead at cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex. In this role Elias led a team engaged in complex investigations, acted as a law enforcement liaison and managed special projects.

Elias graduated in 2018 with a BA in World politics from MSU.

For the full program from Friday's ceremony, please go to https://socialscience.msu.edu/_assets/pdfs/Alumni-Awards_program-091823.pdf

 

 

 

 InnovateGov Program coordinator Chayse Hurley accepts the Young Alumni Award from College of Social Science Dean Brent Donnellan. Photo by Jackie Belden Hawthorne, College of Social Science.