Max is a program associate for the African Peacebuilding Network (APN) and Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa (Next Gen) program at the Social Science Research Council. He graduated in 2022 from Pomona College with majors in International Relations and Romance Languages & Literature. His research at Pomona focused on the relationships between conflict, development, and decentralization in Mali and the wider Sahel. He also interned with a councilmember of Claremont, California, where his work centered primarily around expanding and improving affordable housing policies in the wider Los Angeles area. His research interests focus broadly on U.S. foreign policy in Africa, peacebuilding, foreign interventions, peacekeeping operations, and international organizations and regional economic communities.