Elena Ashburn graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida with a B.A. in Political Science and International Studies (Europe) in May 2026. She also completed minors in Philosophy, African Studies, and Family, Youth, and Community Sciences.

She has worked at the Graham Center since 2024, where she assists with communications and social media. As a student at UF, Elena was a Florida Cicerone, an ambassador for the Center for African Studies, and actively involved in the Women’s Student Association and the Center for Undergraduate Research Board of Students. She served as a research fellow for the Political Science Department and the Center for European Studies and wrote a senior thesis analyzing the impact of natural resource wealth on the European Union's likelihood to sanction Sub-Saharan African countries.

Outside of UF, she was a 2025 National Defense Fellow with the Alexander Hamilton Society and the Ronald Reagan Institute. Her past professional roles have been with Open Primaries, the National Military Family Association, the American Political Science Association, and the Department of State.

She is currently an MPP student at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy, with an interest in foreign policy, national security, and US-African relations.