Nick Alers

Classroom

Alers has a 3.98 grade point average as an economics major at Yale. He was named to the Capital One Academic All-America first team as a junior last fall after earning third team recognition as a sophomore. In addition, he earned Academic All-Ivy honors as a junior. He co-authored “Putin and USAID: The Makings of a Grip Too Tight on Power,” which appeared in the Yale Review of International Studies in the fall of 2012. Alers has started an internship this fall with the Global Outreach team at Innovations for Poverty Action, a non-profit organization with a global presence founded in 2002 by Yale economist Dean Karlan. It conducts randomized controlled trials, along with other types of quantitative research, to measure the impact of development programs.

Character

Alers served as a campus Liaison for Vinay Nayak’s campaign for New Haven, Conn., Alderman. He assisted with voter turnout efforts in an election that drew 21 percent more voters than the previous election. In the summer of 2011, Alers interned for BLP Abogados, researching global offshore fiduciary market for preeminent Costa Rica law firm seeking to enter that market.

Community

Alers served as a tutor at Saint Martin de Porres Academy in New Haven in the summer of 2012. He mentored and tutored fifth grade students during an afterschool program for underprivileged youth. He also has taken an active role in the men’s soccer team’s outreach program, which directs soccer training sessions for underprivileged New Haven children.

Competition

This season, Alers has started Yale’s first games and is the anchor of a defense that has yielded just three goals. He is one of only five players on the team who has started all four games. A two-time team most valuable player, he has earned All-Ivy recognition in each of his first three seasons at Yale. He has started all 42 games he has appeared in during his career and has anchored Yale’s defense. Last fall as a junior, he earned honorable mention All-Ivy recognition despite being limited to 10 games because of injury. Alers enjoyed a memorable sophomore campaign, earning NSCAA All-Northeast Region third team and first team All-Ivy honors. As a freshman, he was an honorable mention All-Ivy selection.