Troia studied International Global Studies and East Asian Studies at Brandeis University focusing on drug policy and international jus ad bellum law. She won a Schiff Fellowship to research and write on the Kellogg-Briand Pact. She worked and studied in Mexico on a Fulbright; worked on substance-use disorders, healthcare, and environmental policy as a legislative fellow in Congress; and worked as a press assistant for the House Democratic Caucus. As a Marshall Scholar, she will pursue a MSc in Evidence-based Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation at Oxford and a Master of Public Policy at the London School of Economics.