Archive for profile

Seeple Snapshot: Oscar Pocasangre, MPA

Oscar Pocasangre

Master of Public Administration (MPA)
Concentration: Economic and Political Development (EPD)
Specialization: Advanced Policy and Economic Analysis (APEA)
Oscar speaking at a panel on emerging markets at the OECD as a representative for SIPA’s Center on Economic and Global Governance (CGEG)

Oscar speaking at a panel on emerging markets at the OECD as a representative for SIPA’s Center on Economic and Global Governance (CGEG)

 

What did you do before SIPA?

Prior to SIPA, I worked for two years at the MIT Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) as a policy and training analyst in their Chile office. I focused on creating courses on randomized trials for policymakers and also worked with governments and NGOs throughout the region in promoting the use of good evidence when crafting public policies. I was also able to write up various policy publications, including a book chapter on conditional cash transfers.

What has been the best part of your SIPA experience?

There have been many highlights! Academically, I think the highlight has been taking a class with Andrés Velasco, a former finance minister of Chile and former presidential candidate during the Chilean primaries in 2013. He was very accessible as a professor and he was able to combine rigorous theories from political economy and game theory with his personal experience in politics to explore issues that policymakers face in practice. Another highlight was being able to represent SIPA at two conferences in Paris sponsored by the Center on Global Economic Governance. There were many distinguished speakers at the conferences, including Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, the Minister of Finance of France, representatives from the UN and the OECD, among many others. It was a great opportunity to hear what these experts think about the world’s current problems and how to solve them.

What kind of work do you hope to do when you graduate?

I want to be a university professor and do research on the political economy of development, governance, and ways of using experimental methods to answer questions of political science. So, that’s a cool way of saying that I hope to stay in school after I graduate.

Can you describe the nature of the SIPA curriculum?

The SIPA curriculum is flexible enough that you can choose to focus on the areas that interest you the most and approach these areas from both theoretical and practical perspectives. SIPA does tend to emphasize practical experience. One of the big values and strengths of the SIPA curriculum is that it requires students to take a series of economics and statistics courses, which I think, are vital for anyone involved in policymaking.

Do you feel like you have gotten to know some of the faculty members?

Yes! This has been one of the other highlights of my time at SIPA. I find that professors here are very accessible and willing to help and offer advice. Many students don’t take much advantage of the office hours of the faculty, but these are great opportunities to get to know professors. I’ve been able to work closely with one faculty member on a research project. As an aspiring academic, this has been an incredible experience and opportunity.

 

what I did this summer

Internship in Country Risk Management at J.P. Morgan

Prior to attending SIPA my experience was in banking; however the reason I chose SIPA for my graduate studies was to transition into a role that offers more of a macro and international picture, allowing me to work in a field where macroeconomics, capital markets, and risk meet and of course a role where I am challenged every day and get to learn and apply my skills. I had the chance to work in Country Risk Management (CRM) at J.P. Morgan during the summer. It all started with three representatives visiting SIPA to host an information session in the fall of 2013. What followed was an application process, consisting of four phone and four in person interviews.  I consider myself fortunate that I received the opportunity to be a part of the team and the culture at the bank, because this is a dream job for a SIPA student. It was a 10 week internship, starting in June with a couple of weeks of training. The first week I was part of the Sales & Trading (S&T) Markets Training group, where about 100 interns were trained on basics, such as what is equity, what is a bond through how markets are supposed to behave to how financial derivatives fit into the bank. The second week, I took part in a more risk specific training to be prepared for my eight weeks at the desk. Before the training weeks were completed, students were formed into groups of four to prepare a case study to competitively pitch to senior management.

After some valuable training I was excited to finally join my CRM team and to apply my skills learnt and advanced at SIPA. The team in CRM was relatively small on a global basis and therefore I had a chance to work closely with colleagues also based in London and Hong Kong. The eight weeks were packed and I had several deliverables on top of assisting with ad-hoc tasks. However, it was a super learning experience and with the great support of the team I was able to master my objectives successfully. My summer objectives were based around the main work the team does, such as internal ratings of countries and measuring the exposure risk the bank experienced.

The summer program was well structured. Each intern had a junior and senior mentor, who assisted the intern throughout the summer. Throughout the program there were also different social and professional events. Social events consisted of visiting a New York Yankee game and having dinner at different places. The professional events included senior speaker series with management from the bank. These were all very interesting; however I would say the highlight was when Jamie Dimon spoke to us and shared his experiences in banking and at J.P. Morgan.

My summer experience at the bank has been wonderful and it was great to meet so many professionals with whom I look forward to staying in touch and working together in the future. It may be the fall semester only; however the sooner you start looking for your dream internship, the higher the chances that you will be working there during the following summer. Good luck!

 

by Andreas Maerki, MPA International Finance and Economic Policy Dec ‘14

 

Seeple Snapshot: Amon Simutowe

Amon

The Chess Star: Amon Simutowe

Nationality: Zambia

Age: 32

MIA 2014

While many SIPA students will go on to have remarkable professional careers, it is not that common to meet one who has already made history. At the age of 27 in 2009, Amon Simutowe became the first Chess Grandmaster from Sub-Saharan Africa. The title Grandmaster is awarded to world-class chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. The achievement of this Zambian student is all the more remarkable considering he taught himself at the relatively late age of 10 and grew up in a country with little tradition of chess competitions. In Zambia, soccer is the most popular sport, but in 2001, Simutowe was named “Sportsman of the Year” by the Zambian Sports Council.

His victories were featured on the front pages of Zambian newspapers, something that gave domestic visibility to chess. “I cannot complain of the attention and support I got,” he says. While at SIPA, Simutowe has been writing an instructional book with the aim of encouraging kids in Africa to develop a liking for the game. The book was released after his graduation in May. Although he is not currently playing at tournament level, chess takes over much of his free time. “I usually play on Friday evenings, to get my brain to relax”, he says. “I cannot stop playing chess, for me it’s like an addiction”.

Seeple Snapshot: Leah Verghese, MPA 2014

 
leah verghese2
Name: Leah Verghese
Hometown: Cochin, India
Degree/Year: MPA 2014
 

“I worked in a non-profit in India working in education [before coming to SIPA.] I wanted to get an academic grounding and develop my analytical skills. I’m on a Fulbright, and over the summer, I did a fellowship called Education Pioneers. I worked in the Office of the Mayor in Bridgeport, Connecticut. I worked on education, youth development and public health. At SIPA, I’m on the board of the Journal of International Affairs. I was also on the Education Collaborative Board. I did my undergrad in law in Banglore, India. The University was called National Law School of India University. I worked in a company for four years as an in-house counsel, and then I moved to the development sector.

After SIPA, I hope to be working in public health or education, or preferably something that combines both. I hope to be doing project management so I can combine academic work with real-life applications. Since I’m in this field, it makes sense for me to be in a developing country, and I am familiar with India. My favorite part about Columbia is that I have access to all the other schools and I’ve been able to take amazing courses at the Mailman School and Teacher’s College. I’ve also taken art history and classes in the MESAAS department. There’s a lot of events that happen on campus in the different departments, so that’s been one of the most enjoyable things for me.”

SIPA Diversity Symposium this Friday

Diversity is true to our heart at SIPA.  In SIPA’s two-year programs, 59% are women and 41% are men.  Over 26% self-identified themselves as students of color and half are international students.  In all, SIPA has a diverse student population when viewed through the lens of international and women students.  We have stayed relatively consistent over the past few years in attracting domestic applicants who identified themselves as persons of color.   However, our goal is to continue to strengthen our diverse student profile.

The Office of Admissions and Financial Aid is hosting our 2nd Annual Diversity Symposium on December 13th (tomorrow).  Prospective graduate students are invited to attend to learn more about SIPA’s Master of Public Administration (MPA) and Master of International Affairs (MIA) degree programs.  This will also be an opportunity for participants to discuss issues of diversity and representation in highly sought-after graduate programs like ours.  The symposium will highlight SIPA’s mission to develop world class leaders who are committed to solving problems in a rapidly changing world.

Faculty, current SIPA students, SIPA alumni and prospective students will gather to discuss and expand on opportunities for new, innovative and dynamic leadership in international and domestic policies.

Seats are limited.  If you are interested in attending, please RSVP or contact the Admissions Office at 212-854.6216.

 

"The most global public policy school, where an international community of students and faculty address world challenges."

—Merit E. Janow, Dean, SIPA, Professor of Practice, International and Economic Law and International Affairs

Boiler Image