The SIPA Pan-African Network (SPAN) hosted a mixer in Lagos last week, and I thought it’d be a good time to update y’all on where SIPA will be the next few weeks. Thanks to Theotis Sharpe MPA-DP ’20 for his work in putting this together – you may remember him from the SIPA Story Slam event he co-organized.
As a reminder, the SIPA application will go live this month. While we’ll be providing tips on this blog throughout the process, I encourage you to search through our archives for useful information from people who have gone through this process (or are on the other side of this process!).
There will be a Columbia SIPA Networking Mixer in Accra on August 10, where prospective students, current students, and alumni will connect and discuss what life at the world’s most global policy school is like. RSVP here.
SIPA will be at the upcoming APSIA graduate fairs. These events are an excellent way to meet not just SIPA, but to explore what other international affair and policy schools can offer. In any case, we look forward to meeting you and giving you information on the programs, curriculum, and admissions process.
APSIA Graduate Fair: Atlanta, GA September 12, 2019, from 6 – 8pm Register here.
APSIA Graduate Fair: Toronto September 17, 2019 from 6 – 8pm Register here.
APSIA Graduate Fair: New York City September 18, 2019 from 5:15 – 9pm Register here.
APSIA Graduate Fair: Washington, D.C. September 19, 2019, from 6 – 8pm Register here.
We’ll continue updating our recruiting calendar throughout the next few weeks. If you’re in the New York area, I highly encourage you to attend an Information Sessions. Preparation will be helpful as you start your graduate school journey!
The SIPA Office of Alumni and Development is pleased to share A View from the Class, a SIPA stories series featuring current SIPA students, recently graduated alumni, and faculty. In this issue, we feature recent graduate SIPA Diego Folly de Andrade MPA ’19. A second-year Master of Public Administration (MPA) candidate, Diego is concentrating in International Finance and Economic Policy with a specialization in Advanced Policy and Economic Analysis. He is a fellow in SIPA’s International Fellows Program, a Lemann Foundation SIPA Fellow, and a World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program Fellow.
What were you doing prior to attending SIPA?
I worked in the Brazilian Government as a Labor Inspector at the Ministry of Labor and as an International Advisor to the Government Secretary in the Brazilian President’s Office. As a Labor Inspector, I actively participated in the formulation and regulation of the National Occupational and Safety Health (OSH) Policy and helped to improve the living and working conditions of people living in Rio’s poorest communities. I also participated in the Mobile Group for Slave Eradication, helping to release workers from degrading work conditions.
As an Advisor to the Government Secretary, I articulated public policies to promote social development and to facilitate the social dialogue between civil society and Government, and participated in the development of an institutional framework to implement Sustainable Development Goals across Brazil.
Why did you choose SIPA?
SIPA is highly rated with outstanding professors and public practitioners. Moreover, its programs attract diverse and international students with successful career experiences.
What have been some of your standout experiences at SIPA?
I participated in a Capstone workshop with Free The Slaves, researching and developing a monitoring and evaluation tool to measure the socio-economic status of participants in programs combating child domestic servitude in Haiti. I also did a summer internship at Eurasia Group Lab, assessing Brazilian political risk during the presidential elections. I competed in SIPA’s Public Policy Dean’s Challenge Grant student competition. My team, Citizap, is developing an Artificial Intelligence (AI) – based virtual assistant that connects people with public agencies in their place of residence. The goal is to improve the quality of public services provided, strengthening digital governance and public engagement in city management.
What are your plans now that you graduated from SIPA?
I plan to return to Brazil and to help design public policies that focus on promoting decent work, sustainable development, and social inclusion.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I am grateful to Columbia and SIPA for this amazing experience. I am also thankful for my fellow Seeples for making me feel integrated into the community, for the unique experiences and views, and for the bond of solidarity built during this time.
I look to education as a means of transformation and overcoming obstacles. Throughout my life, the generosity of people who I did not know well helped make my education possible. Thanks to the support and hard work of my parents and to the scholarships and fellowships I have received, I been able to achieve my dreams of studying at highly ranked universities. I hope to do the same for others and dream of ensuring fundamental rights for all Brazilian citizens, so that in the future, all children have the chance to follow their dreams and achieve what they once thought was impossible.
The SIPA Office of Alumni and Development is pleased to share A View from the Class, a series featuring current SIPA students, recently graduated alumni, and faculty. In this issue, we feature recently the graduated Sarah Goddard MIA ’19. Sarah earned a dual degree Master of International Affairs concentrating in Urban and Social Policy with a specialization in United Nations Studies. She also has a Master of Public Health degree concentrating in Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health.
What were you doing prior to attending SIPA?
I taught English at a high school in Toulouse, France. Afterwards, I served a year with AmeriCorps in Western Massachusetts at an affordable housing nonprofit, working on a community health and public safety project in a low-income urban area. This opportunity inspired me to apply to SIPA.
Why did you choose SIPA?
I chose SIPA because of the ability to combine my interest in urban and social policy with a degree in international affairs, and SIPA’s course offerings in community development, gender, and international relations theory inspired me. I also chose SIPA because of its location and access to the many opportunities and resources in New York City, including the United Nations. Attending the admitted students’ day and walking through the campus with future peers and colleagues solidified my decision.
Why did you choose your particular areas of study?
I chose urban and social policy because I wanted to bridge the gap between my pre-SIPA professional experiences working internationally in education and domestically in urban community development. I decided to specialize in United Nations Studies because I wanted to become more familiar with international organizations, and I became increasingly interested in the UN through internships, coursework, and exposure to the Sustainable Development Goals while at SIPA. I applied to the dual degree program with the Mailman School to better focus on the links between urban and social policy and health.
What have been some of your standout SIPA experiences?
At the end of my first year, I interned at the United Nations Development Programme in New York in their HIV, Health and Development group. This was the first time I really saw my interests in health and social development come together professionally, and it was exciting to gain first-hand experience in the UN system.
For my SIPA Capstone, I chose an Economic and Political Development (EPD) Workshop related to urban development and the Sustainable Development Goals in Colombia. This was a defining part of my SIPA experience. I got to travel with a great team to do fieldwork in multiple cities, and our project was selected for a microgrant from the Sustainable Development Solutions Network and as a top project to present at the UN’s High Level Political Forum.
What have been some of your favorite SIPA courses?
I have taken a number of great courses with great professors at SIPA, but two courses stand out. The first is Yumiko Shimabukuro’s course on Comparative Urban Policy. Professor Shimabukuro made the course extremely dynamic and engaging by bringing in real life examples of urban policy failures and successes that brought the material to life. Beyond that, she transformed the class into a supportive family and became a mentor to many of us, and for that, I am grateful.
The second is Barbara Magnoni’s course on Working with the Private Sector for Development Outcomes. Professor Magnoni brought to the course expertise in private sector development and used many case examples from various sectors to make the material engaging and relevant. More importantly, she orchestrated a supportive classroom environment where students could debate and provide constructive feedback. Opportunities like this have shaped my experience at SIPA and are what make SIPA such a unique place.
What are your plans after SIPA?
I recently accepted an offer to work at Global Communities, an international development nonprofit, as a Program Officer in the Governance and Global Health pillar.
What were you doing prior to attending SIPA?
I studied law at the National Law University, Delhi in Delhi, India. I was particularly interested in criminal law and how it governed state-citizen interactions. I worked on several research projects on criminal justice involving rights of under-trial prisoners, criminal process re-engineering, and analysis of cases under Indian drug laws.
These projects involved visits to Tihar Jail, one of Delhi’s larger prisons, for data gathering and interviews of under-trial and convicted inmates to better understand and place their cases within the larger criminal process for analysis. The projects aimed for both immediate and systemic impact. One involved assessing under-trial inmates’ eligibility for bail under special provisions of the criminal procedure code. Another project focused on identifying and mitigating procedural bottlenecks and causes for systemic delay in trials under special laws.
Why did you choose SIPA?
I chose SIPA for its ISP concentration that delves into various topical components of the subject and offers students flexibility in concentrating their studies on particular aspects of international security.
How would you describe your SIPA experience?
I really enjoyed my classes in cybersecurity and defense analysis. The professors teaching them bring a wealth of professional experience and detail that makes courses in these subjects extremely practical and readily applicable by graduate students starting out in the field.
How has SIPA affected you?
No two resumes at SIPA are the same. The diversity of backgrounds, approaches, and thought that the student body brings together presents a welcome and formidable challenge to norms and approaches assumed to be settled. The key lies not in isolated points of view but in the bridges we build between them, shaping the process as much as it shapes us.
Are there particular SIPA experiences that stand out?
My studies and work under Professor Jason Healey, first as his student and intern and subsequently as his research assistant, were a highlight of my time in SIPA. The past year was an incredible learning process. The sheer breadth of research I was exposed to under his guidance enriched my studies and learning in a way few other experiences can match. The freedom I was given to conduct my own research on topical subjects in cybersecurity allowed me to further develop my interests, build upon what I learned in classes, and apply it in practical ways.
I also benefited from several interactions with policymakers and industry leadership whose insights have been of great practical value in contextualizing my learning and taking it further.
What are your plans now that you have graduated from SIPA?
I hope to work in cyber threat intelligence and cybersecurity and defense policy.
From MIT D-Lab: Three summer monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) fellows from SIPA – Fatema Alhashemi MPA-DP ’20, Iris Lau Castro MPA-DP ‘20, and Taylor Light MPA-DP ’20 – will support MIT D-Lab’s efforts to measure the impact of its work around the world.
In addition to conducting evaluations of D-Lab’s programs, the MEL Fellows will also work with D-Lab Scale-Ups Fellows and D-Lab Innovation Ecosystem Builder Fellows to help these partners to improve their own impact measurement systems. Fatema, Iris, and Taylor are students in the MPA in Development Practice program at Columbia University’s School for International and Public Affairs.
Fatema Alhashemi – Laâyoune Learning Center (Laâyoune) and Kyusa (Kampala, Uganda) — Fatema will travel to Laâyoune to assess the long-term effects of 2018 PIA Co-Design Summit on the participants, their institutions, and the entrepreneurial ecosystem. She will also evaluate the Laâyoune Learning Center’s three-month entrepreneurship training pilot, capturing data on participants’ learning and feedback on the new curriculum. Finally, she travel to Kampala, Uganda to work with D-Lab Innovation Ecosystem Builder Fellow organization Kyusa Uganda to strengthen their team’s capacity in data analysis and data visualization.
Iris Lau Castro – EcoAct (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) — Iris will travel to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to work with D-Lab Scale-Ups Fellow venture EcoAct-Tanzania to help them measure the venture’s impact. In particular, she will help them develop an approach to measure the impact of their waste collection system as well as the medical insurance they provide to waste pickers. Iris will also lead this year’s annual survey of D-Lab Scale-Ups Fellows, tracking the long-term trajectory of alumni and their ventures.
Taylor Light – Ongoza (Nairobi, Kenya) — Taylor will travel to Nairobi, Kenya to work with D-Lab Innovation Ecosystem Builder Fellow organization Ongoza to refine their theory of change, design data collection instruments, and help them use their data to drive strategy discussions. Taylor will also lead the development of a theory of change and survey instruments for D-Lab’s innovation ecosystem convenings, mapping out an M&E framework for D-Lab’s newest strategy to catalyze entrepreneurial ecosystems.
"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
