Tackling Real-World Policy Issues

With Spring Recess still a week away, 40 SIPA students took an early break from the stress of midterms to participate in the annual Public Policy Case Competition.

Gathering early in the morning, students divided into 14 teams to review, propose solutions for, and devise implementation plans to address one of two real-world policy issues.

Groups competing in U.S. public policy considered the organizational design for a new government agency responsible for managing threats to energy facilities. Meanwhile, consulting teams in international development prepared a program design for USAID-funded environmental protection program in South Africa.

Following an intense morning of group work, teams presented their analyses and recommendations to competition judges, who work for international consulting firms including Deloitte Consulting, KPMG, Accenture, Chemonics, Clinton Global Initiative, Synergos, and Nathan Associates.

After the competition, judges shared their own thoughts about the cases, discussing best practices and highlighting creative ideas shared by the participants.

Announced as winners after much deliberation were Jawahar Shah MPA ’15, Gabriel Xia MIA ’14, and Andre Semmler MIA ’15  in the U.S. policy track and Cosmas Dechery MIA ’13, Erik Landstrom MIA ’13, and David Foult MIA ’14 in the international development track.

The awards ceremony was followed by a cocktail reception for all in attendance. Club presidents Rezvan Ma’ani MIA ’13 and Rajitha Swaminathan MIA ’13 also announced the club’s newly elected board for 2013-2014: Laurence Chalude MPA ’14, Shubhra Mittal MPA ’14, Sabina Rizvi MPA ’14, Dan Schlaff MIA ’14, and Alissa Sevrioukova MPA ’14.

— Alissa Sevrioukova