Harvard Kennedy School’s Commitment To Diversity

Harvard Kennedy School maintains an abiding commitment to advancing the public interest by training skilled, enlightened leaders and solving public problems through world-class scholarship and active engagement with practitioners and decision makers. The school offers the depth, reflection, insight, and excellence of ideas and teaching that can shape future leaders, affect public policies, and make an impact on people and their daily lives.

“At the Kennedy School, we pride ourselves on our student body, which represents more than 90 countries from around the world. As a premier school of public policy, the Kennedy School strives to represent the public in all of its diversity, and that provides the backbone of the learning experience in our programs. For us, diversity is not just a matter of what we learn, but rather, how we learn,” Alexandra Martinez, assistant dean for student diversity and inclusion. 

Part of this commitment is demonstrated by the Public Policy and Leadership Conference (PPLC), which is designed to inform first and second year undergraduate students about careers in the public sector. The conference, which has been running for twelve years, encourages students who possess a commitment to public service to prepare for graduate study in public policy and international affairs, as well as to provide information on financial support through various fellowship programs.

The conference aims to attract students from groups under-represented in public policy and international affairs in an effort to increase the diversity of students receiving these professional degrees. The conference helps prepare future leaders for study in public policy, particularly those from historically under-served communities and people of color.

PPLC takes place over 4 days in February. We typically receive between 200-300 applications for 40 slots. Attendees participate from all across the United States.

One-on-one with Oscar Baez, MPP 2012, PPLC Participant 2005, PPLC Co-Chairperson 2012

How did you hear about PPLC initially?

I learned about PPLC through an alumnus of the program who participated in 2005; I participated the following year in the sixth annual PPLC.

What led you to apply?

I am the first in my family to attend graduate school, and I thought the conference would help me decide if a postgraduate degree was right for me. I had never been inside the Kennedy School even though I am from Boston, and I knew it would be a great foot in the door to the policy world.

What did you get out of the conference?

I was most impressed with the fellow students in my cohort, and coming away with a better understanding of the concrete skills I could obtain with a graduate degree in public policy. I left with knowledge of what I needed to focus on academically to prepare for policy school, and about how to make it affordable.

What did you learn about public policy? What made you want to pursue an MPP degree (as opposed to law or business)?

Before the PPLC, I was planning on a law degree because it seemed to “make sense,” and be the safest degree to earn because while it opened the door to the policy world, it was well known and earned instant credibility. The problem was that I did not intend on practicing law.

I learned that an MPP offered exactly what I wanted: To learn about frameworks and concrete skills to evaluate the political, economic, and even moral implications of law and policy. I did not need to learn the legalese to make an impact on lawmaking and policy evaluation.

What led you to apply to be a co-chair of PPLC?

I wanted to continue to improve a great program, and to share my experiences with graduate fellowships and graduate school with the impressive cohort of future leaders and, hopefully, policy students. Although we have made strides, the public policy world is nowhere near as diverse as it should be in a country like the United States.

What goals did you hope to accomplish with this year’s cohort?

To have fun and build community within the group. To inspire the students to know that they are doing exactly what they need to so that one day they can make a difference through public policy. 

What do you hope each participant took away from this year’s conference?

I hope the cohort took away inspiration from the speakers, confidence from their own collective success, comfort from the knowledge of the great number of opportunities out there, and humility through the discussion of the complex challenges that they will one day face and, hopefully, help solve.

What do you hope for the future of PPLC?

I hope that the PPLC continues to grow—and that the network of alumni be formally developed so that the students can continue to serve as a support base for each other as they navigate graduate school, and rise up in their professional careers.

What did you do prior to coming to HKS?

I spent a year on a fellowship studying governmental management of multilingualism in as many as eight countries in three continents. After another year as a White House intern and working for the Clinton Foundation on Haiti Earthquake relief, the summer before HKS I joined the U.S. State Department’s Rangel Fellowship—a program to prepare graduate students to become Foreign Service Officers. I had learned about this via a fellow PPLC graduate.

What led you to a career in public service?

As a high school student, I was placed one summer to intern for Massachusetts State Senator Jarrett Barrios, the first Latino state senator in MA. I had already been exposed to community activism by my parents, but this was the first time I saw a public official fighting for positive change in the communities he represented. I was inspired and have been lucky enough to have that memory only reinforced by future experiences in the nonprofit and public sector.

What are your future goals once you graduate?

I joined the U.S. State Department in July 2012, and hope to have diverse international career which would allow me to hone my skills in policy evaluation and foreign languages. Broadly, I want to proudly the communities I come from, and in whatever capacity I can, to work on behalf of underrepresented and vulnerable communities.

Why is it important to have diversity in public policy?

The world is becoming increasingly intertwined and complex, but too often the formulators of policy, even if well-meaning, do not properly reflect the publics’ being served at large. Having ethnic, socioeconomic, religious, geographic, and ideological diversity to inform policy decisions therefore becomes not just an incredible asset, but a necessity today.

One-on-One with Victor Cedeno, MPP 2013, PPLC Coordinator 2012

What led you to apply?

I did not know much about Public Policy as a course of study and I thought the conference could show me a different aspect of policy outside of the law school realm.

What did you get out of the conference?

I learned about a lot of resources I would have never known about. Furthermore, I learned about the importance of statistics and economics to getting ready to study public policy. However, the most important thing I took away from the conference was the importance of having diversity in the field of public policy at all levels. It matters not only to what kind of policy gets made but also to the kinds of leaders that young people are exposed to. Role models are important and being able to relate to them is very critical.

What did you learn about public policy? What made you want to pursue an MPP degree (as opposed to law or business)?

Although I was very interested in Law School, the conference taught me that if I wanted to have an effect on a broad level then I needed to be involved in the policy making process. I learned that policy can have unintended consequences if it is not properly drafted or implemented. To do so, I knew I needed to understand the policymaking process as well as economics and statistics.

What led you to apply to be a co-chair of PPLC?

PPLC changed the course of my career. It had an impact on my immediate interest but most importantly it made me realize that I had a responsibility to study policy to help my community. I became a co-chair, because I wanted to give back to the conference that did so much for me and hopefully have a similar impact on the new participants.

What goals did you hope to accomplish with this year’s cohort?

Most of this year’s participants had a very strong background in service. I wanted to make sure they understood how a career in public policy can further their interest so that they can have an impact on their immediate community and beyond. Most importantly, I wanted them to see me as a resource as they prepare for graduate schools in the upcoming years.

What do you hope each participant took away in this year’s conference?

Each student should be inspired and confident that they can affect the change they dream of and that others will work with them to do it.  

What do you hope for the future of PPLC?

I want to make sure that students from institutions all over the world know of the conference and to increase the number of students we are able to host while keeping the quality of the conference the same.

What led you to a career in public service?

I am originally from the Dominican Republic, and moved to the United States when I was only 12 years old. I am very grateful for the opportunity I’ve had since I arrived. I understand that I am one of few immigrants fortunate enough to attend college and graduate school. I want to make sure that I turn around and provide opportunity for others.

Why is it important to have diversity in public policy?

Diversity promotes both the expression of multiple viewpoints as well as the acceptance of rational disagreement. Both are needed in order to create policy solutions to tackle the complex problems policy makers face today. Diversity also increases our respect and concern for people who look or think differently than we do. It is necessary that we learn how to work together in a multicultural society as ours or we will have endless conflict.

One-on-One with Simar Singh, MPP 2012, PPLC participant 2004

How did you hear about PPLC initially?

I got a message advertising the conference through my college listserv.

What led you to apply?

The first thing that caught my eye was the opportunity to meet with admissions reps from all of the top Public Policy schools. However, as I read up more about the conference, I was most interested in networking with peers at other schools around the country who shared a common passion for public service.

What did you get out of the conference?

I was exposed to a lot of helpful “insider” information ranging from options for fellowships and graduate programs to targeted advice on how to make the most of my remaining years in college to set myself up for a career in international human rights. Most of all, I was inspired by the passion and enthusiasm of the diverse group of people I met during the conference-it expanded and elevated my understanding of public service and renewed my enthusiasm for working in the public sector.

What did you learn at the conference that made you realize you wanted to get an MPP?

In addition to hearing from admissions representatives, I had the chance to speak with several current HKS students during the lunch breaks at the conference. My conversations with both sets of individuals confirmed that the core skills offered by the MPP program would bolster my preparation to work in the dynamic and complex world of international human rights and humanitarian policymaking.

What did you do prior to coming to HKS?

I worked in New York for 4 years with a human rights organization that focused on the rights of children in war zones.

What are your future goals once you graduate?

I hope to use the interdisciplinary skills I have developed at HKS to inject a new perspective in the international human rights and humanitarian policy communities-to reframe and retackle the issues with a fresh perspective and hopefully reach better outcomes!

Why is it important to have diversity in public policy?

Policymakers need to understand the various needs and interests of the people whose lives their policies will impact. Policymaking is thus necessarily multi and interdisciplinary and requires policymakers with diverse backgrounds, experiences and expertise in order to successfully represent the public and to innovate for the future.

One-on-one with Lin Yang, MPP 2009 PPLC participant 2003, PPLC Co-Chair 2008 and 2009

How did you hear about PPLC initially?

It happened a long time ago, but I do believe the opportunity was sent to a list through the Association of Students of Color, a student group in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University.  I saw the email, thought it was a great opportunity to visit Harvard and see what graduate school in public policy would be like.
 

What led you to apply?

When I was in college, I was already studying public policy, but because of large class sizes and an overwhelmed career services office, I didn't have a good idea of what a career that uses my public policy degree would look like. I really wanted to meet current practitioners, as well as graduate students who are making a career in the field.

What did you get out of the conference?

I came away with a very good impression of the curriculum at the Kennedy School and what the essential toolkit for public policy is. I was also really impressed by the caliber of the Kennedy School's students in terms of their knowledge, how helpful they were, and the leadership skills they demonstrated. Finally, I think the best thing about PPLC was meeting students from other colleges. I kept in touch with many of them, and they became my classmates when I entered the Kennedy School.

What led you to apply to be a co-chair of PPLC?

I saw the posting for the co-chair position, and thought to myself that this would be a great opportunity for me to give back to the program that really defined my career path up until then.  I also wanted to meet and help more college students navigate the tricky world of public policy, like PPLC did for me.

What did you do prior to coming to HKS?

I was in Teach for America, and taught high school mathematics at Central High School in Helena-West Helena, Arkansas.

What led you to a career in public service?

I started off as a student representative for my high school at my hometown's city council, and started a youth advisory board for the city. That started my interest in serving the public as a career, learning how government works, and doing things to improve the communities I live in.

What are you doing now?

I am the Taipei Correspondent for Deutsche Presse-Agentur, the German News Agency, writing for their English service.

What were some of the most interesting classes you took at HKS?

I loved Nicholas Burns’ the Art of Diplomacy class, which analyzes many of the diplomatic successes and failures of the United States in the last 30 years. Lots of great insight from the readings, and live analysis from a man who was in the thick of it all in the State Department.

Also, the Art of Communications with Marie Danziger, which I took, will knock out all fears of speaking in front of a large audience. It pushes you to keep doing it until the butterflies go away.

What else were you involved with at HKS?

I was President of the Asian Pacific American Caucus, and also helped to found the Community Development Project, a group of students who work on local economic development projects. I served for a semester as the MPP1 representative to student government.

What important lessons did you learn outside of the classroom?

I think the most valuable lesson is how to work with a group of very accomplished and sometimes egotistical individuals towards a common goal.  A lot of it is give and take, and it requires constantly holding firm on some things, while feeding concessions and praises on others. I also helped me define by own strengths, weaknesses, and preferred role while working on teams.

Why is it important to have diversity in public policy?

Simple. Diversity allows people with different histories, upbringings, and experiences to pool their resources to solve a problem. And you need this because most problems will impact all sorts of people, and successful public policy addresses the concerns of everyone affected.

Why is PPLC important?

PPLC allows college students, especially those from under-served schools, to dream. It gives them a chance to figure out how they can turn their passion for public service into a sustainable profession, so that they won't be bleeding their hearts along with their cash. It's a great program.

 

To apply for PPLC visit:
https://apply.embark.com/grad/harvard/ksg/pplc/24/

To apply for one or our master’s programs visit:
https://apply.embark.com/grad/harvard/ksg/12/

More information:
www.hks.harvard.edu
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617-495-1155

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