Connections and Community In Public Policy

Haverford’s third annual Public Policy Forum invited alumni back to campus to share their experiences from working in different areas of policy, from education and the environment to healthcare and local government.

On Saturday, March 18, the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship, the Center for Career and Professional Advising, the Koshland Integrated Natural Sciences Center, and interested faculty and alumni hosted Haverford’s third annual Public Policy Forum. The day-long event featured alumni panels discussing and digesting issues and experiences related to education, environmental policy, health, law and local government, and foreign policy (and also doling out some career advice). The forum also included a midday poster session showcasing student research from a variety of disciplines such as psychology, economics, education, and political science.

This year, there was a huge increase in student participation and attendance. For example, the 39 posters presented at the poster session represented a 50 percent increase from last year.

“I want students to realize that there are many pathways to a career in public policy and a wide variety of skill sets needed. It is not just a career for political science majors,” said Professor of Economics Anne Preston, one of the organizers. “The liberal arts education that stresses critical thinking and the interdisciplinary approaches to solving contemporary problems embedded in our new minors and concentrations are great preparation for a career in public policy.”

In her opening remarks, Jenny Bogoni ’88, executive director of Philadelphia educational initiative Read by 4th, cited her time in the Bi-Co as a growth of structures and cities major as a crucial period that introduced her to important interdisciplinary frames of thought. “Integrated thinking is the foundation of a lot of really good public policy work,” she told the crowd gathered in Zubrow Commons. “Public policy includes policy, protocol, and practice. We have to talk across systems and understand different policies in order to make systemic change.” She also urged students interested in public policy to learn about different disciplines and systems as a part of that integrated thinking.

More than 20 alumni from various professional areas spoke on panels, including former deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce Bruce Andrews ’90, CEO of Global Program Management Inc. Molly Finn ’85, and co-founder and executive director of Puentes de Salud Steven Larson ’83.

The day ended with the Public Policy Forum’s keynote talk, a conversation between Andrews and Lisa Schiffren BMC ’81, a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum, that was moderated by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution David Wessel ’75. (Watch a video of the entire keynote talk below.) A networking event, facilitating one-on-one interactions between the student and faculty attendees and alumni panelists, followed.

-Jenny Ahn ‘17

Jenny Bogoni ’88, executive director of Read by 4th at the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation, gives her opening remarks for the 2017 Public Policy Forum.
Education Policy panelists (from left) Neeta Patel ‘89, associate director for Operations at Philadelphia Public School Notebook; Ian Gavigan ’14, communications director at the Office of Councilwoman Helen Gym; Will Carroll ’05, program examiner at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget; and moderator Zachary Oberfield, associate professor of political science.
Audience members listening to Molly Finn ‘85, CEO, Global Program Management, Inc. talk during the panelists for the Environmental Policy Panel
The Environmental Policy panelists (from left) Adam Ruder ’03, program manager for NYSERDA’s Clean Transportation Group; Samuel Hersh ‘15, policy advisor for Coastal Resiliency in the NYC Mayor’s Office; and Molly Finn ‘85, CEO of Global Program Management; and moderator Steven Smith, post-doctoral fellow in economics and environmental studies.
The Policy in the Developing World panelists (from left) Deb Perlman ’00, foreign service contracting officer at USAID; Rebecca Saxton-Fox ’06, ICT policy advisor at U.S. Global Development Lab of USAID; and Andrew Stevenson ’02, alternate U.S. representative to the Organization of American States, and moderator Saleha Jilani, assistant professor of economics.
The Foreign Policy panelists (from left) Eric Pelofsky ’93, special assistant to the president and senior director for North Africa and Yemen on the National Security Council, Nazanin Soroush ’13, senior analyst at IHS Markit Country Risk; and moderator Barak Mendelsohn, associate professor of political science.
Ariane Marchis-Mouren ’17, talks with an attendee about her poster, “The Failures of Immigration in Europe as a Cause of Terrorism,” in Zubrow Commons .
Grady MacPhee ’17 (r) discusses the poster, “Coercive Diplomacy and the Bosnian Peace Process: Lessons for Contemporary U.S. Foreign Policy,” in Zubrow Commons during the Poster Session at the 2017 Public Policy Forum.
Darby Festa ’17 discusses her poster, “Reducing the Burden: Eradication of Malaria in Sub-Sahara Africa,” during the Poster Session at the 2017 Public Policy Forum.
Health Policy panelists (from left) Ivor Pritchard ’74, senior advisor to the director in the Office for Human Research Protections in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Deborah Smith BMC ’74, managing director for medical policy at the BlueCross BlueShield Association Federal Employees Program; and Steve Larson ’83, co-founder and executive director of Puentes de Salud, and moderator Bruce Agins ’75, medical director of the NY State Dept. of Health AIDS Institute.
Caleb Eckert ’17 discusses his poster “Canyon Mine, Zombie Mine.”
Attendees during the Poster Session.
Bryn Mawr student Sophia Randazzo, a growth and structure of cities major, talks with an attendee about her poster, “Affordable, Feminist Housing for Single Mothers and Their Children in Kensington, Philadelphia.”
The Law and Local Government panelists (from left) Jonathan Jacobs ’05, executive agency counsel at the City of New York Business Integrity Commission; David Hartmann ’08, assistant corporation counsel in the Federal Civil Rights Litigation Division of the City of Chicago’s Department of Law; and Michael Jenkins ’75 of Jenkins & Hogin LLP; and Moderator Matthew Stitt ’09, Chief Financial Officer of City Council and Office of the President at City of Philadelphia.

Watch the full keynote talk:

 

Photos by Patrick Montero