CIPA fellows are culturally and professionally diverse. About half are women. Some come directly from undergraduate studies; others have already begun careers and are either repositioning themselves or building skills for future responsibilities.Fellows have worked in local, state, and national government offices, international aid organizations, social service agencies, international consulting firms, engineering firms, petroleum companies, volunteer organizations, congressional offices, hospitals, TV newsrooms, classrooms, and on Wall Street.
About half come from abroad, most recently from Antigua, Argentina, Australia, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Germany, Greece, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and Venezuela. These international representatives join their United States counterparts in a rigorous study experience at Cornell.
Many CIPA fellows have been awarded the distinguished Presidential Management Internship placements or have become Fulbright Fellows, and a number have gone on to further study in law school, business school, or doctoral programs.
The following student profiles reflect the diversity of cultures and professional backgrounds that CIPA fellows represent.
Andrew K. Vieweg M.P.A. ‘08
Sharita Alam M.P.A. ‘08
Andrew Siwo M.P.A. ’08
Leila McNeill M.P.A. ‘08
Andrew K. Vieweg M.P.A. ‘08
B.A. in Political Science, University of Michigan, '03
Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan
Senior Consultant, Booz Allen Hamilton
I came to CIPA interested in social policy. This interest grew out of
two profound experiences. The first was as a staffer on the campaign of
Steve Tobocman, a candidate seeking to represent Southwest Detroit in
the Michigan State House of Representatives. On that campaign, I saw
poverty, crime, and educational inequality firsthand, and I knew I
wanted to change things.
Later I joined Teach for America, where I taught in one of the most
challenging schools in Newark, New Jersey. I learned a lot about life
during those two-years, and decided that I wanted to pursue a degree
that would help me find solutions to some of our country’s most
pressing social issues.
I chose CIPA because I liked having the flexibility to build my own
curriculum. At Cornell, I’ve been encouraged to assess my areas of
strength and weakness and choose courses to enrich those areas that I
wanted to build upon. Early on, I realized it would be best for me to
focus on some of the more tangible skills such as quantitative analysis.
I ultimately chose to concentrate my studies on finance and fiscal
policy. I wanted to understand how social programs could be
implemented given the budgetary constraints of the public sector.
I’ve done two internships here. I spent a summer at the Office of
Management and Budget in NYC doing cost benefit analysis. In the fall
of 2007, I attended Cornell in Washington. That was a fantastic
opportunity. It enabled me to get Capitol Hill experience—I worked for
the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress as a research
fellow—and I was able to write my master’s thesis there. It was a neat
package.
Academically, I always knew what I wanted to get out of Cornell. But
CIPA helped me see how I could take my academic knowledge and put it
into a professional context. After graduation, I joined Booz Allen
Hamilton as a senior consultant. I see this position as an opportunity
to strengthen my economic and business analysis skills in the context
of private/public sector partnerships.
Sharita Alam M.P.A. ‘08
B.A. in Foreign Affairs, University of Virginia ‘06
From Bangladesh, by way of Kuwait
Budget Analyst, New York City Office of Management and Budget (NYCOMB) Health Taskforce
I chose CIPA because I was looking for a small graduate program where I
would receive individualized attention from my professors. I also
wanted the opportunity to build lasting relationships with both my
teachers and my peers. At CIPA, I have been able to pursue my career
goals in a cooperative and encouraging environment, and have created
life-long bonds along the way.
I’ve found the learning process at CIPA to be a dynamic one. My
professors have helped me learn critical skills, while allowing me to
pursue my individual policy interests. I had a particularly rewarding
experience in Professor Loucks’ Public Systems Modeling course. He
offered me the option of doing a project in the area of public
health--my main research interest. Throughout the process, he
encouraged me to pursue increasingly demanding assignments in
quantitative analysis. I started the semester with very little
expertise in this area and came out with a strong quantitative
foundation.
In the spring of 2007, I enrolled in the CIPA Public Service Exchange
[a service learning program] and took on a project with the Ithaca
Breast Cancer Alliance (IBCA). That experience embodied what CIPA was
about. I gained practical experience in a learning environment that
drew upon different disciplines—quantitative and qualitative analysis,
organizational behavior, finance and fiscal policy, and government and
regulations.
I never thought of working in the public sector until I attended the
CIPA Professional Development Conference in New York. I spoke with a
number of CIPA alumni and panelists and became excited about the
possibilities. My concentration at CIPA was in social policy, with an
emphasis on public health. At the NYC Office of Management and Budget,
I work as a budget analyst for the health taskforce—it’s perfect!
Andrew Siwo M.P.A. ’08
B.A. in Business Administration, Morehouse College, ’02
From Kenya, by way of Wilberforce, Ohio
Senior Financial Analyst, Limited Brands
“I came to Cornell on the strength of a former college classmate’s
recommendation. He was an alumnus of CIPA. He told me how the program
allowed him to participate in exciting internships and provided
scholarly publishing opportunities. I went to the CIPA web site to
learn more, and what I found really sparked my interest.
At the end of my second semester here, I published an article on carbon
trading in the CIPA student policy journal, The Current. This article
was the result of research I completed through the Cornell in
Washington program (CIW), one of CIPA’s off-campus study programs. I
took courses during the evening, and split my time between two
externships during the day. The first was at Emerging Markets Group, an
international development consulting firm. There, I was tasked with
doing research on the potential for carbon trading to help mitigate
poverty in developing nations.
While working at my second internship at Milestone Advisors, a mergers
and acquisitions firm, I did research on The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of
2002, legislation passed in response to widespread corporate and
accounting scandals. That research became the basis of my thesis, which
focused on the extent to which the legislative regulation affected IPOs.
Because of my efforts at CIPA—mixed coursework, publication in The
Current, challenging internships, alumni connections—I had the luxury
of three full time job opportunities, including a Wall Street offer. My
most enjoyable problem was deciding where to start my career!
At the end of the day, I’m a humanitarian and a public servant. Being
able to effectively flirt with both the private and public sector makes
a degree at CIPA distinctive. Enhancing the quality of decision-making
for a company with some of the world’s most regarded products and
recognizable brands will be a stepping stone to something very exciting
in the future. I don’t yet know what that will be, but I’m excited to
find out.
Leila McNeill M.P.A. ‘08
B.A. in English, John Brown University ‘05
From Bentonville, Arkansas
J.D. Student at the University of Missouri School of Law
I chose CIPA because it was flexible. I wanted to study best practices
in international sex trafficking and prostitution policy. I could take
courses at the Johnson School of Management, at the Law School, and all
the other departments on campus. Also, the Cornell-Nepal Study Program
was a big draw because I could get hands-on experience in an
international development context.
I went to Nepal in the spring of 2007 and spent five months there. I
tracked a new anti-human trafficking bill as it went through the Nepali
parliament. I interviewed various stakeholders—NGO workers, government
officials, police officers, and top ministers. From this, I gained
real insight into what it takes to create policy—from the conceptual
level down to implementation, where it has an impact on people’s lives.
In Nepal, I also worked with an organization—Peace Rehabilitation
Center—and wrote an anti-human trafficking grant proposal, which we
submitted to the U.S. Department of State. The work I did on this
informed my thesis and became its primary case study.
My undergraduate degree was in English, so it was important for me to
focus on enhancing my quantitative background at CIPA. I enrolled in
economics and statistics courses and now I find that I have very
marketable skills to use on the job.
The fellows at CIPA have been so supportive. We all have such diverse
interests that we’re not really in direct competition. It’s a very
collaborative environment.
This fall I will be going to law school. Long term, I would like to
work in advocacy for women and children. But I’m also looking at
consulting work for businesses on how to enter emerging markets.
Whatever I do, my goal is to look at how policy affects
people—regardless of whether it is corporate policy or governmental
policy.
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