PPIA Junior Summer Institute
Alumni Profiles
Laura Taylor-Kale
M.P.A. '03
Foreign Service Officer
U.S. Embassy, Economic Section
U.S. Department of State, Afghanistan
"I chose to go to the summer institute at Princeton because it had a reputation for preparing students for the rigors of graduate school and because some of the best students from around the country attend this program. There is something exhilarating about spending the summer with motivated, ambitious young people with similar goals and interests. Because of the constant contact we had with our instructors and with the Woodrow Wilson School senior administrators, I felt I had a good sense of what I needed to do to prepare myself for graduate school. I entered my senior year with a clearer idea of the courses I needed to take to round out my weaker areas. I also benefited from the close interaction we had with the WWS Career Development Office. They virtually opened their doors to us and guided us on how to do a job search in public policy fields."
"I pursued an M.P.A. degree at the Woodrow Wilson School because I wanted to learn how to develop analytical skills to understand and promote viable economic policies that incorporate social welfare concerns with reality. Living in sub-Saharan Africa before attending graduate school made me want to understand how population dynamics like fertility and mortality trends, health and disease, migration and immigration affect economic growth, political stability, and social welfare in the most underdeveloped countries. The Demography Certificate program was part of what drew me to the Woodrow Wilson School; it is one of the oldest and most highly regarded centers of population research in the nation."
"As a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State, I find that diplomacy is changing. Diplomats face new challenges to international economic and political security from poverty, poor health care and education, urbanization, aging populations among our closest allies in the West, and rapid population growth among developing countries. Today, we have to understand the political and economic implications of unstable governments offering little opportunity to their young and rapidly growing populations. We have to understand the effect of regional economic migration trends on nations' political and economic stability and the economic and security problems created by poor health care infrastructures and infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS."
"Completing the Demography Certificate gave me the tools to analyze these issues in my professional life and has ultimately made me more passionate about improving health care and education in order to promote political stability and economic growth in the poorest nations. My professors were outstanding--they were as engaged in teaching the theory and methods as they were in facilitating discussion about policy and helping us carry out original research."
José Huizar
M.P.A./U.R.P. '94
Councilmember, 14th District
City of Los Angeles
José Huizar was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in November 2005 following his service as both President and Member of the Board of Education of the Los Angeles Unified School District (2001-2005). Huizar has received numerous distinctions, including profiles by the Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the 25 figures in the Los Angeles Area that "stand out for their potential to shape lives" and by Hispanic Business magazine as one of the "100 most influential Hispanics" in the United States.
As the Los Angeles School Board President, Huizar earned a reputation as a champion for educational justice and as an aggressive policymaker who tackled difficult issues to get results for students and families. During his tenure, he oversaw plans to build over 160 schools within eight years, constituting the largest school construction program in the nation's history. Huizar also successfully led the curriculum change to ensure that all school district students have access to college preparatory courses.
Huizar's priorities as Councilmember include strengthening public education and youth programs, enhancing quality of life through improved public safety and building more affordable housing and public transportation. "The WWS opened up even greater possibilities of public service than I had ever imagined," he says. "I gained a world-class education that equipped me with the requisite tools and skills to enable me to make a greater, positive impact on my community in East Los Angeles."
"I entered public life to make a difference in my neighborhood, and to give back to the community that has given me so much. Overall, my academic training prepared me well for my current role as a City Councilmember as well as my previous position as School Board President. Whether helping to craft one of the most ambitious public works projects in the nation's history or making policy decisions as a Councilmember, the WWS provided me with the tools to accomplish my goals, broaden my horizons and realize my dreams."
Chanthip Phongkhamsavath
M.P.A./U.R.P '05
Country Director for Canada
Office of the Secretary of Defense
U.S. Department of Defense, Washington, D.C.
"The Junior Summer Institute is one of those unique programs that gives students the opportunity to think about the community work they've done and how to become more effective in changing the policies that impact their lives. It's a challenging summer, both in coursework and personal growth that leads to a new perspective and paths that weren't considered before. As a participant and then sitting on the JSI admissions committee, I am reminded of the diversity of the experiences and knowledge that the JSI builds on to promote leadership. It is a leadership that is sorely needed in the policy discussions that impact disadvantaged and communities of color where representation is lacking. Sitting on the admissions committee was a difficult tasks, knowing that although there were hundreds of students who could benefit from the JSI, but part of the value of the summer is the small group that bonds and continues to support each other after the seven weeks. I still keep in touch with my classmates as we moved through graduate school and they are part of my support system as I begin to establish my career."
"As an undergraduate, I wouldn't have considered working for the federal government, but during my summer program I was given the chance to see how I could be effective not only in direct service but on a larger scale. I gained the skills that prepared me for graduate school in policy and then the access into the federal government. Working in a policy office now, I know that I would not have reached this point had I not had the time to learn about public policy in an environment that was meant to foster my skills and leadershp based on my committment to serving the community."
Monica SanMiguel
JSI '05
Former Research Associate, Rockefeller Foundation;
WWS M.P.A. 2011 Candidate
"The Junior Summer Institute was a life-shaping opportunity for me. All throughout college I knew that I cared about social and economic justice, but I had a very limited understanding of how to materialize my convictions into large-scale action or a career. I applied to the JSI thinking that I would learn about how policy could be a tool to achieve social change, but I ended up gaining so much more from those seven weeks in Princeton. I gained a rich appreciation of the power of quantitative tools, like econometrics, in solving pressing social problems; a more granular understanding of how policy fundamentally shapes the world we live in; and most importantly, a new network of friends and mentors that have guided me well beyond the JSI experience. The lessons from that summer could not be more relavent in my life today, three years later. I apply the regression analysis skills I gained on a regular basis; I remain in close contact with my JSI friends; and actively credit this summer program for opening the door for me to secure my current job."
Rodney Harrell
M.P.A./U.R.P '02
Strategic Policy Advisor
Housing/Livable Communities, AARP
"For me, attending a summer program was a great experience for clarifying an interest in policy school. Being given a chance to confirm my ability and desire to do well was of great importance to my academic career. It gave me advance knowledge of the skills I needed. The most important part of attending a summer program was the exposure to policy schools - including WWS - and the help I received in constructing the strongest application that I possibly could."
"I was also fortunate to have the opportunity to work with the JSI program after completing my M.P.A. degree at WWS. I was given the chance to witness how useful it is for potential applicants to get a taste of life at Princeton."