Winter 2023 Update

Happy holidays to everyone celebrating this special time of the year! I am so grateful to be part of the mid-career Masters in Public Administration program at the Kennedy School, and honored to be surrounded by such amazing people: my cohort, HKS staff, and my professors. Now that the semester is over, I wanted to tell folks a little bit about the classes I took, and the lessons I came away with.

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Among my favorite classes was Nonprofit Management and Leadership with Professor Arthur Brooks. I have been interested in this topic for some time, and Arthur took us on a journey, teaching us how to lead an organization that operates for the public good. We learned about strategic planning: setting clear goals, allocating resources efficiently while adapting to the changing landscape. I came out of the class with a clear understanding of the mechanics of how nonprofits work. In the age of digital transformation, how can nonprofits use technology to enhance their impact, through increase efficiency, and broader impact? And how can we promote diversity, equity, and inclusion within the nonprofit leadership structure?

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In Introduction to Budgeting and Financial Management with Professor Linda Bilmes, Linda started with the fundamentals of budgeting, and then plunged into various case studies to help us understand the challenges of public sector budgeting. We learned about variance analysis, formulating a budget, activity-based costing in government, revenue forecasting, participatory budgeting, sustainable development goal, and wrapped up with the balance score card. All this was to help us recognize the role of budgets in setting financial goals and guiding decision making within an organization which leads to efficient resource allocation, cost control, and overall better financial planning. How can organizations adapt their budgeting strategies to navigate economic uncertainties as it relates to global economic trends? And how can we leverage technology for a more accurate financial forecasting thereby streamlining the budgeting process?

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It was a special honor to learn from former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, who taught Leading through Public Crises. Governor Patrick took us through various crisis that occurred in the US, from the financial crisis to hurricanes and shootings. He taught us that leaders must be able to build public trust, collaborate, make decisions under pressure, resilience, empower others and be adaptable. Since the world has become a global village, what strategies are effective in collaborating with other nations and international organizations in addressing global crisis? And how can leaders ensure that crisis response strategies are also mitigating and address social inequities?

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In Transportation Planning and Policy with Professor Jim Aloisi at MIT, Jim made us understand from the very beginning that planning is essentially a political art, and every leader should be at the center of the issues as they apply to their community or region. We took on various projects and assignments around bus free transit, assessing the infrastructure and making recommendations for improvement. How can we implement strategies that ensure that emerging mobility services address social and economic inequalities rather than exacerbate it? How can transportation planning help address urban congestion, and how can planners incorporate sustainability goals into transportation infrastructure projects?

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In Philosophy of Technology with Professor Mathias Risse, we relied on the lessons of German philosophers to explore the essence of technology and its impact on human existence. We later went deep into how technology transforms our understanding of being, and challenges us to reassess our relationship with the world. We saw how technology could both liberate and oppress us depending on the social context. We must consider the ethical implication in technological advancement as it relates to privacy, surveillance and Artificial Intelligence. How can we use technology to address global challenges like diseases, poverty, climate change, healthcare inequities and data privacy and ownership?

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Saving my personal favorite class for last, I have nothing but positive things to say about Recessions, Growth, and Macroeconomics with Professor Karen Dynan. Key concepts were developed to enhance our learning, regarding various macroeconomic indicators like GDP, inflation and unemployment, in assessing the general health of an economy. This course deepened my understanding of macroeconomic challenges, and showed me the powerful role that good macroeconomic policy can play in improving outcomes for both individual households and for the economy as a whole. With the rise in digital economy, how does this impact macroeconomic indicators and influence economic growth and stability? And what roles can macroeconomic policies play in addressing disparity in income and wealth? If you have a passion for learning about macroeconomic policymaking—and even if you don’t! —then you should take this class.

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If you made it through this post, I’m grateful for you for reading about my packed, busy, challenging, and gratifying semester. It’s been such a privilege to immerse myself in deep learning about public service, while I serve the city of Somerville. I’m also so grateful for everyone who’s supported me on this journey—especially my family, who have offered me abundant love and patience. Happy holidays, and let’s work together for a just and peaceful 2024.