A first-generation college student, Hamidou "Hammi" Sylla studied political science and francophone studies at St. Lawrence University, where he was fascinated with how institutions shape people's life chances. "I was intrigued by why my friends and I in the Bronx experienced such vastly different lives compared to people living downtown," said Sylla. "From there, I decided to attend graduate school to study the application of the theories I learned in my political science courses." Sylla wanted to learn “which levers one needs to pull to effectuate change in one's community.”
Sylla's curiosity about policy and equity brought him to Brown's Master of Public Affairs (MPA) program, from which he graduated in 2023. He is now an associate at Bennett Midland, a New York City-based strategy and management firm that partners with civic clients to increase their impact through strategic planning, operations or program design. The traditional job-hunting advice to network paid off for Sylla, who met Nicole Clare, a 1999 Brown graduate, during an ad hoc alumni engagement Zoom session. Clare volunteered to put Sylla in touch with some contacts, including Bennett Midland. A follow-up interview with Bennett Midland's president led to a job offer.
"At Watson, I wanted to gather and develop as many skills as possible to allow me to design frameworks, think strategically, and arrive at answers to intractable complex issues," he said. "I wanted to surround myself with like-minded individuals who share a deep passion for tackling some of the most challenging questions of our time." While at Watson, Sylla gained a level of notoriety for his YouTube talk show, “Let's Just Talk with Hammi.”
Sylla said he couldn't be more grateful for the support and resources Watson's faculty and staff offered him to continue his talk show, which he launched before coming to Brown. "It was started to give space to scholars who are often siloed in their departments across disciplines to come together to develop solutions to the world's most intractable challenges and bring attention to global movements and global issues."
Along with technical videography support from Watson's media team, Watson gave Sylla access to high-profile guests who came to Brown. Interviews with faculty and guests from there were instrumental in building the show's profile," said Sylla. “My goal was to bring nuance and expertise to public discourse, which was lacking at some other institutions but present at Brown.”
Since then, "Let's Just Talk with Hammi," which now has more than 2,100 subscribers, has rebranded to LJTMedia and transitioned from a one-on-one talk show to a multimedia organization.
Sylla's work at Bennett Midland has included work in government innovation, support of newly arrived immigrants and asylum seekers, transit equity, and designing frameworks to address complex issues like chronic absenteeism in NYC. "In my work, I focus on project management, stakeholder engagement and management, and policy research and evaluation," he said.
