Interests:
Child rights, education, poverty reduction, private sector engagement in public affairs
Hometown:
Shenzhen, China
Consultancy:
The Clinton Foundation, New York, New York
Why did you decide to pursue your Master of Public Affairs at Brown University?
In the summer of my junior year, I spent two weeks at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, where I was given wide, on-site exposure to the practical effect of policies on various stakeholders. The complexity and controversy of policy-making were made vivid to me and I decided I would like to learn more about policy. Ultimately, I decided to work at UNICEF Laos after I graduated in 2019 instead of enrolling in graduate school immediately. This transformative experience led me to explore more about child rights and how partnerships work in this specific environment. I helped produce UNICEF communication materials and publications, including interactive content and human interest stories, which gave me wide exposure to the complex context of promoting child rights in developing countries. I gained hands-on experience in supporting the office’s external communication strategy with a strong focus on media relations and partnerships. For example, we worked with partners and line ministries to organize the first-ever private-sector consultation on child rights and business in Lao PDR. This and other uplifting moments reaffirmed my determination to pursue a career in development. Brown’s one-year program fit with my plan to devote my time to intensive academic study. I also chose Brown because the MPA program provides individualized support and meets students wherever they are in their career path.
What sorts of career-building skills and knowledge have you gained since joining the program?
As a literature and linguistics major, I did not have a background in statistics or data programming. I had always identified myself as a humanities/art student and thought that I might not be good at these subjects — I found statistics and coding a bit intimidating. However, the two statistics courses in the MPA program (Statistics for Public Policy and Statistics for Program Evaluation) were game changers. I enjoyed those classes very much, thanks to the thoughtful and accessible professors and course assistants. I used my knowledge in social and economic statistics to understand public policy research and conduct policy-related analysis. With cases from various policy areas, we’ve performed statistical analysis and offered relevant advice to policymakers. I chose Data Science and Programming as one of my electives and I have used skills from that class to clean, organize, and visualize data during my consultancy, which will also be useful tools in my future policy work.