Date November 13, 2023

Alumni Spotlight: Alberto Morales '16 MPA

By Nancy Kirsch

Alberto Morales, a 2016 graduate of Watson’s Master of Public Affairs program and first-generation college student, founded his own consulting firm two years ago with the goal of creating a more equitable philanthropic sector.

As the 2016 commencement speaker for the Masters of Public Affairs (MPA) program, Alberto Morales '16 MPA said, "Being first-generation is crucial to my identity. It has shaped my understanding of the world and provided me with a sense of urgency." Morales' sense of urgency has continued, if not accelerated, since then.

"That sense of urgency comes from my lived experience of systems not moving fast and equitably enough…I help create a more equitable philanthropic sector that infuses the nonprofit community with adequate resources and support to grow their impact at the city, state and national level," said Morales, founder and CEO of Morales Consulting in Chicago. "Solving those problems ultimately comes down to investments, policy decisions and budgets," he said.

Morales' urgent desire to contribute as quickly as possible led him to look closely at the Watson Institute's MPA program (the only one-year program at the time). "The flexible and wide-ranging curriculum, Brown's reputation for learning and academics and the expertise of the faculty and staff all influenced my decision," said Morales. "I also wanted to get the training, academic background and skills to jump back into the workforce without a delay, so the accelerated one-year curriculum was also a major factor in my choosing Brown's MPA."

Morales cited several professors who informed his understanding of policy implementation and policy analysis, American education policy, and economics and statistics, including professors Susan Moffitt, Kenneth Wong, Shankar Prasad, John Friedman and Emily Oster.

While at Watson, Morales served as a research assistant to Moffitt on her education research for her co-authored book, "Reforming the Reform: Problems of Public Schooling in the American Welfare State." He said, "It was deeply humbling to see my name included in the author's acknowledgments. It's important to get policy implementation right — it's complex and requires intentional coordination of resources."

“ When clients hire me as a consultant, there is a sense of urgency to get the work done in an efficient and equitable manner — it's project and time-bound. Having the agency and autonomy to choose my own projects has allowed me to fully apply my skills, policy expertise and experience to scale with as much impact as possible. ”

Alberto Morales MPA Class of 2016

After working for a few years for other organizations, including the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, Morales founded his own consulting company. "I recognized that I had built enough skills, expertise and experience to launch my own firm," he said. "I wanted to test if I could strike out on my own and still work with foundations, nonprofits and individual investors focusing on social policy."

Morales is both surprised by the number of projects that have come his way and inspired by the level of impact he's made in just two years. "When clients hire me as a consultant, there is a sense of urgency to get the work done in an efficient and equitable manner — it's project and time-bound," he said. "Having the agency and autonomy to choose my own projects has allowed me to fully apply my skills, policy expertise and experience to scale with as much impact as possible."

Through his consulting firm, Morales has supported — with foundation partners — the stewardship of more than $50 million in grant-making to the nonprofit sector, developed and launched strategic projects for foundations and nonprofit organizations, and led organizational equity assessments and training for large U.S. government agencies and other entities.

"I'm particularly proud of co-developing and launching a Young Men of Color Scholars pilot project for Chicago Scholars that helps underserved youth get into college and thrive. I helped them develop a pipeline program to diversify the gender population, specifically Black and Latinx male-identifying individuals, among their scholar population," said Morales.

More recently, Morales and LWC Studios collectively launched an investigative podcast, 100 Latina Birthdays, that focuses on the health of Latina women in the Chicago metropolitan area. "The podcast aims to ensure that Latina women have the research and best practices to improve their health through a narrative story-telling lens," said Morales. Featuring local journalists and local health care experts, the podcast focuses on improving health care access and information for Latina women."

Morales said he expects to continue on his current path for the foreseeable future. "My sense of urgency is not going away, so much work is needed to change communities," he said. "I plan to keep moving full speed ahead. The issues on the ground demand that sense of care, partnership and investment."