Master of Public Policy Jobs: Alumni Profiles

“The MPP got me in the door. The MBA helped me succeed. From [my experience at Heller], I learned that I like working with policymakers directly and problem solving to help people get closer to their goals.”

Read more about Kerin's work.

“[My Segal Fellowship at the RAND Corporation] gave me a sense of how policy work and research work can take place. That gave me the taste that I needed. I knew I wanted to work at an organization like that. And now, I’m not just working at an organization like that, but I’m working at that organization.”

Learn more about Pierrce's work. 

“It’s very rare to be in a space where so many people are passionate advocates and conscientious about issues that are unfolding in the world. The relationships that I’ve built within Heller are the things that I hope to take with me for the rest of my life.”

Learn more about Mariela's work. 

Jenkins works on a range of portfolio items including health, gun violence, law enforcement and postal services. “I had a full circle moment when I was able to present my capstone research (concisely) into a policy one-pager for Congresswoman Rep. Frederica Wilson to commemorate World AIDS Day. I will most likely be incorporating the policy solution I selected for capstone into a bill after the new congressional session begins in January 2021. These full circle moments are definitely silver linings in this otherwise unsettling year!”

Learn more about Bishar's commitment to health equity.

“I remember studying American government with Professor [Michael] Doonan and learning about federalism and how it’s a distinct feature of our government to have power distributed among different levels. At the federal level, you can accomplish a lot with one swing of the bat. But that hasn’t been possible lately, given the politics. As I learned about how policy was moving on the state and local levels, I started shifting my focus.”

Learn more about Todd's work.

“Every time I write a policy memo or make a presentation, I’m drawing on my Heller MPP. A lot of what I do is pump out memos, emails or papers about an issue and provide a policy recommendation to my director or our County Board of Supervisors to help them make an informed policy decision. Completing all the class writing assignments and presentation exercises really help me in my job now. I’m also able to succinctly summarize and communicate my work to other departments and stakeholder groups, given that affordable housing can be a complex issue.

With the poverty alleviation concentration, all of the courses on structural racism and the intersections of race and poverty help me have a deeper understanding and perspective as I do my job now. I can really see from a historical or racial injustice lens how to approach my work, because we serve the most vulnerable and underserved populations in the community.”

Learn more about Tracy's work. 

“How do I feel good about what I do each day?” That was the question that drove Greg Johnson, MPP’14, to pursue a career in local public service.

He had just finished six years in the Marine Corps, where he’d gained management experience as an officer and was looking for a new career path. He chose the Heller MPP program and molded it to his own needs. He picked classes and a capstone project that would give him the tools and skills to succeed in local government, including an operations management MBA class and a housing and community development course at Tufts through the Boston Consortium.

Learn more about Greg's work.

“Heller is a great place for people who would like to be bridges. To get the tools you need to better communicate in an area you’re already passionate about. So, save all your research papers, your TCP (Team Consulting Project) paper and proposal writing projects.”

Read more about Kristen's work. 

“What Heller offers is intangible, beyond the concrete information you’ll learn in class about policy analysis and history. The network, the community, and the collective commitment to social justice Heller offers are not something you’re necessarily going to find in every graduate program.”

Read more about Sarah’s work.

After graduating from Heller, Rodriguez got a fellowship with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, where she was placed with the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center. At the think tank, she worked as the lead researcher on policy campaigns for earned sick time, paid family and medical leave, and the $15 minimum wage — all of which were successful.

“When I was writing my policy reports and advocating at the Massachusetts State House, I had a jump-start because I had worked on these things in grad school,” she says. “I actually used the reports I had written. It was a perfect transition into my professional policy life.”

Learn more about Nicole's work. 

Robinson draws on her Heller MPP skills to translate the research of CAP’s policy analysts and other data, such as showing them the availability of child care in their district and the true cost of providing quality child care. She also translates proposed solutions from grassroots leaders into legislative language and policies. 

“The biggest thing I learned at Heller is being able to summarize legislation succinctly,” she says. “We also learned a lot about cost-benefit analysis. When I’m sitting with the chief of staff for a senator and they ask me how much a bill costs, I can tell them, but I also make sure to include what that legislation would mean for families, child care providers, and even other businesses in their state.”

Learn more about Erin's work.

“I’m seeing how everything that I’ve learned at Heller has culminated in the skills I need to be successful in this role. Just [recently] I was thinking about one of my courses on policy implementation and how it applies directly to the work that I’m doing today and the topics we’re focusing on.”

Learn more about Catherine’s work.

Eva noticed how larger systemic issues at play often weren’t addressed at the nonprofits where she had worked in the past. “They frequently focused on treating the symptom rather than the cause. This brought me to public policy. I wanted to figure out how we could shift that and identify what the causes were.”

Read more about Eva's work.

“I get to be a voice for people who are so often disregarded or ignored by the systems at work. I know that I took everything I learned and focused on at Heller and have turned it into a lifelong career and commitment to service.”

Read more about Clare's work.

“I wanted to help work toward more change in the criminal justice system, rather than perpetuate it. That’s why I came to Heller for my MPP, where I focused on the intersection of gender and race and the criminal justice system.”

The Black Lives Matter movement has drawn the nation’s attention to police brutality and the tragic deaths of Black people at the hands of law enforcement across the country. As policymakers at every level of government seek new models for community safety, Duggan is working to provide them with the resources they need.

Learn more about Kelcey's work.

“I was drawn in by Heller’s social justice focus. I didn’t want to have to do a more traditional graduate program and translate that to the work I wanted to do. I wanted to be around people who cared about the same things I cared about.”

Pearce still draws on her classes, such as fundraising and development, practicing philanthropy, and financial management, as well as her fellowship experience at the Sillerman Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy, in her work today.

Learn more about Maryse's work.

Mary I. Jagoda ’05 Endowed Fellowship and 2009 Heller MPP Segal Fellow

“I work with our highest-risk individuals: folks with multiple chronic health conditions and social challenges such as substance use disorder or homelessness. I act as a single point of contact with health care providers. I help patients set goals, navigate multiple providers, and connect them to resources in the community. I use my MPP every single day to help patients set goals that benefit themselves and the healthcare system as a whole, such as reducing readmission to hospitals, reducing Emergency Department usage, and keeping patients in the community instead of nursing homes. Now, during the COVID-19 crisis, I’m focusing on post-hospitalization education and connecting people with community resources to make sure they have what they need to self-quarantine.”

Learn more about Audrey's work. 

“Almost everything I took out of the MPP program I’m using as a policy analyst,” he says, “especially the focus on writing and communicating succinctly. I’ve worked with a lot of other MPPs and I’ve learned that some schools send students out into the world as perfectly polished data analysts. Other schools, like Heller, send grads out with the tools to understand data and models, and also with the skills to understand whether a policy is going to help people or hurt people. The most important thing someone with this degree can do is speak up and make sure that the decisions we’re making will improve folks’ lives.”

Learn more about Brian's work. 

“I didn’t know I was going to become super passionate about asset building when I came to grad school. Literally in my first class at Heller, which was with Janet Boguslaw, I learned this language around asset building, the racial wealth gap and the hidden welfare state. It was an amazing experience.”

Read more about Alexandra's work. 

“The level of discipline and rigor I learned at Heller has kept me and my organization sustainable and excellent in the work we've done. It's required an intensive strategy and relentless discipline, which I would have never gotten without the Heller School.”

Read more about Toni's work. 

“The Children, Youth, and Family concentration prepared me with knowledge of the most current trends in youth programming, the principles of Positive Youth Development, and examples of effective youth programming throughout the country. I use this knowledge daily to inform the development of new programs and initiatives.”

Read more about Kaytie's work. 

“The pursuit of a master of public policy degree is twofold. First, you gain an understanding of how to look at the world in a systemic way and see where interventions into those systemic processes might be. Second, you learn the tools necessary to perform those interventions—the analysis, research methods, communication skills, and even the ability to network. I learned both at Heller.”

“One of the most important skills I learned at Heller was writing policy memos,” she says. “Learning to be really concise in your language and getting your point across quickly. In any government or lobbying job, nobody has time to read academic papers.”  

Learn more about Allison's work. 

“I like issues that have a big impact but might not be an issue everyone is focusing on, like housing. It’s a niche policy area, but if you think about it, it’s so basic: It’s not only about survival, but about outcomes like health, employment and more. There’s a lot of work to be done.”

Read more about Charley's work. 

“Sometimes policymakers don’t understand the contextual issues at the community level. That’s why I wanted to focus on the role of policy analysis and research. How do you craft policy to change the situation and the negative aspects of policymaking to address the challenges in the community that you’re witnessing? I realized, to shift paradigms we were witnessing with respect to economic fragmentation, I needed to have the tools to champion all the outcomes I’d like to see and that’s what led me to Heller.”

Read more about Ricky's work. 

“Heller stepped up with a way I could conduct my own education and research that was relevant to the queer rights movement and HIV policy. I’ll be honest: the dual MPP and MBA was extremely difficult but so rewarding, because I learned more than I ever thought I could have. How can we fundamentally change policy using the capitalist system as it exists currently? That was super powerful for me.”

Read more about James' work.