When Mariela Martinez, MPP’22, came to Heller, she already had experience putting social good into action as a Peace Corps education volunteer. While serving in Uganda from 2017 to 2019, she focused on literacy education, girls’ empowerment, and volunteer training, which fueled her passion for supporting the rights of vulnerable populations. Mariela decided to take the next step in her career with a master’s degree in public policy that would empower her to continue making an impactful change, but at a more structural level. Heller stood out to her as an opportunity to concentrate on her primary areas of interest, conflict resolution and racial equity, within a renowned MPP program.
From Peace Corps Volunteer to Segal Fellow
During her second year, Mariela was awarded a fellowship in the Eli J. & Phyllis N. Segal Citizen Leadership Program, a Heller-based program created to inspire and support new generations of citizen leaders. As a Segal Fellow, Mariela focused on immigrant rights and how policy can be advanced by social justice, programming, and community engagement. “At Heller, I learned how to think critically about public policy and the ways in which it’s developed, and Segal gave me an opportunity to apply this knowledge.”
Building off her previous experience in the Peace Corps, Mariela was placed with Search for Common Ground, a nonprofit, peace-building organization. As an intern for the Global Policy and Outreach team, she learned the inner workings of an international organization that focuses and grounds its work in bottom-up advocacy. Her responsibilities during her internship included copyediting briefs on different areas like Afghanistan, Nigeria, the Sahel, as well as conflict areas within the United States.
“A lot of the information that we gathered from different conversations with local partners was passed on to U.S. officials, other advocates in nonprofits, think tank organizations, and even at times the U.N. and other high-profile leadership organizations. As someone who is passionate about the peace-building field within the U.S. and Central America, it was incredibly valuable for me to get this exposure and understand how these systems operate. I was able to see myself in this role in the future as a result of my Segal fellowship.”
Putting Skills Into Practice
During her studies at Heller, Mariela worked closely with Alexandra Piñeros-Shields, PhD’07, Associate Professor of the Practice of Racial Equity, who also served as Mariela’s advisor for her capstone project on immigration policy. “I had this big, ambitious idea for my capstone, and I could not have put it into practice without Alexandra. She also helped me think critically about the type of role I want to have in the world after Heller.”
Mariela’s work in the conflict resolution program helped her to focus on immigrant detention. “I was specifically interested in the violence and conflict that happens in detention facilities, and why we should abolish them. It had a focus on foreign policy and thinking critically about why people immigrate.”
She also leveraged skills learned from her graduate assistantship with Heller’s Institute for Economic and Racial Equity (IERE). For a study investigating how the 1944 GI Bill impacted Black and White veterans and their ability to access benefits, Mariela helped to develop a literature review and codify and analyze qualitative data from interviews with veterans. “Working with IERE was instrumental in giving me the tools and insights necessary to approach my capstone project.”
Going Beyond the Classroom
After graduating, Mariela entered the two-year Professional Development Program (PDP) in the U.S. Government Accountability Office (U.S. GAO), which she first learned about through an open house with Career Services. She is in good company too - two fellow Heller graduates also work at the GAO. “We have monthly Heller meetups to check in and talk. It’s great to have this built-in community and support system.”
While working as an analyst in the PDP, Mariela will rotate through three of GAO’s mission teams to provide quantitative and qualitative analysis of federal programs and help report key findings to GAO's congressional partners.
In her first rotation with the International Affairs & Trade team, Mariela analyzed how U.S. companies responded to the Securities and Exchange Commission conflict minerals disclosure rule when filing in 2022. She is currently in her second rotation with the Defense Capabilities and Management team, where she is analyzing the Department of Defense’s programs and initiatives on reducing single-use plastics.
Advice for Current Students
Build long-lasting relationships. “At Heller, you get to meet and work with great professors and fellow students who are committed to the projects that they’re working on. Capitalize on this opportunity and your time in the program by building relationships with people and nurturing them. 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.”
Advice for Prospective Students
Talk to current students and alumni. “Ask them questions about their time at Heller and the opportunities they had after graduating. Think critically about the experience you’re looking for and the types of issues and specific areas that matter to you, and the impact you want to have out in the world.”