For Michael Berger, MPP/MBA’23, the decision to go to grad school came during a period of self-reflection. It was the height of the pandemic, and the 2020 iteration of the Black Lives Matter movement had taken hold after the murder of George Floyd. He knew he wanted to take action and make a meaningful difference: “I found myself thinking about how I really want to spend my precious time on this planet.”
From Community Organizer to Grad Student
With nearly a decade of professional community and electoral organizing work, mainly in New York City, in addition to New Jersey, upstate New York and Philadelphia, Michael felt that he had reached the ceiling for the types of opportunities and roles that he was qualified for based on his experience, education and credentials. When looking into public policy and public administration programs, he recognized there were aspects to the programs that would help him develop into a better organizer and advocate for positive change in his communities and the country. He also saw that a degree from a program like Heller could open up doors for him.
Michael was particularly drawn to the Heller MPP/MBA dual-degree program and the potential to enhance his policy expertise while gaining knowledge about how capitalism and corporations function as well as their impact and role in society. “In my experience working across a handful of different nonprofit and public sector roles, it was apparent to me that a lot of the leaders in those organizations were committed, passionate folks who rose up the ranks over the years, but didn't necessarily have a background in management,” says Michael. “I had a sense that there may be tools in a program like the Social Impact MBA that would be helpful for organizational leadership within the kinds of nonprofits and public sector organizations that I've been a part of.”
Zeroing in on Racial, Economic and Social Justice
Michael entered Heller in August 2020 actively involved in the Black Lives Matter and housing justice movements in Philadelphia. Although he didn’t yet have a clearly defined policy area of interest, he knew he was committed to becoming a better advocate and organizer for racial, economic and social justice. “I found that police reform, criminal justice reform and alternatives to policing were very present in our country, in the world and very much in my consciousness, and also just in dialogue at Heller,” says Michael. He recalls being inspired by his classmates who were researching criminal justice reform, particularly Andrea Tyree MPP’22, who came into the program laser-focused on police reform. “After the first two semesters, it became clear that was where the fire burned the brightest for me,” he says. “If you have a deep reservoir of energy and motivation to fight for something, that's what you should be working on.” He joined the Economic and Racial Equity and Social Policy and Management MPP and MBA concentrations respectively, where the greatest aspect of the program, beyond gaining critical policy research and analysis skills, was the opportunity to spend two and a half years doing a deep dive on the subject matter that is most important to him.
Research with Real Implications
After working with his advisor, Alexandra Piñeros Shields, PhD'07, Director of the Heller MPP program, Michael landed an internship with the Massachusetts Communities Action Network, which later led to a connection with Brockton Interfaith Community (BIC). In the fall of 2022, as part of his capstone research, Michael helped BIC conduct a review of civilian oversight of law enforcement in the United States and in Massachusetts to help them evaluate the landscape and the feasibility of winning a campaign to create a civilian review board for the Brockton Police. Over the next year and a half, Michael served as a consultant for BIC on their civilian review board campaign and community wellbeing and alternatives to policing organizing cycle.
Michael credits the capstone policy memo as key to securing his current role as Policy and Data Analyst at the City of Boston’s Office of Police Accountability and Transparency. He leads the agency’s work to collect, analyze and present critical data to the public on the Boston Police Department’s activities, including stops, arrests and use of force, and on the hundreds of misconduct complaints the agency receives from community members every year. Using data to tell a moving and persuasive story about the need for increased accountability and transparency for law enforcement in Boston is fundamental to his role and very much builds off the work he did as an MPP and Social Impact MBA student at Heller.
Advice for Current Students
It's okay to not know exactly what your path is as you move through the program: “Trust your instincts and listen to your heart about what is really driving you, and then be as intentional as you can about working with your professors and advisors at Heller to try and figure out what that path could be and how Heller can support you in taking it where you want to go.”