Hello EPD-ers!

Welcome to a new academic year! A very warm welcome and congratulations to a new Class of 2022 and welcome back to familiar faces of the Class of 2021!

These past few months have been some of the most transformative and challenging for many of us. As we begin the semester in this unique hybrid environment and with many changes to our usual way in order to keep each other safe, the EPD team is committed to continue to build a vibrant community of passionate individuals.

As we strive to build this community, we would like for you to have a say in what that looks like. What are your interests? What sectors are you interested in? Are there specific employers you would like to talk to? What social events would you like to see? Please fill out this brief survey to let us know! Many thanks in advance!

This week's newsletter includes:

• Meet your EPD Program Assistants
• Upcoming EPD and Other Events
• Career Talks and Opportunities
• Faculty Spotlight
• Student Spotlight
• Pick of the Week
• EPD Office Hours

Meet your EPD Program Assistants

Selena Batchily
Hometown: Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire 
Concentration: EPD
Specialization: Management
Background: I'm French-Guinean but consider myself a Pan-African with home being Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. I love meeting new people and eating might be my favorite activity ever. Before SIPA I worked for two years at the World Bank as an analyst on the portfolio for Niger, Mali, Chad, and Guinea. I was also working for the communications team in the Africa region on stakeholder engagement and reputation risks amongst other things. My interests are governance, youth employment, digital development, and public-private partnerships mainly in Africa. I'm currently the President of the SIPA Pan-African Network (SPAN), a peer advisor & your EPD program assistant. Over the summer, I interned at the Eurasia Group as research analyst for the consulting team working on geopolitical risk analysis for firtune 100 companies.
Fun fact: I did ballet for 11 years.

Saiful Salihudin
Hometown: Kuantan, Malaysia
Concentration: EPD
Specilization: ICR/Management
Background: After graduating from University of Nottingham, UK with a bachelor's degree in Economics, I worked as an Economist at the Central Bank of Malaysia focussing on East Asia Economies and the commodities market. I then switched role to Policy Analyst focussing on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing with the Financial Intelligence Unit. Although my career so far has been in economic and financial policy, I have always been interested in social policy, politics and international relations, which informed my decision to come to SIPA and concentrating in EPD. I’m also currently the Co-President of the South East Asian Student Initiative (SEASI) at SIPA.

During the summer, I worked as a Political Affairs intern at the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, in the Security Council Practices and Charter Research Branch. There, I conducted research on political issues and countries, as they relate to the mandates of the Security Council and contribute to the drafting of the Repertoire of the Security Council. In addition, I’m also working as a Research Assistant at Princeton University’s Empirical Studies of Conflict (ESOC) for their joint project with Microsoft Research Group. I research and analyze various misinformation narratives emerging globally surrounding COVID-19, led by Professor Jacob Shapiro. I also spent some time working with Representative Alexandria Ocassio-Cortez's re-election campaign doing check-in calls with the residents of the Bronx and Queens during COVID-19, phone banking, tabling, and (socially-distanced) canvassing during the primaries. It was a fun experience and I learned a lot about community organizing and political campaign management during this period. I also worked on a couple of projects with Economic Transformation Group (ETG), a boutique economic development consulting firm, on post-COVID recovery strategy and economic planning in Guyana.

Fun fact: Outside of school and work, I am a singer and an athlete in Tenpin Bowling. I also love racquet sports (squash, badminton, tennis) and reading and watching movies - appreciate any recommendations!

Upcoming EPD and Other Events


EPD Course Advising Session
Wednesday, Sept. 9th | 1-2 pm | Zoom Link: https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/j/8417248138
Join your EPD PAs Saiful & Selena for an informal session about classes and course selection! 
RSVP on CampusGroups: 
http://cglink.me/r796782 







The Opportunity for Climate Progress with A Green Stimulus
Wednesday, Sept. 9th | Noon-1:30 pm | To register CLICK HERE
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unemployment to reach levels last experienced in the United States during the Great Depression. Given the depth and breadth of the COVID-19 recession, economic stimulus and recovery packages will be key to bringing the unemployed back into the workforce and deploying capital throughout the economy. The prospect that at least a portion of an economic stimulus plan can simultaneously accomplish climate policy priorities (a “green stimulus”) has drawn considerable interest. Join the Center on Global Energy Policy, in partnership with The Breakthrough Institute and Data for Progress, as we discuss the opportunity for climate progress with a green stimulus in the United States following the 2020 election.

SIPAFest: Student Organization Showcase
Saturday, Sept. 12th & Sunday, Sept. 13th | Zoom
Join SIPA's 50 student organizations for an epic virtual two-day showcase. You'll have the opportunity to meet current officers and members and learn more about the organizations' activities and goals for Fall 2020. Each organization will have its own timeslot, so you can attend as many or as few showcases as you like. We look forward to introducing you to the heart of SIPA student life. Click here to register. 

OCS Recruitment Orientation for EPD Concentrators
Monday, Sept. 14th | 1-2 pm | Zoom
The Office of Career Services (OCS) would like to make sure that you are well prepared for the internship and job search. For this reason, we are doing a Recruitment Orientation for each concentration. During this orientation, you will learn about all of the resources available for searching for jobs and internships, and how students can specifically improve their search for their particular academic tracks and interests. We urge BOTH first- and second-year students to attend this Recruitment Orientation. Click here to register. 

Career Talks & Opportunities

Festival for Change -  this is a series of free talks and workshops targetted at young professionals (age 25 and under) that focuses on understanding the future of the world of work. The series will be led by an experienced HR expert, David Leech. This is an opportunity for students to explore their interests, set goals, and navigate their career in these challenging times. For more information about this series of events and to register, CLICK HERE. 
 

Jeff Ashe teaches INAF U8350 Finance for the World's Poorest in the fall semester.

Please tell us about your course: 
Over the years that I have taught my course at SIPA, I have been impressed by the commitment and creativity of SIPA students. I structure my class so that it leverages students' experiences. I often say “the answers are already in the community”, vital insights into how to best reach the world’s most disadvantaged can be learned from the students. After all, it is they who will continue this work. Many have reported back they have.

Please tell us more about your background:
As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador, we brought the indigenous leaders of villages of serfs who worked the land for generations under the domination of the landlords. Over two weeks, we asked questions they developed and then implemented their plans to secure their rightful claim to the land. Their ideas, not ours prevailed.
Leaving Ecuador and completing a graduate school, I was one of the pioneers of micro credit in the early 1980s. After studying ways to assist microbusinesses in fourteen countries, we found that the best way to guarantee a loan was for a group of peers to guarantee repayment. What we learned in El Salvador spread over the world. As in Ecuador, we designed an intervention around social capital and local knowledge. By 2000, after promoting microfinance in some 35 countries, it became clear that loans were not reaching the poorest and when they did, loans often left the borrowers in an unsustainable debt. Discouraged, I was about to leave the field, but I learned about a new approach and carried out research in Nepal, India and Zimbabwe to understand it. By bypassing the financial institutions and instead training groups of about 20 village women to save and lend to each other, they created their own financial institutions where the profits from lending returned to them.

What research have you been focusing on?
Over the past few years, my students and I have carried out research to learn about the importance of informal saving and lending groups in immigrant communities as well as the role of remittances in assisting millions of villages across the developing world. We are developing initiatives that support the leaders of these informal groups. This way we can share local wisdom and problem solving capacity. What’s next? We will see. 

This week's movie: No

This week's book: Why Nations Fail

EPD Office Hours 

José Antonio Ocampo, EPD Co-Director
Sign up online: https://tinyurl.com/officehours-ocampo

Jenny McGill, EPD Co-Director and Workshop Director
Sign up online: https://tinyurl.com/mcgill-oh

Ilona Vinklerova, EPD Manager
Sign up online: https://sipa.campusgroups.com/meetings/1060915/IlonaOfficeHours 
 

All good things,