| Empowering Mexican Women | ||
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ppp | Job
Title: Social Enterprise and Sustainable Community Development Coordinator Organization: Graduate: Home
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| What do you enjoy about your job? What aspects of your job are the most exciting or interesting? | ||
| I
work in a nonprofit that operates locally, but
that also offers many opportunities for
regional, national, and international networking
on issues affecting low-income women, affected
by the shifting about common issues. I enjoy the
opportunity to start new projects, think them
through, plan their implementation, and watch
them develop and grow. Each new project is a
challenge that requires pooling together both my
personal skills and those of my colleagues and
the organizational networks. |
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| Why did you choose to pursue an MPA/MPP degree? | ||
| I
choose to pursue an MPA degree because it was
the graduate plan that best fit my experience
and my future goals. For most of my professional
life, I have worked intermittently in nonprofits
and government agencies, on both sides of
community economic development issues. The time
invested towards a MPA created an opportunity to
take a mid-career “energizing breath of fresh
air”. The information and tools offered by the
MPA program allowed me to organize my lifework
in a coherent body of theory and practice, and
to update and build on this experience,
preparing me for the next stage in my
professional development. |
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| How did you select your graduate school? | ||
| In
my case, I first choose the location and then
the program. I wanted to live and work in a
border community, in a city that would allow me
to utilize my biculturalism, while at the same
time offer me the opportunity to learn about the
complexities of social, political and
administrative exchange on an international
border. El Paso was the choice and the MPA
graduate program at UTEP was the perfect match
because it is a program that recognizes its
position in the U.S. Mexico border community and
seeks to prepare professionals that are suited
to its bi-national context. When choosing a
graduate school, it is important to take into
consideration the aspects modeled above. There
are practical reasons such as place, time, and
finances. But there are also powerful reasons
related to the type of professional the school
is interested in helping to form. Especially in
an MPA program, where graduates will go out to
work in, with and for the community as public
servants or nonprofit managers, there should be
a match between the philosophy of the school and
its stated mission, and the prospective graduate
student’s purpose and professional goals. Look
at the program of study, see if the courses are
tailored to your perspectives and/or if there is
enough flexibility to focus and/or specialize in
the area where you want to work. How do you feel your MPA/MPP is helping you to make a difference? The MPA program has allowed me to exercise a new level of professionalism in my work. By offering a diversity of tools for research, analysis, and implementation of public policy and programs, it has allowed me to approach projects with a comprehensive vision and renewed confidence in the quality of the work. Perhaps a good example would be a recent project I worked on. The organization, a community development corporation, was occupying a large and dilapidated warehouse with the intention of renovating it as an economic engine in the empowerment zone. My first task was to secure funding to purchase the building. With the knowledge acquired both in accounting and budgeting, I was able to create a loan package with a business and development plan solid enough to engage a national CDFI as a long-term partner. The next step was to conduct a feasibility study that included a market analysis and a facility use plan. Here again, tools acquired in public policy analysis and administrative law, as well as the research methods and statistical and economic impact analysis abilities honed during the MPA program helped me secure funding by writing, implementing, monitoring and reporting on a federal grant that required organizing and coordinating the work of a diverse team group of professional consultants to finalize the study. Today I am working on laying out the next stages of the project. It is necessary to develop a workable combination of financial, human, and organizational resources to renovate the building and furnish it, as well as to operate the facility as a social enterprise incubator.. By teamwork, networking and a wide array of public and private alliances, I am helping to create viable and sustainable models of resource administration, business operation, and information management that are based on solid strategic and financial planning practices. This project is a step forward towards building a sustainable community economic development model that is helping to re-establish the local economic base, shattered by the negative effects of international trade agreements and globalization on the low skilled workforce in El Paso. Being an active part of this project and seeing it unfold and prosper makes me proud. |
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| How do you feel your MPA/MPP is helping you to make a difference? | ||
| I
think my program made a difference for me. It
changed my way of seeing the society. I don't
have any accomplishment that I'm proud of yet. |
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| How would you characterize your personality? | ||
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Number cruncher * Rigorous * Good under pressure
* Compassionate * Teacher * Persistent *
Committed * Curious * Independent * Driven *
Analytical * Service-oriented * Entrepreneurial |
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| Contact Maria Luisa Picard-Am with questions regarding her graduate experience: | ||
| Email Maria | ||