Why a Public Service Degree?
MPA/MPP Alumni Spotlight
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Bora Lee, MPA
New York University Alumna
What inspired you to pursue your MPA degree? I worked primarily in nonprofit organizations in New York City that serve immigrant communities, particularly Asian Americans. I started in grassroots community organizing and then moved into organizations that focus on policy and delivering social services. I saw graduate school as an investment in my career and my future.
How has your MPA/MPP degree helped you in your career? Getting a little taste of everything - from performance management and evaluation to policy pipelines to financial management - helped me understand how I fit in it all.
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Jonathan D. Blanton, MPA
University of North Carolina Charlotte Alumnus
How has your MPA/MPP degree helped you in your career?
Having my MPA has not only given me the theoretical knowledge necessary to tackle challenging issues in the public sector but also to network with peers in the profession in order to develop relationships that have assisted me in my career. For example, I learned of my first city manager position via the UNC-Charlotte Google group and continue to help others via internships and mentoring opportunities that are provided through the University of North Carolina Charlotte.
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Luke Yingling, MPA
Penn State Harrisburg Alumnus
How has your MPA/MPP degree helped you in your career? I was able to chart my own path, focusing a lot of time on research projects for class credit. That experience and the knowledge gained was foundational to the creation of my company. Without the flexibility to pursue my interests, including things like judicial politics and research methods, I would have lacked the know-how to develop the algorithms I used to serve as the foundation of my company’s products, which are now used nationwide by lawyers. Plus, because of the program’s focus on practical experience, I spent 18 months working in Pennsylvania’s government. During that time, I created hundreds of millions of dollars in budget and grant proposals, made preliminary budgets, helped manage state-wide resources, made policy proposals, and presented research findings to cabinet secretaries. Those experiences made me confident to later pitch investors, raise capital, create company budgets, and fulfill lots of my other current responsibilities.
Why Public Service?
