The Max Bell School聽of Public Policy聽is thrilled to introduce three聽recent Master of Public Policy graduates聽who聽were selected for this year鈥檚聽Policy Scholars program, a prestigious opportunity for聽our聽students to聽spend six months working at a prominent Canadian think tank.聽
鈥淧roviding聽meaningful聽career opportunities聽is聽essential for both the success of our聽惭笔笔听辫谤辞驳谤补尘聽and the career trajectory of our students," said Chris Ragan,聽director of the Max Bell School.聽鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we鈥檙e so聽pleased聽to have three outstanding recent graduates聽join our partner think tanks聽for the second year of the Policy Scholars聽initiative.鈥澛�
The聽program plays聽a vital聽role聽in聽providing students with聽real-life, policy-centric opportunities. As Catherine Stace, the Max Bell School Career Services Manager, and a lead organizer of the聽program, said,聽
"Members of our聽latest class of聽MPP聽candidates are聽coming out of an intensive degree that is reflective of the real world. Having the opportunity to work on issues of vital importance at a prominent organization recognizes their academic achievements while also providing them a聽career聽launch pad."聽
The Policy Scholars program is funded through a significant philanthropic grant from the .聽"Thanks to the support of the Max Bell Foundation,鈥� Catherine continued, 鈥淭he Policy Scholars program allows our students to work within leading policy organizations and apply their newly acquired skills directly. Our partners this year are all high-calibre organizations working on important issues. I am confident the聽three聽students selected will deliver excellent work during their term and the experience will prove valuable for their policy careers.鈥澛犅�
Meet this year's cohort聽of Policy Scholars:聽
Nayantara Sudhakar
The Calgary-based welcomed Nayantara Sudhakar聽to conduct research on the clean energy innovation ecosystem.聽
Marla Orenstein,聽Director of the Natural Resource Centre at the Foundation,聽praised聽the聽qualities Sudhakar brings to the team and detailed the project she鈥檚 been working on over the past few months:聽
鈥淣ayantara鈥檚 interests are diverse, and so is her experience. This is an attribute we really value about her 鈥� and something we are putting to good use by giving her projects that span a lot of different areas. She is helping us frame our response to the need for a Just Transition of energy workers as Canada moves to a low-carbon economy 鈥� a project that crosses over between CWF鈥檚 and . She is writing stories for the about advances in both new and traditional energy systems. And she has been tasked with helping us figure out a system for how to keep up with the rapid developments in energy and environment that are coming out of the U.S. Finally, she is helping design a youth-oriented event to bring the voices and values of younger people into the discussions around energy and environment.鈥澛�
Sudhakar聽commented on聽why joining聽the foundation was聽so significant to her.聽
鈥淐urrently, our society is challenged with finding sustainable methods of using Canada's natural resources while limiting the negative impacts on the workers and communities that are dependent on natural resource extraction. Working with Canada West Foundation to uncover聽the elements of a 'Just Transition' provides me with an opportunity to indulge in my interest in people-centered policymaking while learning about responsible energy development. I feel honoured to be placed at an institution that works hard and fast to put critically emerging matters on the policy agenda.鈥澛�
Ricardo Chejfec
Ricardo聽Chejfec聽was selected to聽join聽the聽 (滨搁笔笔).听滨苍听an interview with us,聽he shared:聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 a fantastic first step in.聽There's still a lot I need to discover about this field about the world, about my role and my ability to contribute.鈥� He is confident that his time at the IRPP can help on all fronts. 鈥淪ince I left home, I鈥檝e never stayed in one place for too long, but policy really seems like something that I'm going to enjoy doing for a long time.鈥澛�
IRPP聽President and CEO Jennifer Ditchburn聽highlighted the importance of the Policy Scholars program鈥攆or both the Scholars and the institutional partners.聽
鈥淲e are very pleased to be able to continue to work with the Max Bell聽School鈥檚聽Policy聽Scholars. It鈥檚 an opportunity to help support some of Canada鈥檚 emerging policy thinkers,聽and also聽to benefit from their own research and insights. Ricardo鈥檚 training and interests聽have聽been聽an asset to our research programs focused on the future of the social safety net and on adult skills and learning.鈥澛�
Udita Upadhyay聽
2021 MPP graduate聽Udita Upadhyay has joined the聽, undertaking policy research on the theme of 鈥淗ealthcare Human Capital: Reopening and Recovering.鈥澛�
The Institute is a聽perfect fit for聽Udita, who told us,聽
鈥淏eing one of Canada鈥檚 most influential think tanks, this fellowship position at C.D. Howe聽provides an excellent platform as it operates at the intersection of economics聽and public policy. This is an ideal opportunity for me to use my background in economics and my MPP degree to address an important policy issue for Canadian society.鈥澛�
