Post 1: Something Unexpected, your internship will be in INDIA!

My name is Laura Martinez, and I am a first-year graduate student of the Master in Public Administration in International Development (MPA/ID) at the Harvard Kennedy School. I am from Colombia, and I studied economics and a master's in economics at the Universidad de los Andes of Colombia. Many powerful moments in my life led me to choose Development and Public Policy as my professional path. In particular, studying economics, some courses captured my interest in developing countries' social realities. Later, working as a research assistant and at the IDB, my interest in designing programs to enhance the most vulnerable living conditions became my professional and personal objective.

In order to achieve this goal, in January of 2022, I decided to look for an internship that would improve and strengthen my technical skill in the United States, thinking that it was the perfect context to gain more rigorous skills. However, I have always had the duality between the technical and the practical. Seeing the possibility of having an internship in India was the opportunity to learn from a hands-on experience in public policy, another dream on my long list! 

I decided to apply and learn more about the projects in a different context from Latin America. After a good conversation with Prateek and Rebeca, part of the State Capability Enhancement Project (SCEP) of the Meghalaya government, I was completely interested in this possibility and my ideas of doing an internship in the United States were no longer in my head. After taking my time to think, I decided to tell SCEP that I was ready to go to India to share my knowledge and experience in fieldwork and research. On May 11th, SCEP sent me my official internship offer letter!! Immediately I answered back their email and started thinking about my journey to India. Also, my closest friends from the master's applied to this internship, and they got it!! One of my happiest moments in 2022. 

The approach of SCEP is inspired by problem-driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) and Ronald Heifetz' Adaptive Leadership, two methodologies developed at Harvard Kennedy School of Government. A fundamental guiding principle of SCEP is facilitating collaborative and local problem-solving and, in the process, building systems that are more responsive to development needs and can support a long-term, sustained transformation of the state. The project entails implementing and evaluating adaptive approach-inspired projects in multiple fields of importance to public welfare. Currently, there are four active projects under SCEP: Green Meghalaya Movement, Maternal & Child Health, Early Childhood Development Mission, Women's Leadership

SCEP Team is led by Mr. Sampath Kumar, the Principal Secretary for the Government of Meghalaya.

I sincerely believe that my professional and personal profile can be further enhanced with the SCEP internship opportunity. It will contribute to my personal growth and guide me to accomplish my career goal of becoming an exhaustive international development practitioner. 

I want to thank the generous support of The Germeshausen Foundation and The Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School.