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Alumni
Graduate destinations
Experiences of MGSoG students from all over the world.
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North Armerica
Name: Lisa Jacobson
Virginia, USA
Job Title: Programme
analyst, US Department
of State, Bureau of
International
Organization Affairs
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"Learning New Perspectives"
Hi! My name is Lisa Jacobson. I live
in Alexandria, Virginia, USA, and I
work in Washington, D.C. I came to
the Graduate School of Governance at
Maastricht University as a
mid-career professional, having
already worked in the public sector
in the U.S. for several years,
primarily for the U.S. Government.
Though I already had a master’s
degree in a related discipline, I
chose to pursue an MPP at Maastricht
to keep current in the field of
public policy and to gain new
perspectives by studying in a
European setting. I am currently
employed by the U.S. State
Department where I work as a program
manager of an assistance program
that helps countries to develop
strategic trade controls and enhance
border security in order to meet
international standards and mandates.
I believe that it is important to
understand the viewpoints of others
in the world in order to take on the
challenges of the future in a more
cooperative fashion. I found that
the MGSoG was a great place for
critically examining public policy
issues and discussing solutions. The
facilities at UM were state-of-the-
art; the faculty was well-qualified
and accomplished in their field; the
class programmes were
multi-disciplinary; and the class
discussions were always
thought-provoking. So, regardless of
where you are in your career path –
whether just starting out or at
mid-career -- I would highly
recommend pursuing a master's
programme at the MGSoG for gaining
valuable insight into the current
issues in the field of public policy
and for learning new perspectives.
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Europe
Name: Leeanne Grassnick
Country: Germany
Job title: Associate
KPMG Advisory,
MPP Graduate 2007 |
"Knowing yourself
comes before
understanding others"
Two years have passed
since I entered the
Maastricht Graduate
School of Governance
building. I was tense,
nervous, excited but
most of all I was
curious. After having
completed a bachelor in
social sciences the
biggest question awaited
me: what’s next? I had
the intention of
specialising in a field,
which focuses on
international as well as
national politics and
ways of thinking. When I
read about the Master of
Science programme in
Public Policy and Human
Development, my question
was finally answered.
The MPP programme is
structured in an
incredibly constructive
manner. The first
semester aims at
supplying students with
‘general knowledge’.
Courses such as risk and
uncertainty,
international relations
and public economics
filled us with theories
and ideas. However, the
exciting bit was not
only leaning about the
ideas of important
politicians, scientists
or philosophers but to
come up with our own
ways of thinking, our
own ideas—our politics.
In accumulation to this
the second semester
allows people to choose
a specific track. The
track is meant to give
students a chance to
specialise in one
explicit area o f policy
building. All courses
were driven by experts,
coming from well known
international
universities or
institutes. Hard work
was the key to success.
But when I define hard
work it involves team
work. This team was not
just a composition of
random people from a
lecture. No, these
people were friends.
People one can talk to,
act with and most
importantly people one
can trust.
After handing in the
final draft of my thesis
a familiar question came
to my mind—what’s next?
To be honest I was
scared. This was it; the
big world was ahead to
me. Where would I work?
What kind of job would
fit to me? Will I find
a job?
Today, half a year
later, I am working for
KPMG Germany as a
consultant. I love my
job. I wouldn’t be here
now if it weren’t for
the programme. I learned
so much! And most
importantly, I learned
so much about myself. I
had already spent three
years studying in the
beautiful city of
Maastricht, which I
personally always liked
to call ‘little Paris’,
and I would not have
wanted to end my last
year with anything else
but the academic
programme of the MGSoG
and the wonderful people
that fill it.
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Latin America
Name: Diego Martinez
Country: Ecuador
MPP Graduate 2007
Job Title: Second
Director, Social
Protection Program,
Ministry of Economic and
Social Inclusion,
Ecuador
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“The only way to make
a difference"
My current employer is
the Ecuadorian Social
Protection Program (Programa
de Protección Social)
which is part of the
Ministry of Economic and
Social Inclusion (Ministerio
de Inclusión Económica y
Social del Ecuador) and
as such, is responsible
for the ecuadorian
conditional cash
transfer (CCT) known as
Bono de Desarrollo
Humano wich is the
largest social
protection program in
the country. Our
coverage is around 1.3
million households
receiving the cash
transfer and our budget
is around 450 million
USD per year. In
relative terms (as part
of the total population
covered and as part of
the GDP) this in one of
the largest conditional
cash transfer programs
in the world. The
Social Protection
Program is also
responsible for the
implementation of a
micro credit program
targeted on the
households receiving the
cash transfer and for an
special cash transfer
scheme wich is activated
to help households
facing emergency
situations such as
floods, earthquakes or
vulcano eruptions. In
the first program (micro
credit) the program has
attended around 90.000
households in the last 2
years and in the last
emergency (floods 2008)
around 85.000 households
received the emergency
cash transfer.
The Social Protection
Program at this time
it's changing it's
institutional structure
so in the old structure
my position is General
Assesor of the Program
and as such I am
responsible for the
Technical Unit (this is
a Unit responsible for
preparing information,
statistics, evaluating
and proposing
improvementes inside the
program) and in the new
structure (to be
implemented at the end
of august), I am the
Second Director of the
program and I am
responsible for the
Technical Unit and a new
Planning Unit.
‘Ecuador is a highly
instable and vulnerable
country. With its
geographical location,
the country is prone to
be affected by volcanic
activity, floods and not
to forget, capricious
earthquakes. Instead of
investing in sustainable,
risk-management policies,
the government is
actually only following
an emergency solution
path, thereby looking
only at the economic
aspects of most problems.
I was working in the
public sector for 7
years, more specifically,
for the Ministry of
Economics and Finances.
As the focus of my work
was primarily on
economics, I decided
that in order to really
design sustainable
policies, I needed to
deepen my knowledge on
public policy issues. I
had heard about the School
and its
multidisciplinary
approach through another
alumni. Exactly this
multidisciplinary
approach is what
attracted me in the MPP programme.
It didn't only touch
upon the economic
side of developing
policies, but also, the
social, cultural and
legislative aspect. This,
I believe, is the only
way towards a more
sustainable future and
long term solutions: the
training of versatile
people who are
internationally educated
and through this, can
look at problems from a
wider perspective.
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Africa
Name: Kinfemichel Abraha
Country:Ethiopia
MPP Graduate 2007
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“It opened up my world”
‘If someone would ask me
to summarize my year in
Maastricht at the MGSoG
in one sentence, I would
definitely say that ’it
opened up my world’.
While the original plan
was to come to
Maastricht to start with
the master’s programme
in Economic Policy
Research, luck decided
otherwise. I eventually
joined the master’s
programme in Social
Policy Design. As I come
from the private banking
sector in Ethiopia, the
world of social policy
issues was all
completely new to me. In
my work I was busy
devising plans to make
more money, while in my
training course at the
School, I would be busy
thinking out efficient
budget schemes for
social policy projects
in order to improve
human conditions.
Through the diverse
experience and
backgrounds of my fellow
students, their
country’s specific
problems and sometimes
emotional stories, I
feel that I have gained
an indispensable
knowledge of the reality
of the world’s problems.
This knowledge has
inspired me to pursue a
different career for
when I return to
Ethiopia. The idea now
is to try and find work
at an international
organisation or NGO and
contribute to improve
the situation in my
country. The only way to
really do something
about today’s problems
is, in my opinion, by
paying the knowledge
forward and thus
creating awareness to as
much people as possible.
That is why I am
grateful to have had the
chance to ‘open up my
world’.
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