The conference — “Moving Beyond Activism to Good Public Policy: Having a Voice at the Table” — focused on the impact of diversity and advocacy on policy decision making. Attendee Karilyn Nieves, a junior history major from SUNY Geneseo — who admits she’d never even heard of an MPA before attending — gave the program high marks for illustrating how social activism can be turned into policy. Twice during the day students sat with faculty or alumni in small groups focused on a policy topic. Nieves says she particularly enjoyed her breakout on fair housing with economist John Yinger. “That is an area I would be interested in going into,” she says. Yinger referenced the book The Color of Law, which Nieves had read.

Nieves also valued interaction with other students of color who live and work at schools like her own. “It was nice to get a different perspective of their experiences in predominantly white institutions,” she adds.

The keynote was given by Lloyd Blanchard ’94 MPA/’99 PhD (PA), whose career path has passed through government, nonprofit, and academic sectors. Today he is an associate vice president at the University of Connecticut.

“Most young people want to change the world,” says Blanchard. “A career in public service brings their life story to the table, adding diversity to policy considerations. They then help others do the same.”

Blanchard was one of eight alumni of color who participated in the conference, on the career panel or as breakout leaders. Parag Mehta ’00 MPA, the executive director of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, told students that, growing up in an immigrant community, he only knew careers for doctors, lawyers, engineers, and businessmen. “I was fortunate that, in college, I was exposed to the power of policymaking to transform lives for the better,” he says. He participated in the Policy Camp to pay that forward. “When we open the door of possibility, we change the trajectory of history,” he adds. “The Policy Camp was a great way to catalyze a bit of that change.”

According to attendee Eric Jones, a sophomore English major at Monroe Community College, the alumni messages hit a chord. “All of the alumni shared remarkably insightful information into their academic experience at Syracuse and how it’s shaped their lives,” he says. “They really inspired me, in terms of what I could do within the community and running a nonprofit.”

Maxwell plans to repeat the event. “We received tremendous feedback from everyone who participated — students, faculty, and alumni,” says Christine Omolino, director of admission and financial aid in PAIA. “This was a valuable experience to potentially improve diversity in the field.”

Heflin, who led a topical breakout on support programs for low-income and disadvantaged families, is hopeful about what the student participants will bring to the public affairs arena in the future. “Students brought a unique set of insights to the discussion,” she says. “It was clear to me that these students could bring a new set of ideas to policy discussions.”