Ford School hosts Second Annual Policy Pitch Competition: Students returning from internships pitch their experiences, future goals

September 23, 2019

Last Tuesday, Ford School BA and Masters students participated in the second annual Policy Pitch Competition. The event, hosted by Graduate Career Services (GCS) & the Program in Practical Policy Engagement (P3E), gave presenters an opportunity to share their summer internships with a packed audience of students, faculty, and staff. Having recently completed their summer internships, the 11 student presenters each gave three minute pitches to a panel of five distinguished judges.

This year’s judges included:
Kathy & Phil Power, Power Foundation
Olushola Samuel (BA '10), Division Administrator, Michigan Medicine
Nikki Sunstrum, Director of Social Media and Public Engagement, University of Michigan
John Ziraldo (MPA '96), President, Commonwealth Consulting

Each student’s pitch provided a summary of their summer internship, highlighting their internship organization, policy interests, policy impact and engagement, skills acquired, and takeaways gained as they move forward in their careers. 

Following the pitches, the judges selected the top three presenters to receive prizes. Winners of this year’s competition and their internship locations were:

1st prize: Pranav Govindaraju (BA ’20), Division of Supervision and Regulation, Federal Reserve Board, Washington, DC
2nd prize: Aprisal Malale (MPP ‘20), Direct Relief, Indonesia
3rd prize: Monika Anderson (MPP/MSW ‘20), National Alliance on Mental Illness, New York City

All 2019 student presenters and their internship locations included:

Monika Anderson, National Alliance on Mental Illness, New York
Brooke Bacigal, (Re)Vive
Pranav Govindaraju, Division of Supervision and Regulation, Federal Reserve Board, Washington, DC
Karl Hoesch, Office of Climate and Energy, State of Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, Lansing
Aprisal Malale, Direct Relief, Indonesia
Jonatan Martinez, LEAN Team, Mayor's Office, Detroit
Aloka Narayanan, Brilliant Detroit, Detroit
Brandan Pierce, Office of Human Capital, Boston Public Schools, Boston
Avril Prakash, Energy and Environment Team, Public Policy Center, General Motors, Detroit
Gerson Ramirez, Government Affairs, Office of Equity, Advocacy & Civil Rights, Detroit Public Schools Community District, Detroit
Will Sims, UNHCR - The UN Refugee Agency, Denmark

We'll post videos from the event shortly: check back to see our student presenters in action.