Afton Branche

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News

New U-M report lifts up Detroit residents' priorities for economic mobility

Sep 25, 2020

A new report from the University of Michigan's Poverty Solutions lifts up more than a decade's worth of input from Detroit residents on how to increase economic mobility and decrease poverty in their city. The community-based research project,...

State & Hill

Interning near and far: Ford School student internships in 2016

Dec 28, 2016

Kate Reinertson Talha Mirza (BA '18) & Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Farah Mandich (MPP '17) at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London, UK....

State & Hill

Entrepreneurial alumni: Ford School alums share winning strategies in social innovation

Dec 18, 2016

Erin Zaikis "Make sure that you're curating people in your life that will have your back and want you to succeed. Being an entrepreneur is the loneliest task, but also the most rewarding." Erin Zaikis (BA...

U-M provost appoints advisory committee to lead the Ford School's dean search

Oct 3, 2016

Provost Martha E. Pollack has appointed an advisory committee to search for a new dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. The search process will begin in early October. Elisabeth Gerber, associate dean for research and policy...

Michigan Journal of Public Affairs publishes 2016 volume on constitutional rights, freedoms

Sep 20, 2016

The editorial board of the Michigan Journal of Public Affairs (MJPA) is pleased to announce the 2016 edition and thirteenth volume of the student-run journal of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.This year’s call for papers established the...

Graphic with text "Michigan Journal of Public Affairs in Solidarity with Black lives"

State & Hill

Amplifying policy issues that impact black lives: Menna Demessie (PhD ’10) at CBCF

Apr 29, 2016

As vice president of research and analysis for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF), Menna Demessie (PhD ’10) sifts through data and information on racial disparities and uses her findings to help educate policymakers and their...

In Brookings, Dynarski investigates effects of slashing student loan interest rates

Apr 14, 2016

Susan Dynarski considers the effects of student loan interest rates in “What does cutting rates on student loans do?” The piece appears in Evidence Speaks, a weekly publication of the Brookings Institution's Center on Children and Families. Dynarski...

News

Ford students engage with leaders of color at Harvard's annual Black Policy Conference

Apr 13, 2016

On April 8, a group of Ford School master’s students traveled to Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government to participate in the 12th annual Black Policy Conference, a student-led conference that brings together academics and practitioners to...

Davis and independent Flint panel cite environmental injustice, EMF system, and other key factors

Apr 11, 2016

An independent panel convened by Gov. Rick Snyder in the wake of the Flint water crisis concluded that government disregard for low-income residents and people of color contributed to the delay in action, according to a recent New York Times...

News

The Atlantic interviews Luke Shaefer for story on the false promise of welfare reform

Apr 4, 2016

In a recent Atlantic article, “The End of Welfare as We Know It,” author Alana Semuels explores the state of the welfare system today, focusing in on Arkansas in the years following President Bill Clinton’s 1996 reforms. Semuels argues that the...

C.S. Mott Foundation grant allows Mills and colleagues to research wind energy in MI

Mar 18, 2016

Last month, CLOSUP Program Manager Sarah Mills received an $80,000 award from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to investigate community attitudes about wind energy in Michigan. Mills will work in collaboration with CLOSUP Director Barry Rabe...

News

Ford students take on income inequality at annual Ford + U. of Toronto case competition

Mar 16, 2016

On Friday March 11, 23 Ford School master’s students traveled to the University of Toronto’s School of Public Policy and Governance for "Ford + SPPG," our annual student-led policy conference and case competition. Each year, the event brings...

Stevenson testifies on new pay data policy before U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Mar 16, 2016

On March 16, Betsey Stevenson testified before a hearing of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on a proposed change to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act that would require larger employers to submit pay data. The data,...

Brenda Duverce (MPP ’16) named one of 30 Top Thinkers Under 30 by Pacific Standard

Mar 14, 2016

Last week, Pacific Standard magazine profiled Ford School master’s student Brenda Duverce (MPP ’16) as one of the "30 Top Thinkers Under 30."The profile highlights her path to graduate school and her experiences as a Fulbright scholar, Department of...

Megan Blair (MPP '16) wins Innovation in Action competition for early learning social enterprise

Mar 14, 2016

On March 9, Megan Blair (MPP ’16) led team "Formativity" to a victory in the U-M School of Public Health’s annual Innovation in Action competition.Innovation in Action is a five-month competition that gives multidisciplinary teams an opportunity to...

News

Ford School students envision Tiger Stadium redevelopment, win Social Impact Challenge

Mar 10, 2016

This February, a number of Ford School students participated in the 2016 Social Impact Challenge, which asked teams to envision redevelopment solutions for the former stadium of the Detroit Tigers, which will be converted into a youth sports center...

News

In Brookings, Barry Rabe sees policy potential in renewed U.S.-Canada relations

Mar 10, 2016

Barry Rabe’s latest blog for Brookings explores how President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau might leverage their new relationship to make progress on climate, water and infrastructure. “Methane may offer some real opportunity for...

News

Michigan Radio interviews Brian Jacob about latest research on MI high school curriculum reforms

Mar 9, 2016

Last week, Brian Jacob, Susan Dynarski and two colleagues from Michigan State released a new paper, "Are expectations alone enough? Estimating the effect of a mandatory college-prep curriculum in Michigan." The paper examines the effect of the 2006...

Ford School panel discussion focuses on Cincinnati's innovative model of police reform

Feb 24, 2016

On Monday, February 22, the Ford School hosted “21st Century Policing: Lessons from Cincinnati,” as part of the University of Michigan's 2016 Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium. The event brought together a roundtable of community leaders to talk...

News

Farley proposes long-term fix to MI’s flawed emergency management system

Feb 8, 2016

In a February 5 guest column for Bridge Magazine, a publication of The Center for Michigan, Reynolds Farley discusses Michigan’s controversial emergency management system and proposes solutions to help underfunded localities. Farley's...

Photo of Ren Farley speaking into a megaphone as he leads a tour of U-M students in downtown Detroit

NYT profiles bipartisan plan to reduce poverty, professor emeritus Sheldon Danziger

Feb 3, 2016

The New York Times this week highlights a recent development in the fight against poverty that brought together thinkers from both sides of the aisle, including professor emeritus Sheldon Danziger. "Finding Common Political Ground on Poverty," the...

Rohde argues for a values-based approach to America's foreign policy strategy

Feb 2, 2016

In the first year of a new administration, American Presidents face particularly tough challenges. The First Year Project is multi-year project, coordinated by the University of Virginia Miller Center of Public Affairs. The project applies history...

News

Shaefer promotes job stability as a key solution to poverty in SSIR op-ed

Jan 25, 2016

In "Precarious Work and the Employment-based Safety Net," an op-ed for the Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR), Luke Shaefer argues that our current employment-based welfare system overlooks the fact that the poorest Americans can only secure...

Forbes highlights Dynarski Brookings paper, dispelling student loan default myth

Jan 14, 2016

In a new paper for Brookings, "The Trouble with Student Loans? Low Earnings, Not High Debt," Susan Dynarski debunks the popular notion that more student debt leads to higher student loan default rates.In fact, research shows that default rates are...

HuffPost says Shaefer’s work on extreme domestic poverty inspired $2 billion federal proposal

Jan 13, 2016

The Obama administration has announced plans for a $2 billion initiative to test new approaches to fight poverty in the U.S., citing Luke Shaefer and Kathryn Edin’s recently published book about Americans living on $2 a day.White House officials say...

News

On Michigan Radio, Alford Young Jr. calls for increased faculty diversity

Jan 6, 2016

In a recent interview on Michigan Radio, Alford Young Jr. discusses the lack of faculty diversity in the U.S. with Michigan State professor Django Paris. According to the article, 3.3 percent of University of Michigan faculty members are black,...

Seefeldt questions Massachusetts' welfare and work program in The Atlantic

Dec 15, 2015

A recent Atlantic article, "When the Government Tells Poor People How to Live," profiles A Better Life, an intensive case management program that requires residents of Worcester, Massachusetts’ state-subsidized public housing system to work or...

News

Alum Steve Tobocman of Global Detroit, disrupting urban poverty, one new American at a time

Dec 4, 2015

Steve Tobocman (MPP/JD '97) is the director of Global Detroit, a non-profit that seeks to revitalize Michigan’s economy by making the region more attractive and welcoming to immigrants, international students, businesses, and investors. He speaks...

Seefeldt shares new research on poor single motherhood in The Atlantic

Dec 3, 2015

According to “How Poor Single Moms Survive,” an article by Alana Semuels for The Atlantic, the number of single-parent households in the US has soared since 1960, just as the amount of government assistance available to these largely female-headed...

News

Cezanne Charles, empowering designers and artists to strengthen communities

Nov 19, 2015

How does the creative sector contribute to economic and community development in Michigan? As the director of creative industries at Creative Many, Ford School alum Cézanne Charles (MPA ’15) makes the case using data. Charles leads the...