Ash Center Communiqué Fall 2015

Communiqué The Magazine of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and InnovationFall 2015 Volume 17

Experiencing Innovation

The Ash Center’s Innovation FieldLab is bringing data to the field

Welcome to the 17th issue of the Ash Center’s Communiqué magazine, whichhighlights the important work of those engaged with the center. For example,we recently announced this year's winners of the Innovation in AmericanGovernment Award and our special Roy and Lila Ash Innovation Award forPublic Engagement in Government, offered in commemoration of the center's10th anniversary (p. 16). And, this past spring, Mayor Joe Curtatone of Somer-ville, Massachusetts, and HKS Lecturer Jorrit de Jong, launched one of HarvardKennedy School’s most ambitious experiential learning programs to date: theInnovation Field Lab (p. 8). This course matched students with Massachusettscities that were looking for better tools to tackle the scourge of problem prop-erties. We also welcomed many new faculty and fellows to the center this fall,including Wael Ghonim who has been internationally recognized for helping tospur protest in Egypt using social media (p. 5). Finally, our #Tech4DemocracyShowcase and Challenge, offered as part of HUBweek, brought together stu-dents, civic tech startups, entrepreneurs, and others with a connection togreater Boston to present their idea for a new app, web platform, policy, or pro-gram that leverages technology to improve the quality of democratic gover-nance (p. 27).

There is much more to be found in this issue and I hope you will enjoy readingabout the efforts of our students, alumni, and scholars as they work to make adifference. As always, you can find more information about the work of the AshCenter on our website at ash.harvard.edu.

Tony SaichDirector, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and InnovationDaewoo Professor of International AffairsHarvard Kennedy School

Letter from the DirectorCommuniquéFall 2015, Volume 17

Ash Center for Democratic Governanceand InnovationHarvard Kennedy School 79 John F. Kennedy StreetCambridge, Massachusetts 02138

617-495-0557www.ash.harvard.edu

DirectorTony Saich

Associate Director for CommunicationsDaniel Harsha

EditorJessica Engelman

Designforminform

PhotographyDavid GilesBarrtosz Hadyniak, iStockGraham HancockDan HarshaArn HowittHoang Tran Minh, iStockMaisie O’BrienZhang QingyuanMartha StewartAhsen Utku

www.ash.harvard.edu

IN THE NEWS

4Q+A with Tony Saich

5Ash Center News and Announcements

15The Changing Role of Philanthropy in China

16Nine Finalists Vie for Ash Center’s Prestigious Innovations in American Government Awards

18Ash Center’s 10th AnniversarySeries Provides Direction for the Next Ten Years

20Update on Southeast Asia

25Event Snapshots

In this Issue

RESEARCH BRIEF

7Fellows FocusAsh Fellow Georgia HollisterIsman Is Rebuilding Public Engagement with theDemocratic Process

24Fellows FocusMeet Our New Fellows

IN THE FIELD

14Alumni in the FieldCharles Data Alemi

22Student FocusAsh Center Supports Experiential and Research Activities for Students

4 5 8 14

15

16

18 23

25

20

FEATURES

8Experiencing InnovationThe Ash Center's InnovationField Lab is developing data-driven strategies to assistcities in improving social conditions

23Student FocusStudent Research Explores OpenGovernment Reform in Tunisia

4 Communiqué Fall 2015 www.ash.harvard.edu

IN THE NEWS

How badly will China be affected by the reversal ofits demography later this century? Funding itssocial security and health-care system will becomemore difficult with a majority of senior citizens andfewer young workers to support them.This is one of the biggest challenges for China. Itwill be the first country to grow old before it growsrich and we really do not know what this means.China is already officially an old country in terms ofdemographics. Certainly, it will have a major impacton employment with a smaller working populationcarrying a heavy burden. It will produce in China thefamiliar guns versus butter debates that we haveseen in other countries. China's demographic divi-dend is passing its peak and this is an advantagethat the US will continue to enjoy.

China faces severe governance issues related tocorruption and environmental contamination atthe same time as its growth is slowing. Whatachievable policies would you recommend toPresident Xi?The campaign against corruption has been popularbut unless it is institutionalized in the next phase andthe system opens up to external pressure and obser-vance, the fear is that corruption levels will rise again.The main thing for President Xi to focus on is toensure that investment gets to where it can be mosteffective. This means more funding for the privatesector, which is developing rapidly, and providingsignificant returns—and less to those state-ownedenterprises that eat up capital ineffectively.

Is China poised to become a plutocracy?This is difficult to answer. In theory a dominant sin-gle party should be able to adopt policies thatcould be in the national interest rather than those ofthe wealthy elite. Therein, no doubt that there arevery strong vested interest groups that have bene-fited from reforms and are frustrating new reforms.However, the political elite still enjoys some insula-tion. The real problem, I think, is at the local levelwhere economic and political elites are much moreclosely entwined and are liable to frustrate reforms.

If you were to attribute three things to China's riseto the second largest global economy, what wouldthey be?First and foremost abandoning an ineffective ver-sion of the Soviet model and moving to practicesthat have worked well elsewhere in East Asia—export-led growth and state-directed investment,etc. Improving incentives for individuals and enter-prises. Opening up to foreign investment, not onlybringing in foreign capital but also foreign know-how. At the same time allowing large numbers of

people to go abroad for training and bring backideas that could be used in China.

What is the single greatest threat to Xi Jinping andhis reform process?That the economic reforms are frustrated by vestedinterest groups. Although the Party has tried todevelop other forms of legitimacy, it is still depend-ent on improving living standards and growing theeconomy. In the 1980s it was easy to see who wouldgain by the reforms and where support would comefrom. Similarly, in the 1990s, when Deng Xiaopinglaunched the economy free-for-all, it was clear tosee who would benefit: party and military elites.Those who will benefit from Xi's reforms have lesspower within the system and are confronted by astrong block of vested interests in the state-ownedindustry and banks and local officials who havebenefitted from the close relationship to politicalpower. This may leave the reform program lackingmomentum and stuck with some of the downsidesof planning and the market. At a certain point intime, Xi will need the local elites to help him pushthrough his reform program and here the anti-cor-ruption program comes into play. Many local offi-cials are sitting waiting to see how far this will goand he may need to lighten up to get them onboard with the reform thrust.

How satisfied are average Chinese citizens with XiJinping's leadership?It seems that on the whole they are pretty satisfied.Our surveys show high levels of satisfaction withthe Central government but they decline as govern-ment gets closer to the people. This might indicatethat people see problems in the system as localaberrations rather than ill intent from the top. Withrespect to corruption, our previous surveys haveshown this as the government line of work wherecitizens are least satisfied but last year opinion hasimproved and now they are least satisfied with landmanagement. However, they still see many localofficials as corrupt and harbor doubts aboutwhether the campaign can continue effectively. In asurvey last year by the Horizon Group and a Japan-ese company, President Xi emerged as the mostpopular national leader globally. On the whole, citi-zens seem satisfied but of course they have fewchannels through which they can express their dis-satisfaction. In fact, the Chinese Communist Partyhas been successful in instilling the notion that crit-icism of the Party is unpatriotic and that Party andnation are synonymous.

Questions and responses have been edited for clari-ty and length.

Q+A with Tony Saich

Ash Center Director Tony Saich,

Daewoo Professor of International

Affairs, recently sat down for a

question and answer session

on Parlio.com, a new online platform

dedicated to fostering curious

and civil discourse founded by Ash

Center senior fellow Wael Ghonim

C

www.parlio.com

www.ash.harvard.edu

5www.ash.harvard.edu Fall 2015 Communiqué

IN THE NEWS

al affairs, diplomacy, and strategy. Professor Westadwon the Bancroft Prize for The Global Cold War:Third World Interventions and the Making of OurTimes, which has been translated into 15 languages.

Ash Center Faculty Appointments

The Ash Center is pleased towelcome Dara Kay Cohen,Assistant Professor of PublicPolicy, to the center. Herresearch and teaching inter-ests span the field of interna-tional relations, includinginternational security, civil war and the dynamics ofviolence, and gender and conflict. Her forthcomingbook, Rape During Civil War (Cornell UniversityPress, 2016), examines the variation in the use ofrape during recent civil conflicts; the research forthe book draws on extensive fieldwork in SierraLeone, Timor-Leste, and El Salvador.

The Ash Center is pleased to welcome Cande-laria Garay, Associate Professor of Public Policy, asa new faculty affiliate in resi-dence at the center. Garay’sresearch focuses on socialpolicy, collective action, andparty politics in Latin Ameri-ca. Her book Social PolicyExpansion in Latin America(forthcoming from Cambridge University Press)characterizes and explains the recent expansion ofand cross-country variation in social policy pro-grams (income transfers, pensions, and health-careservices) to populations historically excluded fromsocial protection in Latin America.

The Ash Center is pleased to welcome RyanSheely, Associate Professor of Public Policy, as afaculty affiliate in residenceat the center. His currentresearch focuses on publicgoods provision and statecapacity in sub-SaharanAfrica. He has conductedrandomized evaluations andextensive archival and ethnographic fieldwork inKenya, and has ongoing projects in Kenya and Sier-ra Leone. Sheely is also the cofounder of the SAFIProject, a nonprofit organization that coordinateswaste management and recycling activities innorthern Kenya.

Odd Arne Westad, the S.T. Lee Professor of U.S.-Asia Relations at HarvardUniversity, joined the AshCenter as a senior faculty inresidence in September. He isan expert on contemporaryinternational history and theeastern Asian region. Beforecoming to Harvard, Westad was School Professor ofInternational History at the London School of Eco-nomics and Political Science (LSE). While at LSE, hedirected LSE IDEAS, a leading center for internation-

Dr. Muhamad Chatib Basrirecently joined the Ash Cen-ter as a Senior Fellow. Basri isIndonesia's former Ministerof Finance and previouslyserved as chair of the Invest-ment Coordinating Board ofthe Republic of Indonesia and vice chair of theNational Economic Committee of the President ofthe Republic of Indonesia. Basri also teaches in theDepartment of Economics at the University ofIndonesia. His research focuses on Indonesia's pastmacroeconomic responses to monetary easing bythe United States and potential future Indonesianresponses to anticipated interest rate increases bythe United States.

Muhamad Chatib Basri Appointed Senior Fellow

Senior Fellow Wael Ghonim

This summer, the Ash Center appointed Egyptiantechnologist and Internet activist Wael Ghonim as asenior fellow. Ghonim recent-ly cofounded Parlio, a newonline community focused on elevating thoughtful dis-course. Ghonim’s researchduring his fellowship willfocus on how technology canbe harnessed to create space for civic-minded citi-zens, experts, opinion-makers, academics, and offi-cials to engage each other in discussions of themost pressing social, political, and economic issuesfacing our communities. Prior to founding Parlio,Ghonim was an Entrepreneur in Residence atGoogle Ventures. In 2011, Ghonim was nominatedfor the Nobel Peace Prize, named one of Time mag-

The Transparency for Development (T4D) project isa five-year, multi-country study on the impact ofcommunity-led transparency and accountability ini-tiatives. Using a mixed-methods research design, theproject is currently looking at the use of communityscorecards to improve maternal and neonatal health(MNH) in Indonesia and Tanzania. A communityscorecard is a community-based monitoring tooltypically used to provide information on local publicservices; in the case of the T4D project, the score-card includes information on the condition of localpublic health facilities and the utilization of MNHservices within the community. The information isused to stimulate discussion, and through a series offacilitated meetings, generate and enact an actionplan to improve MNH outcomes in the community.

The first two years of the project were devotedto two major activities: 1) fleshing out a detailedresearch design, which blends a randomized con-trolled trial with ethnographic case studies; and 2)working with local civil society organizations, PAT-TIRO in Indonesia and the Clinton Health AccessInitiative in Tanzania, to design and pilot the com-munity scorecard intervention. Now in its third year,T4D has completed baseline data collection in a

Health Care Project in Indonesia and Tanzania EntersThird Year

T4D Program Manager Jessica Creighton with

team members Courtney Tolmie and Jenna

Juwono, and PATTIRO staff at the intervention

training in Indonesia

azine's 100 most influential people, and received theJFK Profile in Courage Award for his use of socialmedia to spur protest in Egypt during PresidentHosni Mubarak's reign.

total of 400 villages across the two countries. InIndonesia, ethnographers have been placed in sixvillages, and training for the intervention itself isunderway. In Tanzania, intervention training isexpected to begin in the coming months. The T4Dproject is led by Archon Fung, acting dean of theKennedy School and Ford Foundation Professor ofDemocracy and Citizenship.

www.ash.harvard.edu


IN THE NEWS

ABOVE

Kesennuma City seawall reconstruction

site, Japan

BELOW

Vatsala Temple, originally built in 1696

in Bhaktapur, Nepal, next to the

rubble remaining after its collapse in

the earthquake

and surveillance policies in Western democraciesduring and since the Cold War era.” The second is“an article on the comparative history of the deathpenalty in the United States and Western Europeand the prospects for abolition in the UnitedStates.” Temkin’s final project is “a study of the con-temporary and historical relationship between thecivil rights movement in the United States and theglobal human rights movement, particularly in lightof African American struggles for justice and rela-tions with American state institutions.”

Tarek Masoud is Sultan of Oman Associate Pro-fessor of International Relations whose researchfocuses on the role of religion in the Muslim world's

political development. TheAsh Center grant allowedMasoud to work on a numberof projects this summer,including a proposal for anew book on identity andstatehood in the Arab world.

The basic question the book will answer, Masoudwrites, “is why have political cleavages in the Arabworld not progressed beyond the tribal, sectarian,and religious? The answer, I believe, lies in under-standing the twin processes of modernization andstate-building, both of which are supposed toshape citizen identities beyond the parochial andascriptive, but for which we see widespread varia-tion in the Arabic-speaking countries.” Anotherproject is the completion of a paper examiningauthoritarian successor parties in Egypt andTunisia. The final project is a coauthored paper onthe determinants and effects of electoral institu-tions in post-Arab Spring elections. By tracing howthe (new) systems were chosen in each Arab Springcase, the paper develops a typology of how elec-tion system choices are made.

Affiliates from the Program on Crisis Leadership(PCL) traveled to Japan and Nepal this summer toconduct research and provide technical assistanceon disaster response and recovery. In Japan, AshCenter Executive Director and PCL Faculty Co-Director Arnold Howitt, PCL Associate DirectorDavid Giles, and PCL Doctoral Fellow Hiromi Akiya-ma interviewed national and prefectural govern-ment officials, town and city mayors, and firstresponder leaders working in the areas affected bythe 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent dis-aster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.This was PCL’s third trip to Japan following theearthquake, and this year’s research focused on thecountry’s decontamination and rebuilding efforts.

Program on Crisis Leadership Update

In Nepal, a team of PCL researchers led byHowitt was invited by Nepalese civic leaders andthe Asia Foundation to meet with Nepalese officialsfrom the national and district governments, army,and local NGOs regarding the April 2015 earth-quake that resulted in over 9,000 deaths. Followingtheir interviews, PCL researchers presented a seriesof recommendations to policymakers and govern-ment officials on ways Nepal can better respond toand recover from large-scale disasters. “Although itwas a fast visit, we were able to get a strong senseof what happened after the earthquake,” saidHowitt. “Nepal is at a turning point because of itsbrand new constitution, and improving earthquakemitigation and emergency response can be animportant way of building capacity and legitimacyin its new federal structure.”

This spring, the Ash Center announced a new Chal-lenges to Democracy grant program providingfinancial support to Kennedy School professors atthe associate level. The purpose of the program wasto support these professors at a critical juncture intheir career while building a body of research thatcontributes to the Ash Center’s strategic priorities.

To support research that strengthens democraticpractices and enhances institutional innovation, thefunding sought research projects that would helpanswer questions such as what causes democraticshifts, for example, and sustains them in countriesthat are new to democracy or have historical factorsthat pose challenges to democracy. What laws, pol-itics, and practices can achieve democracy that ismore true to its core ideals? What are the most cre-ative and promising local and regional innovationsthat solve urgent public problems?

The research grants, up to $45,000 each, weredesigned to be flexible enough to support a varietyof research-related expenses. The center awardedgrants to Candelaria Garay, Moshik Temkin, andTarek Masoud.

Candelaria Garay is an Associate Professor ofPublic Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Herresearch focuses on social policy, collective action,and party politics in LatinAmerica. Her successful pro-posal for a course buyout will allow her to advance tworesearch and manuscriptwriting projects addressingcritical issues concerningdemocratic politics, policymaking, redistribution,and welfare in Latin America. One of those projects,Garay explains, will focus on “characterizing andexplaining the origins, alliances, policy-relatedstrategies and fate of unexpected cross-sectoralcoalitions of powerful social movements and laborunions that emerged as relevant national actors insome countries of Latin America in the new democ-racies established in the 1980s and 1990s."

Moshik Temkin is an Associate Professor ofPublic Policy at the School who specializes inAmerican international history, with an emphasis ontransatlantic politics and pol-icy. Temkin’s grant will beused to advance three ongo-ing projects that examinepolicymaking at the nexus ofthe relationship between cit-izen and democratic states.The first, Temkin states, is “a book-length project ontransnational political activism and travel control

New Round of Challenges to Democracy Faculty Research Grants

www.ash.harvard.edu


RESEARCH BRIEF

For Georgia Hollister Isman (MPA/MC ’15), strength-ening public participation in the political processhas been a lifelong passion. The recipient of the Royand Lila Ash Fellowship for the 2014–15 academicyear, Hollister Isman came to the Harvard KennedySchool with a decade of experience in electoral pol-itics and state and local advocacy. “From the time Iwas a little kid, I always wanted to figure out a wayto make the world a better place,” she recalled.

With a newly minted bachelor's degree fromOhio’s Oberlin College, Hollister Isman set out tomake her mark in progressive politics in her homestate of Massachusetts. “When I was in college, Iworked on a number of political campaigns, and thatwas a way that made sense to me to foster change.Because I started in local races, I could see tangibleresults for what I was doing,” said Hollister Isman.

At the age of 22, she was managing her firstpolitical campaign for Pat Jehlen, who was at thetime a Massachusetts state representative fromSomerville running for a newly-vacant state senate

seat. Jehlen won in a heated four-way Democraticprimary and has been representing a large swath ofMiddlesex County in the state senate since. HollisterIsman, reflecting on Jehlen’s successful state senaterun, said, “I learned a great deal of what I know fromthat campaign, and met a lot of people who wereactive in progressive politics in Massachusetts.”

A job coordinating volunteers in New Hamp-shire during the 2004 presidential campaign con-vinced Hollister Isman that there was a need for acollaborative progressive political organization inMassachusetts. Soon, Mass Alliance, a coalition of25 advocacy and progressive political organizationswas founded and Hollister Isman was hired as itsfirst director. “We had no staff and a battered officewith three secondhand desks from the 1970s. Thereweren’t even phone lines.”

From these inauspicious beginnings, MassAlliance grew to become a force in the world of Massachusetts progressive politics. “When we start-ed off, people thought we were naive, but we built

our reputation around winning elections with peo-ple the establishment said could never win.” It wasthis experience building political coalitions at MassAlliance that ultimately led Hollister Isman to theKennedy School. “I was good at explaining toughpolitical issues to the public, but I wanted to learnmore about how people think about public policyand make decisions based on that knowledge.”

Looking back on her experience in Cambridge,Hollister Isman reflects that her time at the School“was a really great year for me. Everybody is in thesame boat and most students have similar profes-sional accomplishments. It’s thinking about wherewe can most contribute, not just advancing ourcareers. It’s amazing to see people do reallyremarkable things all over the world.”

At the Kennedy School, Hollister Isman was anactive participant in the intellectual life of the AshCenter and took a number of courses taught by fac-ulty affiliated with the center. Through Lecturer Jor-rit de Jong’s Innovation Field Lab, she worked withthe city of Chelsea to develop an analytical tool tohelp the city better predict the emergence of dis-tressed properties. “It was really wonderful to do aproject in Chelsea and think about how practicallyyou can build something that a city will actuallyuse. It’s not a one size fits all solution that will fit allcities; it has to actually make sense for them.”

Hollister Isman also had much praise for Assis-tant Professor Quinton Mayne’s Urban Politics ofPlanning and Development Course, observing thatMayne "has this way of thinking about politicswhich I appreciate. It is unsurprisingly very politi-cal—why did this project get built? What are thepolitics that allows something to happen in a city?It changes the way you view the cityscape, espe-cially in a city like Boston.”

With her MPA in hand, Hollister Isman finds her-self again back in Ohio, this time helping to run aprogram in Akron called Text, Talk, Vote, which aimsto engage young people in civic discussions andvoting through text messages. The project, led bythe National Institute for Civil Discourse (NICD) andfunded by the Knight Foundation, uses texting tohelp young voters highlight their voices and con-cerns during the run up to the city’s mayoral elec-tion. She first met NICD’s executive director, CarolynLukensmeyer, during a conference at the KennedySchool featuring the finalist presentations for the2015 Innovations in American Government Award.

For Hollister Isman, this latest project is anotherstep in a career devoted to strengthening the pub-lic’s engagement with the democratic process.Though her work at Text, Talk, Vote will concludeafter the city’s November mayoral election, HollisterIsman is a firm believer in using technology to cre-ate new points to entry for public debate. “By build-ing new avenues for young people to engage inways that are comfortable for them, we can have abig impact on their participation in the democraticprocess and in government.”

Ash Fellow Georgia Hollister Isman Is Rebuilding Public Engagement with the Democratic Process

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www.ash.harvard.edu

Experiencing InnovationThe Ash Center's Innovation Field Lab is developingdata-driven strategies to assist cities in improvingsocial conditions


Myrtle Avenue is a ragged, weather-beaten home whose saggingmansard roof and dilapidated carriage house conceal mosttraces of its once-great Second Empire architectural splendor.Jason Dumaine, a health inspector with the city of Fitchburg,

Massachusetts, pulls up to the curb and gazes out towards the home’s brokenwindows, peeling paint, and unkempt yard. The building, once a symbol ofFitchburg’s industrial-era wealth is now a vacant eyesore and one of severalhundred such residential, commercial, and industrial “problem properties” inthe city—mostly vacant and magnets for crime and drug use.

Dumaine tells a neighbor who notices him examining the exterior of thehome that addicts have used the home as a shooting gallery and stripped thebuilding of nearly everything of value including wiring, plumbing, and other fix-tures. The neighbor is visibly relieved when Dumaine tells her that the home ison a list for demolition. But, until the city can find the approximately $40,000need to tear down the building, it will continue to loom over Myrtle Avenue—atumor slowing investment in the neighborhood.

Fitchburg, a city of nearly 40,000 people on the banks of the North NashuaRiver, is a little over an hour’s drive northwest of Boston and is typical of manysmall- to medium-sized formerly industrial cities throughout New England. Itsmills, which provided steady employment to generations of residents, have large-ly shuttered, hollowing out the city’s job base. The housing and financial crisis ofthe late 2000s is still felt acutely here with many homeowners underwater ontheir mortgages and scores of homes caught in the cycle of foreclosure.

These economic scars can be seen in buildings like 31 Myrtle Avenue that area blight on their neighborhoods. But, Fitchburg and other former industrialcities that are buffeted by harsh economic winds aren’t standing idly by as theirhousing stock crumbles and their neighborhoods destabilize. They know that toprevent homes from falling victim to abandonment, City Hall has to embracenew and innovative solutions to combating problem properties.

Experiencing the Field

Properties like 31 Myrtle Avenue “are very visible in the urban environment: dilap-idated buildings, abandoned properties, vacant lots,” said Jorrit de Jong, HKSLecturer in Public Policy and Academic Director of the Ash Center’s Innovation in

Government Program. De Jong and his colleague, Somerville, Massachusetts,Mayor Joe Curtatone who holds an appointment as senior fellow at the Ash Cen-ter, knew that there were a number of cities like Fitchburg in eastern Massachu-setts, collectively known as GatewayCities, who hungered for better toolsto tackle the scourge of problem prop-erties. Their collaboration helped plantthe seeds for what would become oneof the Kennedy School’s most ambi-tious experiential learning programs todate: the Innovation Field Lab.

Experiential learning has taken ona greater emphasis at the KennedySchool and Harvard as a whole. Fromthe university-wide Harvard Initiativefor Learning and Teaching to individ-ual projects conceived and funded byschools and research centers, Harvardis redoubling its efforts to promotehands-on learning for its students.“We’ve taken the university’s messageon experiential learning to heart,” reflected Tony Saich, Ash Center director andDaewoo Professor of International Affairs. “Ash, through our work with MayorCurtatone and the Field Lab, believes deeply that students must have theopportunity to understand how government works by learning firsthand, boththrough failure and success, what it takes to help our cities innovate.”

The Ash Center, because of its decade’s long commitment to documentingand researching government innovation, was well placed to lead this new expe-

31

TOP

Jorrit de Jong introduces

student presenters to Innovation

Field Lab partner cities

BOTTOM

Fitchburg Mayor Lisa Wong,

Lawrence Mayor Daniel Rivera,

and Chelsea Acting City

Manager Ned Keefe listen as

students deliver their presentations

during the culmination of the

Innovation Field Lab course

“Ash, through our work withMayor Curtatone and theField Lab, believes deeplythat students must havethe opportunity to under-stand how governmentworks by learning first-hand, both through failureand success, what it takesto help our cities innovate.”Tony Saich

www.ash.harvard.edu


riential learning effort. “We were able to build a curriculum for the Field Labaround much of the Center’s work on data analytics and performance manage-ment,” said de Jong. “We were also incredibly fortunate to draw on the supportof the Taubman Center and Rappaport Institute to help provide funding formany of our students who worked in the field over the summer.”

Curtatone and de Jong, along withHKS Assistant Professor QuintonMayne, were determined to build anambitious project focused on problemproperties as an outgrowth of the AshCenter’s wider mission: connectingresearch on public-sector innovationwith curriculum development andengagement in the field. “The FieldLab is really about making govern-ment more collaborative, more data-driven, and more results-oriented,”

said de Jong. “Problem properties is an ideal topic to focus on because every-one understands their effect on neighborhoods, but the class is more than justlearning about how to ameliorate or prevent this one specific problem. It’sabout learning how we can have transformative impact on city government asa whole.”

Curtatone, as both a mayor and HKS alum (MPA ’11), was able to bring hisunique perspective to the Field Lab and ensure that both students and citieswould get the most out of this new partnership. “Mayor Curtatone was the idealpartner for this ambitious endeavor,” observed Saich. “As an HKS alum himself,he knows the powerful human capital our students and faculty represent, and has

FITCHBURG

TOP LEFT

A distressed property in Fitchburg,

Massachusetts

TOP RIGHT

Jason Dumaine, a Fitchburg health

inspector, makes his rounds through

the city’s neighborhoods

LEFT

Uttara Gharpure, an HKS Field Lab

fellow, demonstrates a Google-based

data collection system to Mary Jo

Bohart and Liz Murphy with the city

of Fitchburg

an impressive track record of his own as an innovator in Somerville,” he added.“Somerville is lucky because we are so close to Harvard, but for government

officials in farther-flung municipalities, it is not often feasible to partner withuniversities,” said Curtatone, who has welcomed legions of HKS faculty and stu-dents through the doors of Somerville city hall to help his administration imple-ment such innovative governing strategies as performance management andactivity-based budgeting. Curtatone, widely recognized as one of Massachu-setts' leading government innovators for his use of data-driven management tostabilize city finances and strengthen the quality of municipal services inSomerville, added, “magic happenswhen you pair the creativity and ener-gy of students with the experience oflocal leaders. The Field Lab did that in away that has never been done before.”

Curtatone was critical in identify-ing potential partner cities for theField Lab. “I found out about the AshCenter partnership by getting aphone call from my fellow mayor, JoeCurtatone,” recalled Fitchburg MayorLisa Wong, whose city was one ofthree inaugural Field Lab partner cities along with Chelsea and Lawrence.“There’s nothing like getting a phone call from a fellow mayor because we arealways trying to steal good ideas from each other,” said Wong.

Cities were keen to team up with the Ash Center because the Field Lab wasenvisioned as more than a short-term internship or consultation project. “TheAsh Center provided us with two students, and that was really important,” saidJim Barnes, the director of Community Development for the city of Lawrence.While Lawrence has and continues to work with a variety of student groupsfrom other institutions of higher education, what set the Field Lab apartaccording to Barnes was the Ash Center’s continued commitment to workingwith the city. “We’ve worked with student groups in the past, and the students

“Magic happens when youpair the creativity and en-ergy of students with theexperience of local leaders.The Field Lab did that in away that has never beendone before.” Joe Curtatone

“Fostering innovation incities is more than justbuilding an app or someother tool — it’s aboutbuilding a culture that em-braces innovation from thetop down.” Jorrit de Jong

www.ash.harvard.edu


have always been good in presenting ideas, but there have always been chal-lenges with follow-through.”

At its heart, the Field Lab presented a unique opportunity for the roughly30 HKS students enrolled in de Jong’s class to identify challenges relating todata capacity, design, and implementation. “Each student was tasked withthinking intentionally about how those cities could better bring data together,collaborate, and then monitor their progress around problem properties,” saidSarah Allin, a Field Lab summer fellow and Winston-Salem, North Carolina,native who earned her MPP this year from HKS.

The challenge that many students faced was that Fitchburg, Chelsea, andLawrence all capture data related to problem properties, but that they did so withvarying degrees of technological sophistication. “What I’ve particularly seen in alot of cities is they all track data on some level, but they’re on spreadsheets acrossdepartments—and those spreadsheets don’t necessarily talk to one another,” saidAllin, who worked with de Jong in all three Field Lab partner cities.

In addition to understanding how cities harnessed data on problem proper-ties, much of which comes from reports from different municipal agencies suchas health or building inspections, 911 calls, or tax filings, students also had tonavigate what Allin calls the “human aspects of innovation.” Getting thespreadsheets to talk to one another can be a far less daunting task than con-vincing city employees to use the spreadsheet or tablet in the first place.

“Fostering innovation in cities is more than just building an app or someother tool—it’s about building a culture that embraces innovation from the topdown,” said de Jong. “If the mayor or department head isn’t interested in thedata, then the inspector examining properties in the field won’t be inclined toadopt new practices. That can often be the hardest part.”

Fitchburg

Fitchburg is a long way from Uttara Gharpure’s hometown of Mumbai, India’sbooming commercial capital and home to some of the country’s largest andmost dynamic companies. Gharpure, an HKS MPA/ID ’15, was a private-sector

CHELSEA

TOP

Field Lab fellows Sarah Allin

and Karina Baba work on a

predictive tool for the city of

Chelsea to help pinpoint

problem properties. Chelsea

is the smallest geographic

city in Massachusetts but the

commonwealth’s second-most

dense, which means problem

properties can have an

outsized effect on the city’s

neighborhoods

consultant before arriving at the Kennedy School. “I was really interested inmoving into government work, and this was the perfect opportunity not just tolearn, but also to implement as I was learning.” Gharpure chose to spend hersummer in Fitchburg largely because of Mayor Lisa’s Wong’s energy and will-ingness to embrace new solutions to the challenges of governance in the city.“She spoke about Fitchburg and whatshe’d done there, and it was reallyinspiring,” said Gharpure. “I reallywanted to come here and learn, andsee how they were dealing with theproblems that they had.”

Working with Liz Murphy, Fitch-burg’s director of Housing and Devel-opment, Gharpure helped implementa tool designed by the Field Lab forthe city’s Neighborhood Improvementand Code Enforcement Committee, acoordinating body bringing together different city departments all workingwith problem properties. Students helped build a Google-based collection sys-tem to integrate various data streams collected by city departments rangingfrom Excel spreadsheets to paper forms. “Integrating the different depart-ment’s information has been one of the biggest challenges that we’ve had try-ing to work together. Each of us has different systems, and they were verymuch separate systems,” said Murphy.

Of course, building a tool to better manage and integrate data from citydepartments is only half the challenge; Gharpure had to convince her col-leagues to actually use it. “Our work wasn’t just technical, it was political. It wasadaptive. We had to do a lot of work understanding the stakeholders, thinkingabout who we had to convince,” added Gharpure. That political work seems tobe paying off, as inspectors, code enforcers, and others in Fitchburg have

“Our work wasn’t just tech-nical, it was political. It wasadaptive. We had to do a lotof work understanding thestakeholders, thinking aboutwho we had to convince.”Uttara Gharpure

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embraced the new tool and started carrying tablets as well as their time-testedclipboards and pens when they make the rounds through the city’s neighbor-hoods. “The tools that the Harvard students have created have been really suc-cessful, and we’ve been really glad to have them,” said Murphy. “We’ve alreadyseen how the tools can work, and everyone has had a chance to get comfort-able with them now.”

Chelsea

For many Boston residents, Chelsea is simply known as a densely packed com-munity of rooftops viewed from above as they pass over the city while crossingthe Tobin Bridge. At 1.8 square miles, Chelsea may be the commonwealth’ssmallest geographical city, but it is also Massachusetts’ second most dense,with an estimated 35,000 residents and a large and diverse immigrant popula-tion calling the city sandwiched between the Chelsea and Mystic Rivers home.

“All of our neighborhoods are very compact,” said Bob Boulrice, the ChelseaCity Treasurer, who as the city’s tax collector knows that often when a tax pay-ment is missed, it is a sign of a deeper problem with a particular property.“Many of them are fragile. All it would take would be for one property tobecome difficult to impact the entire neighborhood.”

Given its density, improving ways to predict which buildings were at risk ofturning into problem properties was a key goal for Chelsea. “I think the strategyhas been oftentimes reactive because the way the city works is addressing a problem through complaints or through calls to the police department,” said Karina Baba, HKS MPA/ID ’15, who served as a Field Lab summer fellow in Chelsea. Baba, a native of Brazil, previously worked for the World Bank inWashington, DC, and has a strong interest in understanding how technologyand data can tackle public policy problems. “It is a way to see how we canimprove public services and help people feel better about their cities.”

Baba and her Field Lab colleagues set out to design a predictive tool thatwould incorporate different sets of data from the city’s various departments.“The city generates tons of data. The problem is it’s housed in a lot of differentplaces and used by departments that have their own separate jurisdictions,”said Boulrice. Integrating this data, Baba worked to build and refine the tool’s

LAWRENCE

The mortgage crisis had a deep impact on Lawrence,

which has contributed to the rise of problem properties in

the city. While redevelopment projects are transforming

some of the city’s fabled mill buildings, combating

problem properties remains a priority for Lawrence. Under

Mayor Dan Rivera, the city has partnered with the Ash

Center to strengthen Lawrence’s capacity to track and

share data across departments and offices

capacity to “analyze the risk in each property and measure the risk of thatproperty becoming problematic.” Finally, the tool developed by the Field Labfor Chelsea had a performance management component that allows thedepartmental managers to better monitor key indicators that are linked to thecity’s social goals.

“The great thing about the relationship with Harvard is that up to now, wewould deal with problems post-facto,” Boulrice added. “We would deal withthem once they already became a problem: once the police were called forservice, once I was unable to collect taxes, once the Inspectional ServicesDepartment had an inspection problem with it, once the Public Works Depart-ment had a trash problem with it. A problem property became identified onceit was a problem. The tremendous thing about the tool we’ve gotten throughHarvard is that we can anticipate.”

Lawrence

“The mortgage crisis hit Lawrence fast and hard,” said Barnes, the Lawrencecommunity development chief. “One or two of our census tracts had the high-est incidence of foreclosure in the commonwealth of Massachusetts.” ForLawrence, a historic mill city endowed with an impressive number of industri-al-era mill and factory buildings, but also struggling with underinvestment inresidential neighborhoods, problem properties were a priority for the city’smayor, Dan Rivera. “There are kids that are growing up in neighborhoods wherethe buildings have been dilapidated or abandoned for decades, and they grewup around these properties. We thought this is one of the things we have tochange if we really want to change,” said Rivera.

Rivera, Barnes, and their team knew the city’s problems well, but as Riveraput it, “the value we saw [in the Field Lab] is a fresh set of eyes — they’re look-ing at the problem differently.” That fresh set of eyes would include EmilyJones, a Dedham, Massachusetts native and HKS MPP ’15, who previously

www.ash.harvard.edu


served with the Peace Corps in Togo, West Africa. Jones, a Field Lab summerfellow working with Barnes in the community development department under-stood that Lawrence, much like Fitchburg and Chelsea, was hamstrung by over-lapping data collection systems that allowed little cross-departmental

data-sharing and collaboration. “Wehave a lot of city employees who areusing data...but they’re siloed, so youdon’t necessarily have people com-municating that data with each otherall the time,” said Jones.

For Lawrence, prioritizing respons-es to problem properties was a keygoal of its collaboration with the FieldLab. “When you’re dealing with 200–300 properties that are in some levelof physical problem status, you reallyneed to know where to begin,” Barnes

said. The Field Lab team, working to meet this need for the city of Lawrencedeveloped a tool that allowed departments to visualize data spatially. “Look-ing at the properties within a certain neighborhood that are distressed and mapping them, we created a whole database of priority properties,” Joneschimed in.

“It’s exciting to work in Lawrence because people are thinking outside thebox and really trying to not just have this bureaucratic mindset,” added Jones.“Mayor Rivera likes to say ‘don’t think like a bureaucrat.’”

Mapping the Future

“Forget Washington. Forget Boston. Come work at the local level,” imploresLawrence’s Rivera. “It really is where the rubber meets the road. If you’re reallylooking at the biggest place where government impacts people’s lives, it is inthe local level.”

Increasing numbers of Kennedy School students and graduates it seems areheeding Rivera’s exhortations to think local. “So I came to the Kennedy Schoolbecause...I wanted to make meaningful contributions to the communities whereI’ve lived,” said the Field Lab’s Allin. “And so courses like this, that put youdirectly working with city government and city leaders, and trying to figure outhow to bring people together around a common problem or cause, like we havehere with problem properties, are an invaluable tool that teaches you how toget in and get your hands dirty.”

Allin’s reflections on her time as a Field Lab fellow brings smiles to the facesof the Ash Center’s de Jong and Saich. “This was a big experiment for us,” saidSaich. “Ash and our partners through-out the Kennedy School committedtremendous resources to making theField Lab a reality, and I think it hasreally paid off.”

While de Jong and the Field Labteam continue to work with the origi-nal partner cities, sending studentsthroughout the academic year back tocity halls in Fitchburg, Chelsea, andLawrence to monitor the implementa-tion of each city’s respective tool,there are plans to double the numberof both partner cities and KennedySchool students enrolled in the class.The next cohort of Field Lab students will build on last year’s work and deepenthe project’s engagement with the cities by delving deeper into municipaloperations and additional policy innovations, according to de Jong.

“There is a tremendous demand from our students for meaningful experien-tial learning opportunities,” said de Jong. “And there is also a huge appetitefrom cities throughout the region to harness the potential of our students. Ihope we will be able to meet the demands of both.”

INNOVATION FIELD LAB

Jorrit de Jong with students from the

inaugural Field Lab course. Students

developed data tracking and management

tools in partnership with the cities of

Fitchburg, Chelsea, and Lawrence to help

better monitor and combat problem

properties. De Jong plans to expand both

the number of students and partner cities

involved with the Innovation Field Lab

“It’s exciting to work inLawrence because peopleare thinking outside thebox and really trying to notjust have this bureaucraticmindset. Mayor Rivera likesto say ‘don’t think like a bu-reaucrat.’” Emily Jones

“Forget Washington. ForgetBoston. Come work at thelocal level. It really is wherethe rubber meets the road.If you’re really looking atthe biggest place wheregovernment impacts peo-ple’s lives, it is in the locallevel.” Daniel Rivera

C

www.ash.harvard.edu


IN THE FIELD

Alumni in the Field Beyond Oil: Alumnus Works to Increase Tax Revenue in South Sudan

Rising from the ashes of decades of war, SouthSudan gained independence four years ago and hasstruggled mightily to build both a modern govern-ment and economy. While much of the internationalcommunity’s attention has been focused on forginga durable peace to the internecine conflict that hasracked the country since it broke away from theSudanese government, Charles Data Alemi MPA/ID’15 thinks South Sudan’s future can be significantlyshaped by something as mundane as its tax code.

“On the surface tax collection can be dry, but itcan also be interesting,” Alemi said. “It’s all abouthow much you care about the topic and can see theneed for it. Considering the path for South Sudan,taxes are very important.” Despite boasting prof-itable oil fields and some of the richest agriculturalareas in Africa, many South Sudanese live inextreme poverty and the government is strugglingto provide basic services amid the ongoing civil warthat has displaced over 1.5 million people andresulted in the deaths of tens of thousands.

While South Sudan’s economic developmenthas been predicated on its generous reserves of oil,the sale of which accounts for nearly 98 percent ofthe state’s budget, Alemi recognizes that the coun-try’s long-term economic and political stabilitydepend on the growth of diversified revenuestreams. For his second year policy analysis (SYPA),the capstone for his degree, Alemi charted SouthSudan’s tax system and developed recommenda-tions for modernizing its collection processes.

Alemi has dedicated his professional career toimproving conditions in South Sudan—it is where hefeels he can make the most difference and it is wherehis roots lie. He was born in Sudan and fled with hisfamily to Uganda during the Second Sudanese CivilWar. He received a scholarship to attend UnitedWorld College in Norway and went on to study atColby College and the University for Peace. Prior toenrolling at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), he spenteight years working for various NGOs and develop-ment organizations in South Sudan. At HKS, Alemitook courses in taxation, economic theory, and theformation of public institutions in developing coun-tries, which informed his SYPA. He received supportfrom the Ash Center for his field research and JayRosengard served as his SYPA faculty advisor. Alemipresented his findings as part of the center’s weeklystudent speaker series.

Analyzing relevant tax law, previous studies,and available data, Alemi found that although oil isalmost the only product that South Sudan exports,it imports a substantial and growing quantity ofgoods. This provides a sizable source of revenue inthe form of border taxes, which Alemi estimatescould net over $300 million per year. He argues that

the government is capturing less than 30 percent ofthat figure, and he traveled to South Sudan in Jan-uary of 2015 to get a better sense of the problem.

He spoke to relevant stakeholders including cus-toms officers, clearing agents, and import traders inthe capital of Juba and the border post in Nimulewhere the majority of goods enter the countrythrough Uganda. He was not surprised to find thatmany of the departments were understaffed,lacked formal training, and relied on handwrittenledgers instead of digitized reports, but he wasstruck by the poor data collection procedures.

“In terms of reporting on daily activities, manyof the details were missing,” he said. “For example,you couldn’t connect a truck coming in with a cer-tain amount of tomatoes to the value of thosetomatoes to the tax levied on them. The data wassiloed across departments and could not be aggre-gated in any meaningful way. So, what does thesenior official in Juba get to see? Unusable numbersand no room to question or improve the system.”

Based on his field interviews and what he coulddiscern from the available data, Alemi made threepolicy recommendations to the South Sudan Cus-toms Service: (1) strengthen and streamline collec-tion of comprehensive data for policy analysis; (2)simplify the tax system by reducing the number

“It’s not just aboutbringing new resourcesinto the government’s financial basket,” Alemisaid. “It’s about chang-ing the way we thinkabout oil and bringingsome discipline and accountability into theoil sector.”

of taxes and tax rates; and (3) stop awarding tax exemptions to government contractors and seek to limit the scope of exemptions for the UN andother donors.

In the long-term, he hopes increased tax revenuewill replace oil as the primary means of footing thegovernment’s everyday bills. “It’s not just aboutbringing new resources into the government’s finan-cial basket,” Alemi said. “It’s about changing theway we think about oil and bringing some disciplineand accountability into the oil sector.”

Alemi is passionate about the country’s futureand the role of the South Sudanese diaspora in con-tributing to its development. “People have put theirlives on the line for independence, but the struggledoesn’t end there,” he said. “The hard work is now.Proving to the rest of the world that we can actuallybuild a country and move on from conflict will requiremany of us who were fortunate enough to havereceived an education to return to South Sudan.”

“I believe there is a signaling effect that hap-pens when people come back. I’m not saying thatI’m this big shot from Harvard who’s going to fixeverything, but when I return it sends a message tothe people of South Sudan that there is opportunityhere as well—and I truly believe that there is oppor-tunity in South Sudan.” C

www.ash.harvard.edu


IN THE NEWS

The rise of new wealth in China has emerged as oneof the most important and fascinating changes inmodern times, with economic, social, and potential-ly political implications. In response, the Ash Cen-ter's China Programs has launched a multifacetedapproach toward studying and helping to buildcapacity relating to philanthropy in China.

One component of the project's research activi-ties is creating China’s first systematic and rigorousdatabase of the country's top 100 philanthropists.This database, which will live as an interactive web-site, details such metrics as giving levels, recipientorganizations and causes, and from which indus-tries the philanthropists hail. In addition, trackinghow philanthropists are giving their money—whether it is by direct donation or through theirown foundations—may prove important in identify-ing a trend towards the latter as these actors seekto emulate patterns of philanthropic giving in theUnited States. In addition, the database will high-light a novel Generosity Index and Diversity Index,which will serve to identify leading donors in cer-tain areas of giving, as well as the changing weightof the top 100 donors when compared to nationallevels of giving. The website launches later this year,and will cover the year spanning September 2014 toAugust 2015.

Doing much of the research for this project isPeiran Wei, a current fellow at the Ash Center, recentHKS midcareer MPA graduate, and a formerBloomberg journalist who created and maintainedthat publication's list of Chinese billionaires. Underthe guidance of Ash Center Director Tony Saich andEdward Cunningham, director of the center's ChinaPrograms, Wei and colleagues are painstakingly dig-ging through public filings and news reports, as wellas other publicly available resources, to determinewho should be on the China list. Wei notes that theAsh Center's process differs from that of the fewcompetitors who produce lists of Chinese philanthro-pists in aspects of methodology, transparency, andthe creation of indices meant to measure the evolu-tion of Chinese philanthropy in critical respects.

An important question is whether modern Chi-nese philanthropists have much of a roadmap to fol-low as they grow into their roles. Following thevictory of Mao Zedong's Communist forces in 1949,there followed nearly three decades when therewere no private businesses that might producewealthy citizens. Since the reforms of 1978, whenthe markets started to open, private business hasbeen encouraged (with some limitations) and awealthy class has emerged. In this way, the philan-thropists in today's China represent a modern-dayfirst, and often feel that there are no precedents forthem to learn from regarding how to give away theirmoney. According to Wei, philanthropists in China

can be found doing strange things with theirmoney, like giving away cash to people on thestreet, because there simply is no establishedmechanism for proper philanthropic giving. Suchbehaviors have led many Chinese to perceive thatphilanthropists are just trying to show off, or worse,giving money to the government in order to securea more advantageous business relationship.

Saich and Cunningham argue that in fact there isa long tradition of philanthropy in China and that thistradition has the potential to positively inform theactivities of modern-day donors. They designed aworkshop to bring a group of Chinese philanthropiststogether in the US to share analytic frameworks, his-torical analogues, and to see what can be learnedfrom some of America's biggest givers and what canbe gleaned from their own cultural heritage.

The Ash Center partnered with Beijing NormalUniversity’s China Philanthropy Research Instituteto organize this senior workshop in May of this yearfor leading Chinese philanthropists. The objectivesof the workshop, which is planned to occur annu-ally, were to equip the participants with criticalframeworks and skill sets to lead philanthropicorganizations, and then place such concepts in thecontext of emerging trends and models of globalphilanthropy. The Harvard-based week was fol-lowed by an intensive immersion in New York Cityorganized by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors tointeract with members of leading American philan-thropic families, including the Rockefeller familyitself, and to learn more about how best to instill alasting philosophy and ethos of giving through thegenerations of a wealthy family.

The workshop importantly drew on the breadthof Harvard University, including senior members ofHarvard Business School (HBS) and the Faculty ofArts and Sciences (FAS). Prof. Francesca Gino andpostdoctoral fellow Julia Lee (a recent KennedySchool graduate) engaged the participants in alively discussion of the psychology underpinninggiving and taking—how and why people choose togive, others choose to take, and how resulting rela-tionships are transformed. They continued themodule by linking these behavioral science insightson decision-making to issues of leadership, dis-cussing the art of giving and how psychology canbe leveraged to improve efficacy of giving, mes-saging, and fundraising. FAS Prof. Michael Sandeldelivered an address drawing from his globally rec-ognized lecture on justice, laying out his thoughtson “What Money Can’t Buy: Moral Limits of Mar-kets.” In this session, he outlined several scenariosthat tested the audience’s understanding of what ismorally acceptable, and explained how a marketeconomy often transforms into a market society,with related costs and benefits.

The Ash Center's Prof. Mark Moore continuedproviding analytic frameworks by defining and thendiscussing public value. He distinguished betweenvalue, capacity, and support as resources that lead-ers can bring to bear to solve a challenge or trans-form an organization. FAS Prof. Michael Puett placedcurrent Chinese philanthropy in the context of histor-ical precedents of giving in the imperial dynasticperiod, explaining how the roots of philanthropy inChina have long been present, yet have also longremained in tension with the state. The Ash Center'sJorrit de Jong, a Kennedy School lecturer, and AshCenter Director Tony Saich, maintained a three-ses-sion dialogue with the participants to identify anddefine their organization’s mission, to identify astrategy to execute the mission, and finally discussedhow to create an organizational culture around thesuccess of the mission.

The Changing Role of Philanthropy in China

Wei and colleagues are

painstakingly digging through

public filings and news

reports, as well as other

publicly available resources,

to determine who are China’s

top philanthropists

The workshop closed with specific topical dis-cussions on models of philanthropy. Prof. FernandoReimers, of the Graduate School of Education,spoke about educating the next generation of 21st-century leaders, using local and international examples. Senior Research Fellow Paula Johnson ofthe Kennedy School surveyed trends in global phi-lanthropy, drawing on her recent work in LatinAmerica, the US, and Europe. And, finally, Prof. Cun-ningham led an HKS case study discussion onGoogle.org to highlight the challenges of for-profitphilanthropy and the inherent tension betweenapproaches to wealth accumulation and giving. C

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IN THE NEWS

On May 20, nine finalists for the Innovations inAmerican Government Awards presented beforethe Innovations National Selection Committee inthe John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at Harvard KennedySchool. Presenters made final remarks andresponded to questions from the committee,chaired by Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, before the committee deliberated to select the winner ofthe Innovations in American Government Awardand the winner of the Roy and Lila Ash InnovationsAward in Public Engagement, a special award inhonor of the Ash Center's tenth anniversary. Bothwinners will receive $100,000 and each of the final-ists will receive $10,000 for activities to encouragethe replication of their programs.

A year of innovationsFinalists represented innovations from across thecountry in diverse policy areas such as the environ-ment, prison education, Medicaid reform, and col-lege savings accounts. In honor of this year’s specialaward, several of the finalists selected have devisedcreative approaches to engaging citizens in creat-ing public value.

Two of this year’s finalists focused on environ-mental issues. The Massachusetts Clean EnergyPartnership for Wastewater and Drinking WaterFacilities started as an experiment to gauge thepotential for significant energy improvements in thewater sector and resulted in a cross-jurisdictionalpartnership that reduced energy use and green-house gas emissions, generated renewable energy,and produced clean water. The effort has now beensuccessfully implemented in all six New Englandstates as well as 15 other states and US territories.

In New York City, the Vacant Land Cleanup &Revitalization Initiative addresses social inequalityby facilitating cleanup and redevelopment of thou-sands of chronically vacant and abandoned con-taminated properties (brownfields) in historicallydisadvantaged low- and moderate-income areas.With 310 cleanup projects on 560 tax lots completeor in progress, the city has produced over 30 millionsquare-feet of new building space, 4,600 new unitsof affordable housing, hundreds of small business-es, and over 8,000 permanent new jobs, and fos-tered over $8 billion in new private investment and$1 billion in long-term tax revenue.

Two of this year’s finalists hail from San Francis-co. With an unprecedented charter from the SanFrancisco Unified School District, the San FranciscoSheriff’s Department launched the Five Keys Char-ter School—a high school for adult inmates insidethe county’s jails. The school was modeled arounda unique mission, inspired by serving a populationthat had previously been unsuccessful in traditionaleducation environments: run a school that inspiresinmates to become students and sheriff's deputiesto foster learning, and reduce recidivism througheducation. The model has reduced inmate violenceand recidivism, interrupted cycles of intergenera-tional incarceration, and now serves 8,000 studentsannually across California.

San Francisco is also the first city to automati-cally and universally enroll every public schoolkindergartner in their own college savings account,with a $50 seed deposit and incentives to start sav-ing for college early and often through the Kinder-garten to College Program. The program isdesigned to increase college enrollment for stu-dents from low-income families, reduce the exclu-sion of low-income families from financial products

Nine Finalists Vie for Ash Center’s Prestigious Innovations in American Government Awards

www.ash.harvard.edu


IN THE NEWS

that produce wealth, and leverage private invest-ment through matching donations. Over 18,000students have received accounts, and savings par-ticipation rates are four times the national averageof savings in 529 and Coverdell accounts.

The Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT) is a systemictransformation that utilized an intensive stakeholderengagement process to reduce costs in the state ofNew York’s Medicaid program while focusing onimproving quality and implementing reforms. TheMRT changed the political environment by bringingkey stakeholders together to develop a multiyearplan for reform. Over 230 separate initiatives havebeen or are still being implemented. Over its firstfive years, the MRT will save the state and federalgovernments a combined $34 billion.

A focus on participationParticipatory budgeting is a community-level demo-cratic approach to public spending in which local res-idents decide how to allocate public funds.Participatory Budgeting in New York City (PBNYC) isthe largest and the fastest-growing participatorybudgeting process in the United States. PBNYC’scycle lasts eight months, and starts with thousands of people attending hundreds of neighborhoodassemblies to brainstorm spending ideas that couldimprove their communities. Hundreds of residentsbecome “budget delegates” and work with theirneighbors, elected officials, city agencies, and com-munity organizations to create project proposals.Winning proposals are then funded and implementedby the city. This year, more than 40,000 people votedon the projects they want to see in their communities.

In response to the Sandy Hook tragedy, Presi-dent Barack Obama issued a January 2013 directiveto the secretaries of the US Department of Healthand Human Services and the US Department ofEducation to launch a national dialogue on mentalhealth. Creating Community Solutions is a partner-ship of leading organizations in the field of deliberative democracy that convened a nationalparticipation process aimed at helping communitieslearn more about mental health issues; assess howmental health problems affect their communitiesand younger populations; and decide what actionsto take to improve mental health in their families,schools, and communities.

In 2007, the greater Eau Claire, Wisconsin areaconfronted major fiscal and public-service deci-sions about funding for over $400 million in com-munity facilities. Partnering with the National CivicLeague, the city embarked on an inclusive, citizen-centered community visioning and strategic plan-ning process. The process engaged over 500diverse stakeholders as participants in the kickofffor Clear Vision Eau Claire, with a mission “toengage our community for the common good.” Inaddition to the creation of a number of communityfacilities, the effort created a model for civicengagement and public problem-solving that

brings together everyday people and public leadersin collaborative work.

Oregon’s Kitchen Table helps connect electedofficials and the public in Oregon in joint projects atnearly every scale (state, regional, local, and evenindividual) through public consultations, in-personevents, civic crowdfunding, and Oregonian-to-Ore-gonian micro-lending. The program was founded in2010 at Portland State University by a group of non-profit community leaders and former elected officials

in order to create a permanent civic infrastructurethrough which Oregonians can access a suite of dif-ferent opportunities for civic engagement.

In September, the Ash Center announced SanFrancisco’s Five Keys Charter School as the winnerof the Innovations in American Government Awardand Participatory Budgeting in New York City asthe winner of the Roy and Lila Ash InnovationsAward in Public Engagement.

FAR LEFT

The Five Keys Charter School

presents to the National Selection

Committee

ABOVE, TOP LEFT THEN CLOCK-

WISE

Creating Community Solutions

(US Dept. of Health and Human

Services), Participatory Budgeting

New York City, Participatory

Budgeting New York City, Vacant

Land Cleanup and Revitalization

Initiative (New York City),

Engaging Citizens and Problem

Solving Initiative (City of Eau

Claire, WI), Medicaid Redesign

Team (State of New York)

C

www.ash.harvard.edu


IN THE NEWS

In May, the Ash Center concluded its Challenges toDemocracy public dialogue series with presenta-tions by the 2015 Innovations in American Govern-ment Award finalists. Local government officials,students, and scholars gathered with the InnovationAward finalists for a nuts and bolts conversation onfostering innovation in government. This model ofconversation—one that brings together people andideas unlikely to otherwise connect, in an environ-ment that encourages candid conversation onimportant yet difficult issues, with an emphasis onfinding a way forward—was a true reflection of theChallenges to Democracy series.

The Ash Center launched Challenges to Democ-racy two years prior with a standing room-only JFKJr. Forum event featuring a panel discussion mod-erated by radio host Tom Ashbrook on the threateconomic inequality poses to the health of Ameri-can democracy. Other notable events over the twoyears included a screening and discussion withErrol Morris of his documentary on Donald Rums-feld, The Unknown Known; another Forum discus-sion featuring founders of MoveOn.org and the TeaParty Patriots on whether (and how) we as a coun-try might engage in more civil conversations andfind common ground between the political left andright; Darryl Pinckney’s personal and insightful discussion with Alex Keyssar on his book Black-balled: The Black Vote and U.S. Democracy; and apost-performance discussion of the AmericanRepertory Theater’s world-premiere production ofEve Ensler’s play O.P.C. (Obsessive Political Correct-ness), featuring Harvard undergrad Aisha Bhoorialongside Adams Professor of Political Leadershipand Democratic Values Jane Mansbridge. Thethread connecting these and other events in theseries was an effort to broaden and deepen public

dialogue around what Ash Center founder Roy Ashcalled the “fragile institution of democracy.”

The Ash Center launched the ambitious publicdialogue series to commemorate its tenth anniver-sary in a creative and productive way that wouldreach beyond traditional academic audiences. Overtwo years, the center welcomed over 2,600 peopleto 40 events both on the HKS campus and in com-munities from Lawrence, Massachusetts, to SanFrancisco. Through a Challenges to Democracy webpresence that included a blog, newsletter, multiplesocial media platforms, and extensive media cover-age, we were able to engage thousands of others in discussion.

Yet beyond the numbers, Ash Center DirectorTony Saich always envisioned Challenges to Democ-racy as a unique series that would not simply namethe greatest threats facing democracy today, butwould also put forward and give due attention tothe promising solutions we need. To that end, of themany challenges that the series explored, threethemes will continue to guide the research, teach-ing, and outreach efforts of the Ash Center.

The Promise and Peril of Digital TechnologyDoes technology make our society and our majorinstitutions more or less democratic? What are thepromise and practicalities of digital media and tech-nology to transform political participation andmobilization? Does technology improve our abilityto solve big problems like climate change or obesi-ty? The center hosted a number of technology-relat-ed events that explored these and other questionswith leaders in both thought and practice.

The Ash Center engaged HKS students, whohave expressed a great demand for more technol-ogy offerings at the School, in a Cities, Technology

and Democracy study group, two student-ledhackathons, a panel discussion featuring Harvardstudents and alumni who are running civic techstartups, and a bipartisan panel taking a critical look at digital technology’s influence on the USpolitical landscape. A highlight of the year was our#Hack4Congress series of hackathons in Cam-bridge, San Francisco, and Washington, DC, toencourage the development of much-needed techplatforms to improve lawmaking, deliberation, andrepresentation in legislatures. Winning teams fromthe three hackathons demonstrated their ideasbefore members of Congress and senior staffers on Capitol Hill in May. Over the duration of#Hack4Congress, the Center connected to over 40civic tech-related institutions and companies, plus23 tech and Congress experts as judges, and 16 cur-rent or former members of Congress. In all, 230‘hackers’ submitted 33 project ideas.

The insights of these and other technology-focused events in the Challenges to Democracyseries are guiding the Ash Center as it increases its investment in exploring technology’s role inimproving democratic governance—making it moremodern, effective, and efficient as well as moreresponsive, transparent, and participatory. The center will help students learn crucial technologyskills, provide opportunities to develop those skillsin applied learning environments, and connect theKennedy School to technologists working to im-prove democracy. Current initiatives include anInnovation Field Lab for students and the Data-Smart City Solutions platform for practitioners.

Realizing the Democratic Potential of Cities Cities and metropolitan regions are often placeswhere people with different backgrounds cometogether to achieve a just and fair society. However,all too often cities reveal our inability to use thedemocratic process to affirm and bridge differencesfor the common good. The Challenges to Democra-cy series included a number of events exploring

Ash Center’s 10th Anniversary Series Provides Directionfor the Next Ten Years

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IN THE NEWS

Democracy Reinvented: Participatory Budgeting and Civic Innovation in AmericaBy Hollie Russon GilmanBrookings Institution and the Ash Center, 2016

Democracy Reinvented: Participatory Budgeting and Civic Inno-vation in America is the first academic study of the Americanexperiment with participatory budgeting, a practice that allowscitizens to offer proposals for and ultimately to vote on the allo-cation of public funds. Last year in New York City alone, residentsallocated $32 million dollars in public funds through participatorybudgeting. Diverse cities across the country are also implement-ing the practice. Using scores of interviews, field observations,process tracing, survey research, and a difference-in-differenceapproach, the book offers a rigorous assessment of the promiseand perils of this wave of civic innovation in American cities. Italso provides a new analytic framework for assessing whetherthese new experiments in democracy actually achieve their aimsof civic engagement, government accountability, and the politi-cal engagement of racial minorities and other traditionally mar-ginalized groups. The book draws on the author's experience asa policy advisor in the White House incorporating participatory budgeting and other civic innova-tions into open government policy. In addition to participatory budgeting, the book discusses pilotprograms in transparency for government data, peer-to-peer microlending, and crowdfunding forpublic works policies, policies that have been tried in cities as different as Seattle and Buffalo. Civicinnovations like these, designed to engage citizens in governance, will continue to grow as a promi-nent topic in urban governance and American politics.

cities as political systems—taking the temperatureof the health of local democracy.

A book talk with the Ash Center’s Steve Gold-smith and coauthor Susan Crawford examined theirnew title The Responsive City: Engaging Communi-ties through Data-Smart Governance. Quinton Maynemoderated a panel discussion and screening of newdocumentary films about urban politics and life fea-turing King Williams, director of The Atlanta Way,and Andrew Padilla, director of El Barrio Tours: Gen-trification USA. The center also cohosted a JFK Jr.Forum event on promising solutions for how to buildmore democratic police forces that are seen as effec-tive and legitimate by their communities, featuringProfessor Phillip Goff, UCLA; Mayor Annise D. Parker,City of Houston; and Philadelphia Police Commis-sioner Charles H. Ramsey, who also chairs PresidentObama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing.

These and related events reveal one of themajor distinctions of the Ash Center’s work: theextent to which "sense of place" is encouraged inresearch, training, and conferences relating to localgovernance. In US cities and beyond, Ash scholarsare investing significant time and effort to under-stand dynamics at the local and regional level. Theyare identifying, analyzing, and disseminating bestpractices, then working hard to find ways in whichsuch practices can be expanded to the nationallevel. Much of the center’s work in this capacityrelates to sustainable and equitable development.Examples of such work span from political reconcil-iation in Myanmar to Mekong River Delta watergovernance, and from US municipal governanceinnovation competitions to Chinese electric gridreform and renewable energy promotion.

Participation and EngagementA number of challenges from the series focused onparticipation and engagement in the politicalprocess: the future of social movements, the 50-year anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, and theintegration of immigrants into a community’s civic

and political life. The Challenges to Democracyseries included a number of events exploring ques-tions such as whether new restrictions on votingrights spell the end of longstanding efforts to expandthe right to vote. And how far should we extendcivil and political rights to immigrants, whetherthey are here with or without authorization, andwhat responsibilities should we expect in return?

Notable events included a book talk with HahrieHan of Wellesley University on her new book HowOrganizations Develop Activists: Civic Associationsand Leadership in the 21st Century, and two JFK Jr.Forum events featuring nationally recognized polit-ical and civil rights leaders—one on what has andhas not changed over the 50 years since the pass-ing of the Voting Rights Act and another on thetimely and complicated question of policing in the21st century and the role it plays in the health oflocal democracy. The center partnered with localcommunity groups and the Office of the Mayor ofLawrence, Massachusetts, to host a town hall-typediscussion on immigrant integration that attracted250 community members. A key feature of theseries was a special Innovations in American Gov-ernment Award designed specifically to recognizegovernment-led innovations that demonstrateenhanced public engagement and participation inthe governance of towns, cities, states, and thenation. The winner, Participatory Budgeting in NewYork City from the New York City Council’s office,

will receive a $100,000 grant to support dissemina-tion activities.

As these events suggest, the Ash Center ishome to multiple research and programmaticefforts related to political participation in its manyforms, from understanding political parties in LatinAmerica and the Arab Spring in the Middle East tohelping to strengthen social movements and localcivic engagement. The center will deepen itsinvolvement with Participedia, an online open-source clearinghouse for new forms of participatorypolitics and governance around the world. TheTransparency for Development project is a five-year, multi-country study led by Professor and Acting Dean Archon Fung on the impact of commu-nity-led transparency and accountability initiativeson health outcomes. With October’s #Tech4Democ-racy Showcase and Challenge, the center is alsodeepening its local ties among students, entrepre-neurs, community leaders, and citizens using theircreativity and knowledge of digital technology toengage their communities and elected officials.

The Challenges to Democracy series has been arewarding effort to broaden and deepen dialogue onthe health of American democracy among a numberof new audiences. We look forward to continuingthese conversations on some the most salient andcomplex issues facing governance in the UnitedStates and beyond. We hope you will join us!

FAR LEFT

50 Years after the Voting Rights Act

discussion with Professor Alex

Keyssar, Harvard Kennedy School;

Penda D. Hair, Co-founder and

Co-Director, Advancement Project;

and Congressman Robert C. "Bobby"

Scott (D-VA)

LEFT

Rep. Susan Brooks (R-IN), Rep. Darrell

Issa (R-CA), and Steve Dwyer of the

Office of the House Democratic Whip

listen to presentations at the final

#Hack4Congress event held in

Washington, DC, on May 12, 2015

C

www.ash.harvard.edu


IN THE NEWS

The Lower Mekong Public Policy Initiative

Do Vietnam’s current policies that encourage threecrops of rice per year boost livelihoods in theMekong Delta’s flood plains? Are there socioeco-nomic losers in the communities along the East-West Economic Corridor that links Myanmar, Laos,and Vietnam? What is the appropriate mix of ener-gy sources in Laos? The Lower Mekong Public Poli-cy Initiative (LMPPI) will be investigating these andrelated questions that explore the interconnectionsbetween the environment, agriculture, and liveli-hoods over the next 12 months.

In the summer of 2015, LMPPI, housed at theFulbright Economics Teaching Program (managedby the Ash Center) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam,formed five research partnerships with universitiesand think tanks in the countries of the LowerMekong region (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thai-land, and Myanmar) and in the US. The researchprojects underway involve studies of the sustain-ability of shrimp/rice rotations in the Mekong Deltaof Vietnam in the face of environmental and eco-nomic pressures; the sustainable livelihood genera-tion strategies for population groups along theEast-West Corridor in Myanmar, Lao PDR, and Viet-nam; the rehabilitation of floating rice/upland cropfarming systems in the upper Mekong Delta to con-serve water, boost farmers’ incomes, and reversethe environmental damage associated with inten-sive triple rice cropping; the impact of changes inVietnam’s rice policies on the production responsesof rice farmers in Cambodia; and alternative energygeneration strategies involving the waters of themainstream of the Mekong River.

Each of these studies was selected because it isintegral to a critical issue in current public policyand is expected to have a significant impact on pol-

icy dialogue and debate in the respective countries.They were formulated with the direct engagementof key policymakers from their inception and duringtheir implementation. In addition to regional eventsto discuss the studies' conclusions with stakehold-ers and decision-makers, a number of outputsincluding policy briefs, policy papers, and articleswill ensure that findings are broadly disseminated.Three additional research projects are under reviewand are expected to be launched in the near future.

Myanmar Dialogue and Lessons fromIndonesia

Over the past several years, Myanmar has madeimportant strides toward moving away from ajunta-controlled government. As a result, the coun-try is enjoying renewed—if still modest—linkageswith the rest of the world and raising expectationsthat it could be set for a period of sustained devel-opment and unity. But, are the conditions for sucha positive transformation really in place? The longperiod of isolation the country is just emergingfrom has left all primary stakeholders—includingthe government, army, opposition, ethnic groups,and civil society—with a partial view of the prob-lems the country faces.

At the time of writing, general elections werescheduled for November of 2015. It is expected thatthey will be fiercely contested and the aftermathcould be chaotic. The next president will need 333votes from both upper and lower houses to be elect-ed and it is uncertain who will win. However, giventhat the military holds 166 seats by appointment, it iscertain that Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaingwill play an important role as a coalition partner.

Any future government will face a daunting setof issues. Civil strife and poorly distributed growth,

Update on Southeast Asia

aggravated by recent massive land-takings in eth-nic areas, have led to the migration of millions ofyoung workers from the country while poor educa-tion makes those left behind less productive. Heroinand amphetamine use is rampant, especially inmany ethnic areas, and is controlled by semi-officialgangs and ethnic armed groups. China’s influence isalready very considerable and growing, in spite ofpopular anger towards many Chinese investments.

The virulent Buddhist ideology that has beenpromoted by rich business executives and otherelements of elite society will not easily be turnedoff after the elections or even reduced, and couldlead to extremist groups taking root in the region.These developments, in addition to the challenge ofdevising a fair mechanism for sharing the revenuesof billions of dollars a year from raw materials, willmake negotiating a federal system very difficult.Without the sympathetic support of the military fora successful transition, it will be all but impossible.

It is against this backdrop that in August 2015,the Harvard Kennedy School Myanmar Program(housed at the Ash Center), together with the Insti-tute for Peace and Democracy and ProximityDesigns based respectively in Indonesia and Myan-mar, hosted five generals from the Myanmar Armyas well as representatives of civil society in Bali,Indonesia. The three-day program—supported bygrants from Omidyar Networks, the United King-dom’s Department for International Development,and the Royal Norwegian Government—focused onthe alternatives and choices facing Myanmar at itscurrent juncture. The attending generals, whichwere selected by the Commander-in-Chief, had theopportunity to engage in structured discussionswith Indonesian generals and other figures who haddirected Indonesia’s transition from military to civil-ian rule and who had helped to settle ethnic strifein Aceh and religious conflict in Maluku. The pro-

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IN THE NEWS

gram reviewed similarities and differences betweenMyanmar and Indonesia, and examined the resultsof military control, directly or indirectly, on thedevelopment or deterioration of a country. Theworking hypothesis was that Myanmar can chooseto move towards a successful Indonesia-style solu-tion involving real political negotiation, compromise,and civilian rule. Or, Myanmar can choose to movetowards a style of governance more like Pakistan,which is marked by sustained internal conflicts andfewer favorable outcomes.

By all accounts, the program was notable for itscandid and productive conversations, and providedMyanmar’s military leaders with a greater under-standing of their country's current path in relation to broadly comparable other countries in theregion. The hope is that with the additional eco-nomic and institutional insights they gained, theparticipants will be able to foster new avenues forkey players, including but not limited to the military,to explore alternative policy options available andto pursue an informed and productive dialogueabout Myanmar’s future.

Fulbright University Vietnam

On the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, inthe Saigon High-Tech Park, a massive experiment inhigher education is about to take shape. Ground willsoon be broken for the campus of Fulbright Univer-sity Vietnam, an ambitious undertaking to build thecountry’s first independent, not-for-profit university.

The seeds for this new university were plantednearly two decades ago when the Ash Center’sTommy Vallely helped establish the Fulbright Eco-nomics and Teaching Program (FETP), a partner-ship between the University of Economics, Ho ChiMinh City and Harvard Kennedy School. FETP has

been a leading intellectual force in public policyeducation in Vietnam. Building on this long trackrecord of academic achievement, Vallely is nowworking to make a wider mark on the educationsector in Vietnam.

“Vietnam is a rapidly growing economy, but itsgrowth has not been on par with its neighbor,China,” said Vallely in a recent interview. “Part ofthat is due to its human capital. It hasn’t built up auniversity system that can produce the skills thecountry needs to sustain a high enough growthrate.” The World Bank in a 2014 report ranked thecountry in the bottom half of rankings of ASEANcountries’ workforce development. “There simplydoes not yet exist a large enough pool of highlytrained workers in Vietnam who are capable ofhelping the country meet its economic growth tar-gets,” added Vallely.

In this educational void, Vallely saw an opportu-nity to elevate FETP and ensure its sustainabilityinto the future by working to transform the schoolinto a full-fledged university. “What we have builtwith FETP is the envy of universities across the USwho are interested in expanding their work in Viet-nam,” said Vallely. “FETP has an unparalleled trackrecord in Vietnam and was the most logical buildingblock for FUV.”

Of course building a university from scratch is noeasy undertaking. “We expect FUV to grow organi-cally over a number of years after its founding,” saidBen Wilkinson, the executive director of the Trust forUniversity Innovation in Vietnam (TUIV). Prior toassuming his leadership position with TUIV, Wilkin-son served as the director of the HKS Vietnam Pro-gram and worked to administer the Fulbright Schoolfor Harvard. Wilkinson’s new organization, TUIV, ischarged with helping to midwife the birth of FUV asan independent institute of higher education. Vallelyserves as chair of TUIV’s board.

FETP will become the cornerstone of the newuniversity, but represents only one part of Vallelyand Wilkinson’s ambitions for FUV. “FETP hasshaped a generation of Vietnamese policymakers,”said Wilkinson, “and we expect that as core compo-nent of FUV, it will continue to do so.” The universi-ty also intends to build an undergraduate college aswell as an engineering school to meet the country’spersistent desire for highly qualified graduates inthe STEM fields.

Vallely and Wilkinson have made tremendousstrides in building political and financial support forFUV. In July, Le Thanh Hai, the Secretary of the HoChi Minh City Party Committee, formally providedan investment license for the university followingthe approval in principle by the prime minister inJune. The license is a critical milestone in the cre-ation of FUV, and allows TUIV to begin planning anddesigning the new university in earnest.

FUV also has an important champion in Secre-tary of State John Kerry. On a trip to Hanoi thissummer, Kerry, along with US Ambassador to Viet-nam Ted Osius, publicly hailed the creation of FUV.“Fulbright University will be an incredible asset toVietnam, because with academic freedom and withthe energy and association with Harvard and all ofthe things that will come from it, they’ll...take itseducation levels to an even higher level,” SecretaryKerry said in remarks to a group of FETP students.

TUIV has also worked to build support for theuniversity on Capitol Hill and managed to break thecongressional logjam by securing nearly $17 millionfrom Congress for the university early this year.That funding, in addition to a separate grant of $2.5million awarded to the Ash Center by the StateDepartment to help transition the operations ofFETP to FUV, will allow the university to open itsdoors to students next year.

The Vietnamese government is matching thiscommitment with its own in-kind contribution. Inthe Saigon High-Tech Park, the Vietnamese govern-ment has provided FUV with 37 acres for its newcampus, nestled next to Intel’s Vietnam headquar-ters and a slew of other multinational corporationson a rent-free basis. For Vallely, the opportunity tobreak ground on the university is the perfect culmi-nation of a career devoted to building educationallinks between the US and Vietnam. “There is nodoubt in my mind that FUV will bring our two coun-tries closer together and do much to help Vietnamprosper in the 21st century,” Vallely added.

LEFT

Lt. General Ye Aung, Judge

Advocate General of the

Myanmar Army, speaks at a

structured discussion between

the Indonesian and Myanmar

militaries in Bali, Indonesia

www.ash.harvard.edu


IN THE FIELD

Student FocusAsh Center Supports Experimental and Research Activities for Students

The Ash Center is committed to encouraging careers in the public sector, pro-viding opportunities for students to explore in greater depth the topics andquestions of most interest to them, and strengthening the connection betweenstudents and faculty affiliated with the center.

Ash Center Summer FellowshipsSince 2008, the center has been plac-ing students in summer fellowshipswith some of the most creative andeffective public officials and policyadvisors in the country, not only tolearn but also to add value by sharingcutting-edge trends and ideasexplored at HKS. This summer, twelveHKS students and one GraduateSchool of Design (GSD) student werehosted by public-sector agencies:Sarah Allin MPP ’15, Innovation FieldLab, Chelsea, Fitchburg, andLawrence, MAKarina Baba MPP ’15, Innovation FieldLab, Chelsea, MAUttara Gharpure MPP ’15, InnovationField Lab, Fitchburg, MAGlenn Grimshaw MPA-MC ’15, Mayor’sOffice of Technology and Innovation,New York, NYEmily Jones MPP ’15, Innovation FieldLab, Lawrence, MAAdam LaRose MPP ’16, US Departmentof EducationMonica Liu MPP ’16, Mayor’s Office, LosAngeles, CANorma Torres Mendoza MPP ’16, Officeof City Councilor Edward Gonzalez,Houston, TXCourtney Sharpe MUP ’16, GSD, Mayor’sOffice, Philadelphia, PAChris Sommerfeld MPA ’16, US Office ofManagement and BudgetRachael Stephens MPP ’16, Departmentof Small Business Services, NewYork, NYJiru Xu MPP ’16, Mayor’s Office ofNew Urban Mechanics, Boston, MADeena Zeplowitz MPP ’16, Mayor’sOffice, Portland, OR

Vietnam Program Internships The Vietnam Program invites first-year MPP, MPA, or MPA/ID studentsto intern at the Fulbright School, acenter for public policy research in HoChi Minh City.

Tran Chi Trung, MPP '16, HarvardKennedy School; Jordan Feri '16, Har-vard College; and Nguyen Minh Trang '16,Tufts University, were part of a teamthat designed materials for andimplemented the Young SoutheastAsian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) pro-gram at FETP in August 2015.Launched in 2013, YSEALI is PresidentObama’s signature program tostrengthen leadership developmentand networking in Southeast Asia.Over two weeks in August 2015, theFulbright School hosted 160 Viet-namese students selected for theirleadership qualities and passion forvoluntary work and community serv-ices. Students explored such topics asopportunities and challenges of Viet-nam for its integration into the regionand the world in a globalization con-text, leadership and integration, andsoft skills for negotiation and debate.Tran Chi Trung and Nguyen MinhTrang focused on creating a negotia-

tion simulation exercise for the partic-ipants and providing logistical sup-port throughout the session. JordanFeri developed a case study and vari-ous materials featuring the chal-lenges posed to Vietnam by theASEAN Economic Community’sregional integration process.Nguyen Trang '17, Clark University; andDang Tan Duc MPP '16, Lee Kuan YewSchool of Public Policy, conductedresearch on the financing of subwaysystems in megacities in SoutheastAsia and around the world, and les-sons this holds for Vietnam.

China Public Policy ProgramStudent Research Grants The China Public Policy Programfinancially supports Harvard Universi-ty students pursuing China-relatedinternships, independent research,and other forms of study conductedin China.Iza Ding, PhD candidate in Govern-ment at FAS: Responsiveness overResults—Environmental Governanceand Political Approval in Urban ChinaGUAN Yichen, PhD candidate in PoliticalScience at FAS: The Uyghur Chal-lenge—Islamic Insurgency on the Risein XinjiangHAO Ruixi MPP '15: Effective Philan-thropy: What Private Foundations inChina Can Learn from their WesternCounterparts?

HUANG Zhenqian MPA/ID '16: Impact ofblack carbon emissions on climate,public health, and development incities, especially from the transportsectorJennifer Hurford MPP/MBA '17: Emo-tional Intelligence Training in ChinaStephen Leonelli MPP '16: UniversalPeriodic Review—A New Tool forChina’s LGBT Movement?Lance Li MPP '15: Electric Vehicle: Solv-ing Beijing's endemic pollution problemLIU Xi MPP '15: Girls' dream projectReshma Ramachandran MPP '15/MDat Brown '15: China policy tools forincreasing access to affordable bio-logic medicinesAustin Strange, PhD candidate at Gov-ernment at FAS: Elite Power Consoli-dation and Chinese Foreign RelationsTIAN He MPA/ID '15: Industrial upgradein coastal ChinaGary Wang MPP '15: The China Devel-opment Bank's Strategic Options inAfricaXU Jiru MPP '16: Government Innova-tion programZHANG Jingyi, PhD student at GraduateSchool of Design: Consumer City—TheImpact of Amenities and Mixed LandUse on Housing Price in ShanghaiZHENG Yinan MPP '15: Accelerating theImplementation of the UpcomingWaste Charging Policy in Hong KongZOU Xun MC/MPA '15: Policy on com-municable diseases and sex andreproductive health

TOP ROW (left to right)

Deena Zeplowitz with Portland Mayor Charlie Hales at

the Rose Festival

Courtney Sharpe at the Police Youth Summit in

Philadelphia

Adam LaRose with US Secretary of Education Arne

Duncan

RIGHT

Jiru Xu with the Boston Mayor's Office of New Urban

Mechanics civic innovation group

www.ash.harvard.edu


IN THE FIELD

The Tunisian revolution that began four years agowas both turbulent and inspiring, helping to cat-alyze uprisings throughout the region that led to theArab Spring’s only complete transition to democra-cy. Tunisia’s path forward, however, is fraught withequally critical challenges to establishing politicalstability and effective democratic governance.

After nearly a half century of authoritarian rule,the country’s new democratically elected govern-ment is working to institutionalize citizen partici-pation and promote reforms intended to increasetransparency and accountability. Nada Zohdy MPP’15 focused her Policy Analysis Exercise (PAE)research on Tunisia’s sizeable and vibrant civil soci-ety, analyzing how these organizations viewedopen government reforms unfolding throughoutthe country.

“There are two basic elements to open govern-ment,” Zohdy explained while presenting herresearch as part of the Ash Center’s weekly studentspeaker series. “Transparency or opening up infor-mation for public scrutiny and analysis is the coreelement. The second, which was the primary focusof my research, involves increasing opportunitiesfor citizen participation and engagement in the pol-icymaking process.”

Supported by the Ash Center and her PAE Advi-sor Associate Professor Tarek Masoud, Zohdy trav-eled to Tunisia in January 2015. She conducted over30 interviews with civil society leaders, local gov-ernment officials, and political party representa-tives in the capital of Tunis and the southern city ofSfax. She followed these interviews with an onlinesurvey, capturing data on over 100 organizations.

Zohdy analyzed civil society leaders’ responsesto determine if their answers were correlated to thetype of organization they were involved with and itslocation, capacity (budget, number of staff), andfunctional role (advocacy, research, or service pro-vision). Though she found great diversity in termsof the organizations’ size and capacity — volunteersran over half of them — she was surprised to seeuniversal support for open government reforms andtransparency measures in particular.

“Some of the civil society leaders I spoke withwere younger folks who considered themselveswatchdogs of the revolution,” said Zohdy. “Theywere committed to holding the governmentaccountable and seeing Tunisia achieve its full dem-ocratic potential. Other people, especially olderindividuals, identified transparency-related reformsand good governance as vital for encouraging eco-nomic investment, which they saw as the mostimportant thing for Tunisia’s future.”

“While their motivations may have varied, it wastruly inspiring to find such a universal commitmentto improving democratic processes,” said Zohdy. “Itreflected the general spirit I saw in the country, andthe sense that Tunisians had achieved somethinghistoric and their actions would have a directimpact on future generations.”

Zohdy was also surprised to find that many civilsociety leaders viewed their relationship to the gov-ernment as collaborative as opposed to adversarial.They saw their close, on-the-ground connection toeveryday citizens as a resource for local govern-ment officials who were interested in meeting withthem, and they recognized the significant chal-lenges government officials faced—many of whomwere holding office for the first time.

Student FocusStudent Research Explores Open Government Reform in Tunisia

Nada Zohdy MPP ’15

focused her Policy Analysis

Exercise research on

Tunisia’s sizeable and vibrant

civil society, analyzing how

these organizations

viewed open government

reforms unfolding through-

out the country

C

www.ash.harvard.edu

Emergency Management, Depart-ment for ICT, University of Agder(Norway)Bartel Van de Walle, PhD, AssociateProfessor, Department of InformationManagement, Tilburg School of Eco-nomics and Management, TilburgUniversity (Netherlands)

Technology and DemocracyNon-resident FellowshipThe Technology and Democracy Fel-lowship is part of a new Ash Centerinitiative to explore technology’s rolein improving democratic gover-nance—with a focus on connecting topractice and on helping HarvardKennedy School students developcrucial technology skills. The Technol-ogy and Democracy Fellowship isintended to support fellows as theydesign, develop, or refine a substan-tive project that is salient to their fieldand seeks to improve the quality ofdemocratic governance. This projectcould take the form of a new platform,service, or organization, or couldentail research, reflection, and writingon issues that most interest the fellow.

Tiana Epps-Johnson, Founder and Exec-utive Director, Center for Technologyand Civic LifeMarci Harris, Founder and CEO,POPVOXSolomon Kahn, Director of Analytics,Paperless Post Seamus Kraft, Executive Director andCo- Founder, OpenGov Foundation Dhrumil Mehta, Database Journalist,538


RESEARCH BRIEF

Fellows FocusMeet Our New Fellows

Ford Foundation Mason FellowsThe Ford Foundation Mason Fellow-ships are awarded to meritoriousmidcareer students with financialneed and a demonstrated interest inthe overarching issues of concern tothe Ash Center to study at HKS for anintensive, one-year master’s degree inpublic administration. The Center issponsoring the following students forthis academic year:

Ana Babović, MC-Mason ’16, from SerbiaPaula Brown, MC-Mason ’16, fromJamaicaIvo Correa, MC-Mason ’16, from BrazilHla Hla Win, MC-Mason ’16, from Myanmar

Roy and Lila Ash FellowThe Roy and Lila Ash Fellowship inDemocracy supports students with astrong interest in the broad questionsof democratic governance, a capacityfor leadership, a commitment to searchand inquiry, and a dedication toadvancements in social justice andservice to citizens around the world.This year’s Roy and Lila Ash Fellow isPriscilla Lee, MC-MPA ’16, who has spent the past 24 years as a municipalemployee in Cambridge, MA, workingas a teacher, program developer, andschool administrator, and has been activein the grassroots statewide efforts toachieve legal protections and rightsfor LGBTQ individuals since 2004.

Democracy FellowshipsThe Ash Center’s Democracy Fellow-ships support predoctoral and post-doctoral scholars as well as practitionersin research areas related to democrat-ic governance. This year, the followingsix new Democracy Fellows joinedthe Center:

Simon Beste, PhD candidate, Democra-cy Studies, University of Lucerne,SwitzerlandAditya Dasgupta, PhD candidate, Depart-ment of Government, Harvard UniversitySean Gray, PhD in Political Science,University of British Columbia (arriv-ing spring 2016)

Chandu Krishnan, CEME Senior Fellow,Fletcher School of Law and Diploma-cy, Tufts UniversityBrian Palmer-Rubin, PhD in PoliticalScience, University of CaliforniaBerkeleyAndrew Pope, PhD candidate, Depart-ment of History, Harvard University

Tomorrow Educational Foundation Student FellowsThe Tomorrow Educational Founda-tion Fellowship is awarded each yearto Mason Fellows from China withfinancial need. Candidates mustdemonstrate a strong interest in theareas of domestic politics and socialdevelopment of China, with a focuson public policy challenges.

Qi Tan, MC-Mason ’16Ke Zheng, MC-Mason ’16Chun Zhou, MC-Mason ’16

China Public Policy PostdoctoralFellowshipsThe Ash Center China Programs offertwo postdoctoral fellowships in thefield of contemporary Chinese publicpolicy to recent PhDs of exceptionalpromise. The China Programs wel-comed the following two new post-doctoral fellows for AY2015–17:

Huriong Chen, PhD, University of HongKongSara Newland, PhD in Political Science,University of California-Berkeley

China Energy Postdoctoral FellowshipThe Ash Center China Programs offersupport for postdoctoral scholarsworking on research relating to theintersection of innovation, energypolicy, and technology in China. Thisyear’s China Energy Postdoctoral Fel-low is John Liu, who received his PhDin Sociology from the University ofWisconsin-Madison.

Rajawali FellowsThe Rajawali Fellows Program allowspredoctoral and postdoctoral schol-ars as well as practitioners the free-

ABOVE

Fall 2015 fellows on a tour of Harvard's Widener Library

dom to pursue independent researchprojects on public policy issues relat-ed to Asia, with the help of the AshCenter’s Rajawali Foundation Institutefor Asia and other Harvard resources.The Center welcomed 18 new RajawaliFellows this fall. For a complete listingof this year’s Rajawali Fellows, pleasevisit the Ash Center website atash.harvard.edu.

Ash Center Senior FellowThe Ash Center occasionally invitesdistinguished scholars and profession-als from the government, academia,and businesses to address issues per-taining to democratic governance andinnovation. This fall the Center wel-comed Muhamad Chatib Basri, the formerMinister of Finance in Indonesia.

Program on Crisis LeadershipFellowsThe Program on Crisis Leadership(PCL) offers fellowships to academicsand senior practitioners conductingresearch and working on issues relat-ed to emergency preparedness, crisisresponse, disaster recovery, and otheraspects of disaster risk reduction. Forthe fall 2015 semester, PCL is pleasedto welcome two new fellows to Harvard:

Martina (Tina) Comes, PhD, AssociateProfessor, Centre for Integrated

www.ash.harvard.edu/people/rajawali-foundation-institute-asia-fellows/rajawali-fellows

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IN THE NEWS

General and Flag Officer Homeland Security ExecutiveSeminarApril 7–10, 2015In early April, the Program on Crisis Leadership in conjunction with HKS Exec-utive Education offered a training program sponsored by the US NationalGuard’s Homeland Security Institute for National Guard generals and CoastGuard admirals, as well as equivalent-level civilian officials from the Depart-ment of Homeland Security and the military’s Northern Command. The annual,four-day General and Flag Officer Homeland Security Executive Seminar(GFOS) works to equip participants for response to a large-scale disaster, suchas a major hurricane, pandemic outbreak, or terrorist attack, in which militaryresponders would need to work effectively with civilian counterparts and non-governmental organizations.

Chaired by Dutch Leonard and Arnold Howitt, faculty co-directors of theProgram on Crisis Leadership, GFOS focuses heavily on interagency coordina-tion and encourages participants to prepare for decentralized emergencyresponse operations. As many of today’s major disasters involve multiple agen-cies and interests beyond the military, the National Guard and their partnersmust employ a high level of cooperation and coordination in order to be effec-tive. Using case studies of significant disasters such as the Gulf of Mexico oilspill, the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and Japan’s2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident, participants worked throughpossible solutions to some of the complex challenges that leaders face in suchtimes of crisis.

This year’s program also featured a panel discussion on “Interagency Coor-dination and Unified Command During a Domestic Emergency” that includedspeakers from the highest ranks of the military, including General Frank Grass,Chief of the Pentagon’s National Guard Bureau, and a member of the JointChiefs of Staff ; Admiral Paul Zukunft, Commandant, US Coast Guard; and Lt.General Michael Dubie, Deputy Commander, US Northern Command, and ViceCommander, US Element, North American Aerospace Defense Command. Theevent was moderated by Juliette Kayyem, HKS Lecturer and former AssistantSecretary, US Department of Homeland Security.

Conference on Responsible Business Leadership in Chinaand the USAugust 7, 2015On August 7, the Ash Center and the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business(CKGSB) hosted a conference on responsible business leadership in the US andChina. The event was held as part of the Ash Center and CKGSB’s joint researchand executive education initiative exploring how the private sector can con-tribute to the public good in innovative ways beyond the traditional means ofproviding employment and goods.

Ash Center Director Tony Saich made opening remarks and CKGSB FounderDean Xiang Bing delivered a keynote speech describing the strikingly similarchallenges facing both countries in terms of income inequality, sustainability,generating new perspectives on leadership focused on innovation, and movingpast dichotomous thinking related to public/private and East/West differentia-tions. While it is important for businesses to make a profit, Dean Xiang Bingsaid, the ability to “compete with compassion and empathy” and consider thewell being of communities is crucial to the success of today’s business leaders.Congresswoman Grace Meng (D-NY) also made remarks, describing the impor-tance of social responsibility and corporations’ role in helping to alleviate global poverty.

Event Snapshots

China's Leaders in DevelopmentAugust 10–September 18, 2015On August 10, Chinese officials from the central government and localprovinces joined Ash Center faculty at Tsinghua University in Beijing for the 13thannual China's Leaders in Development (CLD) program, designed to prepareChinese officials to more effectively address the ongoing challenges related tothe country’s national reforms. Spanning six weeks, the program began with atwo-week session in China led by faculty from Harvard Kennedy School andTsinghua University. In Cambridge, participants took courses on a host of top-ics, including US policies and institutions, skills-building, innovations in urbandesign and sustainability, innovations in urban management, innovations inpublic service delivery, and leadership and strategy.

CLD participants supplemented their time in the classroom with a numberof site visits designed to increase their understanding of the US governmentstructure and expose them to local organizations promoting civic innovation.

Certificate presentation to General Frank Grass, Chief, US National Guard Bureau, and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, from the HKS General and Flag Officer Homeland Security Executive Seminar. L-R: Lieutenant General Michael Dubie, Deputy Commander, Northcom; Admiral Paul Zukunft, Commandant of the US Coast Guard; Genl. Grass; Major General Scott Rice, Adjutant General, Massachusetts National Guard; and Dr. Arnold Howitt and Professor Dutch Leonard, Program Co-Chairs and Faculty Co-Directors, Programon Crisis Leadzership, Harvard Kennedy School (April 9, 2015)

Ash Center Director Tony Saich speaking at the Conference on Responsible Business Leadership in China and the US

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IN THE NEWS

They visited the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for an interactive session on leg-islative action and toured the city of Somerville for an overview of the Perfor-manceStat management method and its implementation in a local governmentcontext. While in Somerville, participants also visited Greentown Labs, a facilitywhere entrepreneurs and startups work to solve complex energy and environ-mental challenges. Before arriving at Harvard, participants visited the head-quarters of CLD sponsor Amway Corporation in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as wellas US government agencies and think tanks in Washington, DC.

Asia Public Policy ForumAugust 12–13, 2015The 2015 Asia Public Policy Forum (APPF) was held in August in Jakarta,Indonesia. Over 120 participants attended the event, which helps build net-works between government officials, private sector leaders, and academicsworking in Indonesia and neighboring ASEAN countries. Each annual APPFaddresses a specific policy challenge affecting Indonesia and Asia more broad-ly, with the goal of improving the design, implementation, and evaluation ofcurrent public policies.

The topic of this year’s APPF was “The Financing and Delivery of PublicHealth Services in Asia,” a critical policy issue impacting finance and healthministries throughout Asia. The event provided scholars and practitioners withthe opportunity to share their insights on improving the coverage and qualityof health care, as well as ensuring the financial sustainability of public healthservices in the region.

Over the course of six sessions, the speakers covered a range of subjectsincluding: (1) the financing of national health insurance; (2) the provision of pub-lic health services at the local level; (3) the provision of basic health services inrural areas; (4) health challenges related to epidemiological transitions, such asthe impact of aging in depopulating countries, the effect of work on obesity, andthe provision of mental health services; (5) cross-cutting issues in the financingand delivery of public health; and (6) emerging threats to global public health.

“This year’s APPF produced high-level presentations and valuable discourseon a host of issues critical to the economic and physical health of Asian coun-tries,” said Jay Rosengard, academic director for the center's Rajawali Founda-tion Institute for Asia. “We are now working with many of the speakers topublish and disseminate their work as widely as possible.”

Thailand@Harvard Lecture SeriesSeptember 9, 2015On September 9, the Ash Center hosted Dr. Veerathai Santiprabhob as part ofthe annual Thailand@Harvard Lecture series in partnership with the HarvardUniversity Thai Studies program. Addressing a packed audience in Bell Hall, Dr.Veerathai, a Harvard University alum with a PhD in Economics and a careerspanning the public and private sectors, offered reflections on what the globalcommunity can expect and learn from the country’s reform efforts in the wakeof Thailand’s ongoing political upheavals.

Michael Herzfeld, the director of Thai Studies Program at the Harvard AsiaCenter and Jay Rosengard, the academic director of the Rajawali FoundationInstitute for Asia at the Ash Center, provided opening remarks and introducedDr. Veerathai. When Dr. Veerathai assumes the post of Governor of the Bank ofThailand in October 2015, he will become the Central Bank’s youngest leader infour decades. Previously, Dr. Veerathai served as the executive vice president ofthe Stock Exchange of Thailand and an economist for the International Mone-tary Fund.

Dr. Veerathai first described the need for multidimensional reform, and thenpresented an overview of reform initiatives now being designed and imple-mented in Thailand in the areas of macroeconomic management, infrastructuredevelopment, state-owned enterprise governance and operations, corruption,human trafficking, and the political system.

After explaining the objectives and nature of these reform initiatives, Dr.Veerathai also highlighted challenges in moving from the design to the imple-

Lecturer Jay Rosengard (right) moderates a panel discussion at the Asia Public Policy Forum with speakers (from left): Profs. Hasbullah Thabrany, School of Public Health, University of Indonesia; Mukul Asher, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore; and Ramon Paterno, National Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines

Participants from the China's Leaders in Development program gatherin the JFK Jr. Forum at Harvard Kennedy School

Dr. Veerathai Santiprabhob, incoming Governor of the Bank of Thailand, speaking at the fifth annual Thailand@Harvard Lecture

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IN THE NEWS

mentation stage, especially in the current non-democratic environment andamidst slow economic growth. He also noted the need to increase engagementof all stakeholders in the current reform process, and identified key issues notaddressed in the government’s reform program, particularly civil service andeducation reform, as well as decentralization.

No Boston OlympicsSeptember 16, 2015The debate over whether the Boston area should have played host to the 2024Summer Olympic Games resulted in a stinging defeat for those in the city’spolitical and financial establishment who publicly threw their weight behind theOlympic bid. A well-funded local organizing committee backed by prominentmembers of the Boston business community that operated with the blessing ofmuch of the city’s political leadership failed to convince the majority of Bosto-nians that hosting the 2024 Summer Games would be a net positive for the cityand commonwealth.

No Boston Olympics, a small volunteer-led grassroots organization operat-ing on a shoestring budget demonstrated how through the savvy use of socialmedia and creative organizing, they were able to counter the formidable out-

reach efforts of the Boston 2024 bid committee and its supporters. On Septem-ber 16, the Ash Center hosted a discussion with No Boston Olympics VoluntaryCo-chairs Chris Dempsey, Liam Kerr, and Kelley Gossett to better understandhow they were able to convince voters in the commonwealth that the Olympicswere a bad deal.

HKS Lecturer and Ash Center faculty affiliate Jorrit de Jong moderated theconversation, which was also joined by two journalists from Boston Magazine—Garrett Quinn and Kyle Clauss—who covered the bid’s rise and fall, and pointedout critical flaws in Boston 2024’s approach. “The bid organizers didn’t evenattempt to get out into the community and ask people what they thoughtabout the bid. Boston 2024 created a cloud of suspicion not only among thepublic, but among the press,” said Quinn. The panel discussion was followed bya lively question-and-answer session.

Project on Municipal Innovation Advisory GroupSeptember 24–26, 2015The Project on Municipal Innovation Advisory Group (PMI-AG) met for the 14thtime at Harvard Kennedy School in September. PMI-AG is comprised of chiefsof staff, deputy mayors, and policy directors from 45 of the nation’s largest andmost creative cities. In partnership with Living Cities, the Ash Center convenestwo PMI-AG in-person meetings per year. At each, representatives discussimportant policy challenges and innovative solutions with national policyexperts, academic thought leaders, and philanthropic partners. Ash Center staffand Kennedy School students document these conversations to capture andshare best practices developed through the network toward replication in otherinterested cities.

The theme of the September meeting was Fighting Inequality: LeveragingOpportunities for Innovation. The PMI-AG members discussed the emergingrole of chief data officers as key policy drivers, city hall as a leader in cross-sec-tor initiatives to engage disconnected youth, community policing as a vehiclefor community engagement, and implementation of a proactive racial equityframework in government policy and practice. Speakers included Alan Berube,senior fellow and deputy director of Brookings Institute's Metropolitan PolicyProgram; Jack Dangermond, founder and president of Esri (a GIS technologycompany); Greg Nickels, former mayor of Seattle; and, Nicholas Turner, presi-dent and director of the Vera Institute of Justice.

#Tech4Democracy Showcase and ChallengeOctober 9, 2015This event brought together the local civic tech community and public officialslooking to bring new technology to their work. Students, civic tech startups,entrepreneurs, and others with a connection to greater Boston had the oppor-tunity to showcase their idea for a new app, web platform, policy, or programthat leverages technology to improve the quality of democratic governance.Over 350 people attended #Tech4Democracy, and voted for 28 different teamscompeting to take home a $5,000 People's Choice prize. A second $5,000Judge's Choice prize was awarded by a team of academics, technologists, andpublic officials. The People's Choice Award went to DoneGood, an app thatmakes it easy to find businesses that share one's values by empowering usersto "vote with their wallets" to create a financial incentive for more businessesto adopt socially responsible business practices. The Judge's Choice Awardwent to Agora, an online civic network dedicated to purpose-driven dialoguebetween decision-makers and busy people concerned about their communi-ties. The Ash Center hosted this event as part of HUBweek — a unique series ofevents, unexpected experiences, and celebrations of the world-changing work,art, and thinking being imagined and built in greater Boston. HUBweek was acollaboration between Harvard University, MIT, the Boston Globe, and Massa-chusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Kennedy School hosted a number oftimely public discussions during the week on the future of US cities, wage equi-ty, and social innovation.

No Boston Olympics voluntary co-chairs Kelley Gossett, Liam Kerr, and Chris Dempsey; HKS Lecturer Jorrit de Jong; and Boston Magazine journalists Kyle Clauss and Garrett Quinn

Thirty-seven mayoral chiefs of staff from the largest cities across the country gathered for the 14th convening of the Project on Municipal Innovation Advisory Group

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The Ash Center for Democratic Governance andInnovation strives to make the world a betterplace by advancing excellence and innovation ingovernance and public policy through research,education, and public discussion. By training thevery best leaders, developing powerful new ideas,and disseminating innovative solutions and insti-tutional reforms, the Center’s goal is to meet theprofound challenges facing the world’s citizens.

The Ash Center for Democratic Governance andInnovation strives to make the world a betterplace by advancing excellence and innovation ingovernance and public policy through research,education, and public discussion. By training thevery best leaders, developing powerful new ideas,and disseminating innovative solutions and insti-tutional reforms, the Center’s goal is to meet theprofound challenges facing the world’s citizens.

Ash Center Communiqué Fall 2015

Documents

Transcript of Ash Center Communiqué Fall 2015