Add your nominations (of course you can nominate yourself). Those who are nominated should add a comment or below about who you are and why the IPID members should select you.

Hi, everyone! My name is Kristen Rau, and I've been nominated for the position of Programming Chair. I thought I'd tell you a little about myself before asking for your support-- I'm a dual JD/MPP student with a minor in Human Rights and a concentration in Global Policy-- I know, that's a lot of capital letters. I've been interested in international development for a long time, as evidenced by my various internships with the State Department, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, the U.S. Senate, and the Refugee Law Project. As a joint degree student, I can really appreciate the need for an organization like IPID. After all,international development experts increasingly acknowledge that multiple dimensions and fields of research need to be brought to the table. I think I'm a good candidate for this position because of my history of interest in the subject, my real enthusiasm for getting to know people around the University who share that interest, and the fact that I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, since two years remain before I receive my degrees. Thanks for reading, and please consider supporting my nomination for Programming Chair.

Thanks for posting your bio, Kristen. I corrected the page to reflect the December the 17th election date (at the meeting). I hope everyone else follows suit with sweet tales about themselves.

Hello IPID,

My name is Marc Dettmann and I am nominated for the finance committe chair. I am in my first year of the Masters in Public Policy, concentration in Economic Dev., and Global Policy. I am excited by the discussions so far at the meetings and really look forward to the speakers that are already committed. My interest for the finance committee is to maintain good communication with each of the other committees to support their work, and thus IPID's. I have experience of working on a large capital campaign for an NGO in Milwaukee, and have taken a financial management course (focused on non-profits), and am talking with the Minneapolis Foundation about ideas for funding sources for IPID.

I have a strong interest in international development and look forward to working with you all in IPID.

Thnx

- I don't have a nice photo, but imagine the cross of...

Hello, everyone!

My name is Erica McDougall, and I’ve been nominated for the Strategic Relations Chair. To those of you whom I have yet to meet, here’s a bit of background about where I’m coming from: I’m currently an MPP student at the Humphrey Institute; I plan to focus on Global and Environmental Policy during my time here; and I’ve been extremely excited about IPID this fall, and am interested in getting more deeply involved.

IPID’s work as a whole relates to my previous work conducted on international development/water and public health issues in Morocco. I’ve worked for the UNESCO Chair for “Water, Women and Decision Power” in Morocco, have conducted internships with the U.S. Agency for International Development, the State Department, and I have a perpetual travel bug =) I’m more specifically interested in being your ¬¬¬¬Strategic Relations Chair, as I hope to bring together a number of contacts both within the U of M as well as outside who would be very interested in being more integrally involved with IPID. As I ask you to consider supporting me for this position, please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.

Good luck with finals during this busy time!

Hi IPID,

My name is Shawn O'Donnell, and I am a second year Master of Public Policy student at the Humphrey Institute where I am pursuing concentrations in Global Public Policy and Community & Economic Development. I have spent quite a bit of time in the Middle East and North Africa and hope to pursue a career after graduating that allows me to either work in the region or in a capacity that deals with the region on issues of development. I lived in Cairo for two years after completing my undergraduate degree and spent this last summer working with a development organization in Damascus, Syria. I also worked on a feasibility study last year on starting a women’s microfinance organization in Minnesota.

I have been nominated for the Framing and Documenting Chair. I'm excited for the potential this committee can have in tackling various development issues and preparing IPID members and the community at the U in advance of the speakers who will be visiting us this spring. This committee has the potential to ensure we get the most out of the speakers by coming as an informed audience with critical questions. I look forward to working with all of you and taking a closer look at development issues from a multidisciplinary approach. It will be refreshing to discuss development with those working within other academic fields.

Cheers

Hi there! I am Kate (my Chinese name is Lang Yang). I am nominated for the Treasurer.

Quick facts about myself:
I am a first year Master’s student in Public Policy, concentrating in program evaluation and public finance. I come from China and got a bachelor’s degree in law from China Foreign Affairs University (yes, we do offer undergraduate law program there.) I interned in Ministry of Land and Resources of China and UNICEF China office.

Why am I interested in this job?
I’ve taken accounting course and enjoyed dealing with numbers. I am currently taking a course in public finance and excited about applying course concepts to better develop IPID and support our programs. I don’t have professional experience as a treasurer but I’ve got a book on my hand on accounting for nonprofit, some ideas on mind and the passion to get things done.

What do I have on mind?
Bookkeeping and monitoring procedures, cash flow chart, disbursement and reimbursement policy, some budgeting ideas… Any other thoughts please let me know!

Looks like we have a lot of nominees from the Humphrey Institute. It would be great for the interdisciplinary nature of the group to a have a more diverse leadership council. I appeal to people from some other departments to throw their proverbial hats in the ring. Remember, you can nominate yourself for any open position. -Juliet

Hi everyone,

The OLPD department will be having an introductory brownbag about IPID this coming Wednesday (the 9th), from 12-1pm at Burton 128. Hopefully that will get some people interested who are not yet on this listserve.

Thanks,
Christina

Some people have been asking me about what being in a leadership position entails. The chairs will lead their division to make sure that the responsibilities of the committee are fulfilled. The "member at large" represents the larger IPID community on the leadership council. The committee chair positions will be an opportunity for people to gain skills in objective oriented management and leadership development of peers. There will be some directed work for chairs to do over break. Coming back from break, chairs will reconnect with committee members and reach out for assistance in the lighter committees.

At the meeting on the 17th, we will establish a work plan and near term priorities will become clear and provide direction for committee chairs going into break.

Hi IPID,

My name is Marta Shaw, and I am a Ph.D. student in Comparative and International Development Education at the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development. I'm very excited to join this interdisciplinary endeavor - I have kept tabs on what was happening on this website for a while and it looks like we will have quite a fascinating multiplicity of perspectives!

My own background is in non-profit development and higher education. I am a national of Poland, and prior to moving to Minnesota just over two years ago, I lived and worked in Eastern Europe at a time of tumultuous transformation. I was a founding member of one of the first educational non-profits in southern Poland, and I've done quite a bit of strategic planning and development with a few organizations in my part of the world. I received my Master's degree in English Philology from the Jagiellonian University in Cracow, and taught for a while in an applied linguistics program at one of the first private universities in the country. Coming from the part of the world that I do, I've had the chance to be a part of a number of exciting beginnings, and it was ultimately some of those experiences that brought me to the CIDE program here in Minnesota. My current research interests are in private higher education development around the world, particularly in transitional economies.

I have been nominated for the Strategic Relations chair. What I bring to the position is a richness of experience in building strategic networks for the development of new initiatives, and a great deal of enthusiasm about the goals of this group. Over the next few weeks, I will be in Poland visiting family for Christmas (for the first time since moving here!), but I will be available online for any questions, discussions and brainstorms. I look forward to meeting you all upon my return!

Marta

Hi Everyone,

My name is Paul Vliem and I'm a first-year Master of Public Policy student at the Humphrey Institute where I am pursuing a concentration in Nonprofit Leadership and Management and Global Policy. I have just been nominated for the position of Treasurer and wanted to let you know a little about myself.

I have been interested in international development for quite some time, with a specific interest in East Africa and have spent a significant amount of time in East and West Africa, both for school and for work. My over-arching interest is to see valuable and accountable humanitarian work being done through public and nonprofit organizations in these areas. This summer I completed a one-year internship in Northern Uganda, consulting with a community based organization on proper management and accountability tools needed to successfully implement and evaluate their programs. I am now here at the Humphrey to gain greater expertise in these management systems. In the area of financial management, I have already taken courses in financial analysis and am taking further courses in Public and Nonprofit Financial Management this coming semester to build on my experience in this area.

I am excited to be a part of IPID and am looking forward to the work we will do in the coming year. I am equally excited to be the Treasurer for this group and will take on this responsibility to ensure that our accounting and budgeting practices will be accurate and clear. Have a great week and best wishes on your end-of-semester projects.

Paul

Hi All,

I've been nominated for the At Large Member, so like everyone else, I figured I would talk a bit about my interests and experiences.

I am a second-year student at Humphrey pursuing my Masters of Public Policy with a concentration in Global Public Policy, Nonprofit Leadership and Management, and a minor in Human Rights. I did my undergrad at St. John's University in MN with majors in Psychology and English (I know, worlds away from my interests now). I spent 3 years working in the nonprofit sector after my undergrad; a year of that was with an international volunteer organization that has sites in 7 different countries. I also spent this past summer in Nairobi, Kenya doing an internship with a nonprofit that works with kids who live in the slums that have been affected by HIV/AIDS.

I have a huge passion for human rights and international development (particularly, in Africa), and am hoping to find a job at the end of this spring with a NGO that addresses some of the challenges facing developing countries (and hopefully, there is a lot of travel involved). I am currently starting to developing the topic for my professional paper that examines how US policy towards development affects human rights in developing countries, so if anyone has any insight on that, I would love to hear it.

Thank you for your time and consideration as the At Large Member position.

Paul

Hey everyone-

As one of the nominees for the at-large position, I suppose I had best jump on the posting bandwagon before time has elapsed. I'm a first-year Masters of Public Policy candidate at Humphrey, concentrating in Global Public Policy. I'm coming to Humphrey directly out of my undergrad work at the University of Tulsa, where I majored in history and international studies, with minors in political science, English, and Spanish. I was involved with several student organizations in leadership capacities as an undergrad. During the past spring semester, I spent some time in Europe studying and meeting with international organizations for several months.

That semester will help me formulate the approach to international development in which I am personally interested: how the major international organizations and developed world economies can work together to best facilitate international development. It's perhaps a bit unorthodox when compared with other interests in the group (both from posts here and my personal discussions), but that's the beauty of the interdisciplinary approach, isn't it?

Thanks for your time and consideration,
-Matthew

Hi everyone!

My name is Rachel Garaghty and I've been nominated for the ICT Chair position. A little bit about me: I'm a first year MPP student at the Humphrey Institute interested in international development, global policy and human rights. I'm also the primary administrator for the Humphrey Institute's Global Policy Area blog, "Global Notes." I'm really excited for IPID's future and looking forward to the opportunity to use digital media and the web to advance its mission! Looking forward to meeting and working with you,
Rachel