Year: 2024

New Podcast: Authorizer Reflections on Using PDIA in Meghalaya, India

Sampath Kumar on a site visit in Meghalaya, India

We have released a new episode in our podcast series A Decade of Building State Capability. In this episode, BSC Director Salimah Samji interviews Sampath Kumar, Health Secretary and Development Commissioner of the government of Meghalaya. Sampath attended Harvard Kennedy School in 2013 where he had his first exposure to Building State Capability. In this…Continue Reading New Podcast: Authorizer Reflections on Using PDIA in Meghalaya, India

Reflections on IPP and Returning to Work

Person summiting a mountain

Guest blog by Marcio Paes Barreto, IPP ’23 As my course Implementing Public Policy (IPP) ended I recognized a familiar feeling that relates to my experience leading NOLS wilderness expeditions. At the end of those expeditions, participants often reflected on what they couldn’t bring back from the wilderness, and some felt uneasy about returning to…Continue Reading Reflections on IPP and Returning to Work

Developing a Harmonized Legal and Regulatory Framework for Reforming Public Sector Pay in Sierra Leone

Freetown, Sierra Leone

Guest blog by Sonia Umu Karim, IPP ’23 One of my favourite quotations, which I came across during my secondary school years and which has kept me going through many frustrating ups and downs working on public sector reforms in Sierra Leone is by Henry David Thoreau; it goes “All endeavour calls for the ability to tramp…Continue Reading Developing a Harmonized Legal and Regulatory Framework for Reforming Public Sector Pay in Sierra Leone

BSC 2023: The Year in Review

BSC Team photo: Anisha Poobalan, Matt Andrews, Salimah Samji, Daniel Barjum, and Kathryn Lang

written by Salimah Samji Building State Capability (BSC) resolves public problems with purpose. We have developed a step-by-step approach called Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA), a dynamic process with tight feedback loops that allows organizations to build their own solutions that fit their local context. PDIA empowers action, facilitates the emergence of local solutions, and…Continue Reading BSC 2023: The Year in Review

Apply for our Strategies for Inclusive Growth Executive Program!

Aerial image of income disparity in South African neighborhoods

We are offering Strategies for Inclusive Growth at the Harvard Kennedy School from April 28 – May 3rd 2024. Application deadline is March 25th, 2024. Paths to economic prosperity are rapidly evolving. Policymakers struggle to meet economic goals as growth remains unsustainable, non-inclusive, or just plain stuck. Organizations often rely on one-size-fits-all approaches that fail to meet…Continue Reading Apply for our Strategies for Inclusive Growth Executive Program!

New Podcast: Ricardo Hausmann Reflects on his Engagement with BSC

Ricardo Hausmann headshot

We have released a new episode in our podcast series A Decade of Building State Capability. In this episode, BSC Director Salimah Samji interviews Ricardo Hausmann, Rafik Hariri Professor of the Practice of International Political Economy at the Harvard Kennedy School and founder and Director of Harvard’s Growth Lab. In this episode, Ricardo describes his…Continue Reading New Podcast: Ricardo Hausmann Reflects on his Engagement with BSC