BSC 2021: Year in Review

Year in Review

Written by Salimah Samji

2021 was another challenging year dealing with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. We spent the first half working remotely and enduring zoom fatigue. It was such a joy to be back in the classroom and to engage with colleagues in person when we returned to campus in the fall.

Some highlights of 2021 include:

  • Trained and engaged 380+ practitioners around the globe (incl. degree programs, online executive education, and policy engagements with governments)
  • Published 4 papers and wrote a case on digital health in Croatia
  • Recorded 4 podcasts
  • Translated the PDIA Toolkit into Khmer

Here’s a month by month playback of 2021:

January

BSC Faculty Director Matt Andrews chaired the executive education program entitled, Public Financial Management (PFM) in a Changing World at the Harvard Kennedy School. 36 PFM practitioners participated in this program.

February

Matt Andrews and Salimah Samji, co-taught the class entitled, PDIA in Action: Development through Facilitated Emergence online. 37 students across Harvard completed the course.

Students and their authorizers smiling on zoom with Matt Andrews and Salimah Samji

Salimah joined Toney Thompson, host of the GovLove podcast, in February to talk about the PDIA process and showcase PDIA examples in local government and training and how data is used in the process.

A screenshot of a tweet from Toney Thompson "Really enjoyed speaking with Salimah from @HarvardBSC about how local govs can use the PDIA framework in their work.

Our IPP Community of Practice hosted a session with Rob Wilkinson on the 4Ps, joined by 44 participants.

IPP Community of Practice members with Rob Wilkinson on zoom.

March

We launched the spring session of Leading Economic Growth (LEG) online with 65 participants, bringing together practitioners to apply PDIA to real-world leadership and governance challenges.

April

We organized a public event series featuring our students and a collection of their work was showcased in the PDIA in Action book.

Cover page of the PDIA in Action book with a crimson red background and BSC's logo at the bottom

We launched the inaugural BSC newsletter to share updates, insights, and practitioner stories with the broader community.

June

We kicked off our 6-month training program, Implementing Public Policy (IPP), with 66 practitioners joining us online. 

IPP 2021 participants on zoom with Matt Andrews and Salimah Samji

The IPP Community of Practice hosted another event with Monica Higgins who talked about building effective teams.

PDIA Toolkit included in UN – https://sdgintegration.undp.org/problem-driven-iterative-adaptation-toolkit

Tweet: Thrilled to have our PDIA toolkit featured on the @SDGintegration website. The toolkit provides step-by-step guidance to break down development challenges into root causes & identify possible solutions within local contexts.

July

The IPP Community of practice welcomed a new group moderators for the July to December term.

Zoom screenshot of 4 new moderators smiling

August

We began an engagement with Instituto Sonho Grande (ISG) in Brazil to build the capability of public servants working in secretariats of education in the states of Maranhão and Paraíba. We engaged with 60 public servants working across 11 teams.

Matt Andrews on a projector screen with a conference room full of practitioners

September

PDIA was included in the Investment Climate Reform (ICR) toolkit in September 2021.

October

The fall cohort of Leading Economic Growth began, continuing through December.

Matt Andrews published a Bloomberg article, The IMF Rushed Out Billions for Pandemic Relief. Where’d It All Go? on October 27th.

Salimah Samji led a session focused on careers in international development, sharing insights and practical guidance to students navigating the job market.

A new team member, Kathryn Lang, joined the BSC team as a Program Coordinator overseeing the marketing, communications, event coordination and administration, providing a diverse range of support for BSC programs and projects!

Salimah Samji moderated a discussion with Fatema Sumar on her book The Development Diplomat, exploring leadership, diplomacy, and development practice. Watch the book talk.

Salimah Samji and Fatima Sumar presenting with CID branded banner in background and books on a table.

November

Matt Andrews participated in a Beyond COVID-19 panel discussion, where he highlighted the “last-mile delivery” challenge many countries face after procuring vaccines, noting the need to shift towards more resilient health systems and not just delivering health services.