Guest blog by Abel Capellan Almonte, IPP ’25 I entered IPP with a simple story in my head: students “don’t like” STEM. After months of PDIA, I think that story is convenient but wrong. The problem is not a single decision made by a teenager. It is a system that quietly pushes them toward safer,…Continue Reading Low Student Participation in STEM Careers in the Dominican Republic
Guest blog by Mariam Alkarbi, IPP ’25 When I joined the Implementing Public Policy (IPP) program, I was eager to work on an issue close to my heart: improving school food environments in Abu Dhabi. Childhood obesity is one of the UAE’s most pressing public health challenges, and while we already have nutrition guidelines and…Continue Reading Strengthening Healthy School Nutrition Policy in Abu Dhabi, UAE
In June, we welcomed 36 practitioners from 16 countries to Harvard Kennedy School for the on-campus portion of our Implementing Public Policy (IPP) Executive Education program. This program ran from May to September 2025, with the on-campus phase being a week-long intensive, interactive, and immersive experience. During the week, participants engaged with faculty and peers…Continue Reading Highlights from the 2025 Implementing Public Policy Program
In this talk hosted at Harvard Kennedy School on October 16th, Shaun Tomson, a former surfing world champion turned purpose coach, shares his journey from business to purpose-driven work following the tragic loss of his 15-year-old son Matthew in 2006. Tomson now speaks globally about purpose, arguing that our words have transformational power which create…Continue Reading Event: Finding Purpose in Turbulent Times
What will it take to build high-performing, purpose-oriented public sector organizations in India? In answering this question, the voices of India’s frontline officers–charged with delivering a vast array of public services to citizens–are dismissed all too quickly. Public debates on the Indian state generally view them as corrupt, apathetic, incompetent, and in urgent need of…Continue Reading Event: Lessons in State Capacity from Delhi’s Schools
We are offering Leading Economic Growth online again from September 29 – December 5th 2025. Application deadline is September 8th, 2025. Stimulating growth is the top economic priority for many countries and localities around the world. Yet many are trapped, lacking the productive capability to solve problems and expand to new industries to drive development. New growth strategies…Continue Reading Apply for our Leading Economic Growth Executive Program!
A Four-Part Podcast Series with Rob Wilkinson Effective leadership requires more than making decisions and giving orders. A good leader needs to understand perspectives, manage group dynamics, connect with people on an emotional level, and craft compelling visions for the future. In this four-part podcast series, Harvard Kennedy School’s Robert Wilkinson talks us through his…Continue Reading The 4P Framework for Strategic Leadership
The Leadership and Innovation Program (LIP), launched in 2020 by the Royal School of Administration and supported by the World Bank’s Coalitions for Reforms (C4R) Global Program, including Michael Woolcock, has trained over 1,000 senior officials across ministries and provinces in Cambodia. The program was designed to address persistent challenges in Cambodia’s public sector, such…Continue Reading The Leadership Program Reshaping Cambodia
Guest blog by Melissa Velez, IPP ’23 Since early 2020, the City of Allentown, in Eastern Pennsylvania, has been working on a complete zoning code rewrite. The plan has been to go from a typical Euclidian type of code to more of a form-based code. The project was stalled for a couple of years due…Continue Reading Zoning in on the Problem: Using PDIA to Build Affordable Housing in Allentown, Pennsylvania
Blog written by Mannat Singh Building State Capability (BSC) has trained over 4,500 public problem solvers in 156 countries to use the Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) approach. However, policy problems are complex and often persist, necessitating constant collaboration and real-time learning. In December 2024, we launched our new PDIA Community of Practice platform. Designed…Continue Reading Building and Engaging the PDIA Community of Practice
