Man guiding farm equipment across crops
Discovery & Impact, Student Experience

Not your typical summer professional development opportunity

June 21, 2022

Through the MIDP Summer Experience, McCourt School students apply analytical methods to real world problems in developing countries.

Each year, McCourt School students in the Master of International Development Policy (MIDP) program secure unique professional opportunities with leading development institutions around the world as part of their participation in the MIDP Summer Experience. The McCourt School covers international travel costs and provides a living stipend, which enables students to design placements that fit their specific interests, the majority of which are in developing countries. 

In 2022, all 23 MIDP students secured program-relevant placements, and more than half of them found placements outside the United States, including in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ghana, India, Mexico, Nigeria and Tanzania, among others. 

“Employers are interested in our students because of the skills they develop during their first year, and the maturity and experience they bring into the program,” said Dr. Franck Wiebe, professor of the practice and MIDP faculty director. “The summer experience is an integral part of the educational experience at Georgetown, but it is also an extremely valuable and visible part of students’ resumes.”

The McCourt School is proud to highlight a few of the students advancing their skills-based training through the MIDP Summer Experience.

Manami Nakayama (MIDP ‘23)

Manami Nakayama (MIDP ‘23)

Nakayama will be working in Tanzania for Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), a leading research and policy nonprofit which has been working in countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America for nearly 20 years. Her research will focus on financial inclusion, which has been linked with poverty alleviation and economic mobility. Nakayama will help evaluate the impact of projects which have introduced new digital technologies as a way to enhance financial inclusion in poor households.

María Antonella Pereira (MIDP‘23)

María Antonella Pereira headshot

Pereira’s placement will involve work in both Bangladesh and the United Kingdom. She will be working for the International Centre for Evidence on Disability at the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, evaluating the impact of the Skills Training for Advancing Resources (STAR) program in Bangladesh. Two out of every five Bangladeshis between 15 and 24 years are unemployed, uneducated and lack formal job training. STAR is a six-month apprenticeship program for young people, providing classroom and on-the-job training with local employers.

Grace Robinson (MIDP‘23)

Grace Robinson headshot

Robinson will spend her summer working with the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) in India, which has one of the lowest female labor force participation rates in South Asia. Among rural women, less than 30% are engaged in productive work, paid or unpaid. The Government of India has several programs that provide investment, training and advisory services to women’s collectives. 3ie’s Swashakt Evidence Program is studying the impact of these initiatives on women’s livelihoods and their social empowerment.

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