From Karachi, Pakistan, Sara Hidayatullah (MPP’24) studied economics and public policy at University of California, Berkeley, before joining Applied Predictive Technologies. The company, owned by Mastercard, brought her to London, where she was recognized in theTechWomen100 awards for the UK’s top women leaders in tech.

She also worked with Mastercard’s philanthropic hub. Through this partnership, she developed tools to assist public sector decision-making, like the Inclusive Growth Score, a measurement for assessing communities and their needs.

“That project was really what drove me to apply to the McCourt School,” she says. “The biggest question for me was how to translate insight from data into real policy.”

At McCourt, Hidayatullah is looking forward to immersing herself in academics and DC’s international, policy-minded community.