Experiencing & Undoing Discrimination in Development: Alumni Panel

The work of development is to improve quality of life and expand economic opportunity across diverse global communities, and graduate programs such as the MPA/ID program at HKS are enormously diverse in national origin, gender, and professional and lived experience. Yet, a 2020 survey of MPA/ID alumni revealed that roughly half of all respondents have encountered discrimination in some form (either being harmed by it, being complicit in it, or observing it). In the Fall of 2021, the Diversity in Development series discussed the problems of limited diversity in the field of international development and introduced frameworks for understanding the problem. It also considered diverse approaches to the goals of “development,” including aspects of self-determination, capabilities, and justice, and the extent to which a vision of development is shared. These sessions laid the theoretical frameworks for thinking about the ultimate goals of international development approaches. In the third session of our Diversity in Development Seminar series, we turned the spotlight on MPA/ID alumni who are dealing with these issues on the ground every day. Specifically, we asked them to reflect and share: i) lived experiences with discrimination in the sector and ii) how they are elevating voices of those closest to the challenges they seek to solve. Watch this rich discussion of the complexities of these deeply rooted patterns and opportunities to shift power in international development. Panelists: Amna Awan, Gender Advisor at Karandaaz Pakistan Carolyn Fallert, writer Johanan Rivera, Manager of Programs, Environment; IMAGO Rodrigo Salvado, Deputy Director, Development Policy and Finance; Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Moderator: Michael Walton, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School