SPP Connections Newsletter

Despite COVID-19, we were delighted to welcome ninety new MPA students and forty-seven new MPP students this term. Orientcounseloration was online, with students dialling in across the world - allowing us to record sessions, run online Q&As and expand our use of online resources.

We've also welcomed back our largest ever MPA Year 2 cohort: a hundred and seventeen students are now busy working on their Capstone projects. There are twenty-six projects this year, with clients including Amazon, the City of Cape Town government, EBRD, UNESCO, and the World Food Programme.

Campus re-opened in September with an extensive range of safety measures - teaching is delivered via online lectures and workshops, with on-campus seminars for those in London and online seminars for remote students. We are extremely grateful to our teachers for the adjustments they've made to teaching arrangements, to our students for their flexibility and understanding, and to our amazing programmes team whose tireless behind-the-scenes work has made this term possible.

Vanessa Rubio to join LSE’s School of Public Policy as a Professor in Practice

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Vanessa Rubio- Márquez as Professor in Practice for the School of Public Policy (SPP) from January 2021.

Vanessa will take up a pivotal role: as a Professor in Practice she will work with students to link the theoretical and conceptual knowledge of policy-making based on her extensive professional experience.

Vanessa has previously had a twenty-five-year long career in Mexico’s public service, including serving as Senator and three-time Deputy Minister (Finance, Social Development, and Foreign Affairs). She has represented Mexico in various international fora – including the UN, the IMF, and the G-20; in addition to her political career, Vanessa is also an author, a regular contributor in international and Mexican newspapers and journals, and has been a Professor for 14 years in her native Mexico.

Vanessa tells us: ‘ ’Joining my alma mater (LSE) as a Professor in Practice at the SPP is one of the most significant achievements in my life. I want to be able to give students long life tools to become the best policy makers they can be, to positively and effectively contribute to the betterment of our world.’’

‘’We are delighted Vanessa Rubio is joining the SPP as Professor of Practice,’ says SPP Dean Andres Velasco. ‘ An LSE graduate, she has direct, hands-on policy-making experience at the highest level, in public finance, social policy and international affairs. Vanessa is uniquely qualified to help train the policy leaders of tomorrow, the world over.’’

The SPP Annual Report 2019-2020

We are delighted to introduce our first Annual Report for the School of Public Policy, covering the period August 2019 to July 2020.

Our report is a chance to reflect on the prestigious community that we are assembling and to celebrate the achievements of the School and, in particular, its students. Our journey to become the preeminent policy school in Europe has only just begun, yet already we see exciting growth and opportunity to influence and shape policy-making across the globe.

You can read the report online, and we would welcome any feedback at spp@lse.ac.uk.

Our online Alumni Survey for 2020 is still ongoing, and we'd love to hear from you. The survey will only take you a few minutes to complete and will really help us as we develop our SPP Alumni Programme So please let us know your thoughts on our alumni events, publications, and other activities. You can access the survey online here.

Don't forget, to get the most of our alumni programme you can:

sign up to our mailing list to keep updated with events or news

share your story with our community, or read about your fellow alumni's experiences

check out the benefits our alumni are entitled to

or mark your calendar for upcoming alumni events?

With regional lockdowns still in place we've kept our alumni connected through online events across the term. These have included:

Recent Alumni Social: welcoming our latest graduates to the SPP community.
Alumni Discussion: A 'Post-COVID Future'?: an open-house discussion partnered with the Institute for Global Affairs, in which IGA academics Piroska Nagy Mohacsi and Sir Vince Cable led the discussion on a post-COVID world.
Our International Get-Together: a social specifically timed for alumni based in Oceania and Asia.
The SPP End-of-Term Festive Social and Quiz: in which faculty, alumni and students came together to celebrate the end of term and the end of 2020. It was lovely to see so many attend, and a particular congratulations to team winners Rachael McLellan (LSE Fellow in Political Science & Public Policy) and Chelsea Johnson (LSE Fellow in Political Science & Public Policy)!

Meet Mollie Foust

This past year has emphasised just how important the policy-based work of our alumni community is. Mollie Foust (MPA, 2013) is our alumni in the spotlight, working as a Senior Counselor at the Office of the Governor of Illinois. Mollie has been utilising both skills and connections made at the SPP to make a real difference in Illinois' COVID response: driving policy decisions that have gone on to save lives.

You can read about Mollie's work online.

Do you know an alumnus whose story should be shared with the SPP community? It could be a friend, a colleague, someone whose work you admire from afar - it could even be yourself! Drop us a line to recommend the next alumni profile.

'The Limits of Learning As Usual'

A new piece for Transparency Initiative, co-authored by Samir Khan (2017, EMPA), explores fiscal governance and its reforms in the Ghanaian context. You can read this online.

Samir is currently a Program Officer for the International Budget Partnership, having joined IBP after taking the 'Fiscal Governance and Budgeting' course at LSE.

Marlon Tábora Muñoz at the Inter-American Development Bank

We're pleased to share that SPP alumnus Marlon Tábora Muñoz (2019, EMPA) has been appointed as Executive Advisor of the Office of the President and Vice President of Finance and Administration at the Inter-American Development Bank. Congratulations, Marlon, and all the best in your new role.

Find out more.

Student Post-US Election Event

On November 11, many of our students attended an online event World After the US Elections, with Dean Andrés Velasco in conversation with Professor Peter Trubowitz, the Director of the LSE US Centre. The discussion touched on various topics, from the perseverance of populism post-Trump to analysing international winners and losers of the US election.

Watch the video online here.

TheGenDen is Open for Business

LSE Generate's new central London coworking space, The GenDen, is officially open, and alumni are warmly welcomed to book on. Currently the space is set up for social distancing, hosting up to 30 hotdesking spaces, 3 meeting rooms, sofa spaces and a snug relax room.

Alumni can book places on a daily basis via email with the subject title I'd like a GenDen Desk, please! The Den is open from 9-5pm every weekday, and is situated on the 1st floor of the building at 19-37 Highgate Road, Kentish Town, NW5 1JY.

To find out more, get in touch at generate@lse.ac.uk.

Professional Skills in Public Policy

This year we expanded our professional skills programme, helping students develop their skills and knowhow within the field of public policy. Students can now attain a Professional Skills in Public Policy Certificate: a programme of guided self-reflection helping them assess their professional strengths and weaknesses. This includes self-evaluative writing, discussions within a small peer group, and weekend training workshops with professional development experts.

We have also been delivering a new series of Policy in Practice seminars for our students, with speakers including Jennifer Musisi (City Leader In Residence at the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative), Lant Pritchett (RISE Research Director at the Blavatnik School of Government), and Nick Rowley (former advisor to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair).

Insight is an SPP student-led initiative where, when on campus, a group of students run talks/discussions as evening social events. Now teaching is online, our students have been presenting to their cohort as individuals.

We had two excellent presentations from individual students this term: one on the government’s policy on Grenfell Tower, and one on the law reform to legalise abortion in New South Wales in Australia. We're looking forward to see what the SPP students will talk about next term!

The LSE COVID-19 Blog

Britain's job support schemes; right direction, more to do

For the LSE COVID-19 blog, Professor of Public Economics Nicholas Barr argues that the UK government job support schemes need to go further in reflecting the new reality of COVID-19.

Read online

Lives v livelihoods: how can we measure the value of a life?

Professor Alex Voorhoeve examines balancing healthcare against economic security in COVID response policies, as part of the LSE COVID-19 blog.

Read part one and part two online.

Alumni Benefits in the Spotlight

Want to connect to alumni in your area?

LSE maintain a series of alumni groups around the world, based around both region and special interests. Wherever you are in the world or whatever you're doing, why not get in touch and make some new connections amongst the alumni community?

We've enjoyed a packed programme of online events this term: discussing current events such as Brexit and COVID alongside meritocracies, economies, and how to 'pursue excellence'. All podcasts of past events can be found online, so if you missed out on a particular event be sure to check it out.

If you want to be kept updated with SPP public events, why not join our event mailing list?

Innovation and Inclusive Growth: COVID-19 as a window of opportunity

Friday 11 September 2020

David Sainsbury’s book Windows of Opportunity came out just before COVID-19 forced the global economy into lockdown. This event examines the pandemic as an opportunity to promote inclusive growth and sustainable innovation.

Listen to the podcast

The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become Of the Common Good?

Wednesday 9 September 2020

Professor Michael Sandel discusses his latest book, The Tyranny of Merit. Here he highlights the hubris a meritocracy generates among the winners and the harsh judgement it imposes on those left behind - and offers an alternative way of thinking about success.

Listen to the podcast

Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World

Wednesday 28 October 2020

Fareed Zakaria discusses his latest book, Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic world - examining political, social, and economic consequences that may take years to unfold.

Listen to the podcast

After Brexit: the UK in the North Atlantic Trade triangle

Thursday 12 November 2020

As the UK steers its post-Brexit future, it is placed between US and EU trade policies. What might these mean for the UK’s economic future?

Listen to the podcast