On February 7th – 9th 2020, Moses Addai (Class of 2022), Mary Amde (2020), Bikash Gupta (2020), and Thuy Le (2022) participated in a student-led policy competition to write and present a one-page policy brief on “Natural Disasters Response and Management in the Caribbean”. The competition encouraged students to be in the position of policymakers who had limited resources and time to create solutions for complex issues.
After the topic was announced, students had 12 hours to develop an innovative and feasible policy memo to present to a group of policy experts. “Even though the topic was not what we expected, it allowed us an opportunity to learn about the Caribbean and the challenge the region faces” (Moses Addai). “We decided to take an interdisciplinary approach and incorporate each of our unique ideas. Although this decision would later become the main criticism we received from judges, I believe it was what made our policy memo stand out.” (Mary Amde). “I learned that strong leadership was essential for the success of teamwork. A great leader should have the ability to coordinate different ideas and maintain a calm disposition even in the most stressful situations.” (Thuy Le). “By participating in the competition, I was able to learn more about myself, my strengths and my weaknesses, and envision actionable ways by which I could evolve into a better researcher and policymaker.” (Bikash Gupta).
To read the full report, please read Yale International Policy Report.