Inside the Global Master of Arts Program’s Policy Lab

Experiential learning is a cornerstone of The Fletcher School experience, something students in the Global Master of Arts Program (GMAP) know quite well. A hybrid degree program, GMAP is designed to help mid-career professionals pivot or accelerate in their careers. For many students, the policy lab is the catalyst they need to make that change. 

At the beginning of the one-year degree program, students are tasked with finding a problem in either their sector or another that they want to learn more about and devise a comprehensive policy solution. At the program’s mid-year international residency, students painstakingly workshop their proposal with each other and deliver a four-minute pitch to a panel of experts, which often includes several Fletcher alumni. With the feedback they receive, they compose a final memo, which they deliver before graduation. 

“The purpose is to solve a real-world problem,” said Piper Howard, Senior Associate Director of GMAP and GBA, “something that keeps them up at night, that thing that they are really passionate about.”

An Evidence-Based Experiential Learning Program

The program is based on a successful and time-tested model from The Fletcher School Leadership Program for Financial Inclusion (FLPFI). In 2010, the Gates Foundation awarded Fletcher a grant to develop a training program for leaders at central banks and regulatory institutions that would help them lead in regulation, policy development and financial inclusion. Lecturer in Human Security Kimberley Wilson and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Public Policy Melita Sawyer first developed the policy lab for FLPFI. In 2023, they saw that FLPFI provided a roadmap for a workshop-based program for GMAP students, which they now teach.  

“Instead of focusing on central banking and financial issues, we expanded the focus to any issues that were important to the student,” said Wilson. “If the student was interested in a program to help Latino populations use technology better, or to help save a reef in the middle of the Pacific, it didn't matter, as long as they were passionate about it and they could get information on it.”

“After they've gone through the curriculum, their eyes and ears are open to all of these different issues, and it's very common that students will pivot into a new problem,” added Howard. “We purposefully introduce the project at the first residency in June to give them several months to think through what real-world problem they want to solve.”

Drawing from FLPFI’s people-centered model, students complete an evidence-based research process and conduct several key informant interviews.

“We encourage them to engage with real people involved in the policy problem or the potential policy solution,” said Sawyer. “Those key informant interviews happen before we gather for the residency. They’re prep work for their research but also an opportunity to engage with the Fletcher network and think about job opportunities down the line.” 

“It gets them engaging with all sorts of different actors and stakeholders that are touching the issue that they care about,” she added. “Those conversations are important to the students.”

The GMAP Residency – An Intensive Workshop 

Around campus, the program is often referred to as “policy pitches” because of the intensive experience that takes place during the international residencies. 

“It's a celebratory event, but it's also a crucible that everyone needs to go through to communicate their policy solution effectively to this expert audience,” said Sawyer. “It’s also an opportunity for networking within the alumni community – students deliver those policy solutions and get feedback on them.”

This feedback is instrumental for students in crafting their final memo at the end of the year, which tasks them with formally articulating their proposals in a format that can be shared with stakeholders. 

“It's a trial run within Fletcher for students to use these incredible skills in problem analysis, research, negotiation, persuasion and communication and channel them to solve this one thing that they care deeply about,” said Sawyer. “Having the opportunity to do that while they still have access to professor support and their peer network for feedback – that's been really special.”

The program provides vigorous support for students to succeed in developing their pitches because they’re not just a classroom project – the policy lab is designed to produce a proposal that is actionable in the world. 

“Our students very much appreciate the real-world nature of this experience,” Howard said. “This isn't a pie in the sky idea or process. This is something that they truly take on as a part of their profession. It is so important for a mid-career student that what they're learning in the classroom can be transferred directly into the work that they're doing on a daily basis or what their ultimate goal is.”

“This course allows them to apply knowledge to the real world,” she added. “The end result is something that they can present to an organization or government, and say, ‘I've done all of this research. Here's what I want to do. Here's how I can do it.’”

Read more about Fletcher’s Global Master of Arts Program and the program's policy lab.