All of the teams put forth an amazing effort, yesterday.   The judges pointed out one team from each track that really stood out.  They were:

Team 2: Kate Brick, Andrew Gisselquist, John Hreno  (Public Sector Track)

Team 1: Anna Chen,  Jeffrey Berger, and  Ayelet Haran (International Development Track)

Congratulations, winners!

International Development Track

Presenting now:

All of the teams have presented!

Already presented:

Team 5: Yolanda Zhu,  Ben Roseth,  Rebecca Burton

Team 2: Mohammad Darwazah, Sadaf Sajwani, Khetiwe Khumalo

Team 3: Sandhya Chari, Gwyneth Fries, Dana Pasternak

Team 4: Cyrille Beaufils, Neha Kumar, Karina Nagin

Team 1: Anna Chen,  Jeffrey Berger, and  Ayelet Haran

Public Sector Track

Presenting now:

All of the teams have presented!

Already presented:

Team 3: Risa Irie,  Nellie Abernathy,  Mark Richardson

Team 2: Kate Brick, Andrew Gisselquist, John Hreno

Team 4: Ryan Chan, Casey Gheen, Jennifer Singh

Team 1: Viviana Gomez, Beligh Ltaifa, Maria Vargas

Team 5: Simeng Chen, Andrew Pacifico, and Diyana Ishak

It’s this time of year when those of us in the SIPA community return to the International Affairs Building and observe the fresh flurry of activity, like the emergence of nature after the thawing of winter ice begins.   Students are rushing off to their new classes, faculty members are scrambling to get their syllabus together and on courseworks, school administrators are dealing with course conflicts and registration issues.  What’s more is that we’ve now entered full throttle internship season.   Spring is when the careers services office really comes to life and kicks into gear, and we’d be remiss at the SIPA Public Policy Case Competition if we didn’t pay some sort of blogging homage.

As a second year student entering her final semester here at SIPA, I’ve been giving some thought to what I’ve accumulated over my time here and have realized that if there’s something worth walking away with, it’s that toolkit of skills, frameworks, and base knowledge.  Long after I leave SIPA, I may have forgotten how the Stolper-Samuelson theory for international trade works, or how to graph a call option, or even the list of political economic factors that contributed to the hyperinflation in Argentina between 1975 and 1991 – but I won’t forget the lingo of shorting a call, what questions to ask, and where to go for more information when I need it.

To me, this heuristical toolkit is part of what makes a great consultant, public sector or otherwise.    So best of luck to everyone who is conducting case interviews in the next few weeks with prospective consulting firms.

There will be a competitor workshop which we urge all competitors to attend regardless of your experience with consulting. The workshop will be a terrific way to meet the other competitors, brush up on your analytical problem-solving skills, and gain a better understanding of what the judges are looking for in your final presentation.

Date: February 28, 2010
Time: 8:00pm
Location: Lehman Library – Basement Study Group Area

We look forward to seeing all of you at the workshop!

We are excited to announce this year’s competitors.

Current Competitors

See them in action on February 5, 2010.  We’re looking forward to a great competition!

We are really pleased to announce the commitment of these two outstanding consulting firms, specialized in Development issues. They are joining the rank of our panel of judges alongside with Deloitte and PriceWaterHouse Coopers.

So what are these firms doing exactly?

Chemonics is an international development consulting firm that promotes meaningful change to help people live healthier, more productive, and more independent lives. Around the world, they design and implement projects in financial services, private sector development, health, environmental management, gender, crisis prevention and recovery, democracy and governance, and agriculture.

Development Alternative Incorporated’s mission is to make a lasting difference in the world by helping developing nations become more prosperous, fairer and more just, cleaner, safer, healthier, more stable, more efficient, and better governed. They are working in the following sectors: Economic Growth, Governance, Health, Nature, Stability, and Corporate Sector.

You can check them out here:

http://www.chemonics.com/ and http://www.dai.com/

Applications are due today!  Can’t believe how quickly time flies.  Thanksgiving is already upon us, and with that comes the application deadline for the SIPA Public Policy Case Competition.    While you guys are eating turkey and mashed potatoes, your friendly neighbourhood steering committee will be reviewing your applications.    We’ve already received a good number of them, so keep them coming.  We’re delighted to see what creative responses you’ve come up with for the scenario questions.    Feel free to ask any questions at apply@policycasecompetition.com.

On another note, we just received word from one of our sponsors last year that they’d be participating again this year!  That’s right:  Development Alternatives Inc.  (DAI) will be joining our esteemed list of sponsors again.   Their work in the field of development consulting can be followed at http://www.dai.com/.

Our competitor information session is fast approaching. Mark down your calendars for Monday November 16, 2009 at 1pm, in Room 411 of the International Affairs Building.    If you can’t make it then because of classes, there will be another information session on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 6:15pm in Rm. 413 of the International Affairs Building.  All interested individuals are welcome to come, regardless of your year, experience, or background in consulting! For more information, check out our competitors page on the website.

For those of you familiar with the Columbia University SIPA culture, you’ll sympathize with the endless use of acronyms.  Well, we’re certainly no exception here.  The SPPCC stands for, if you haven’t already figured out from the front page of our website, SIPA Public Policy Case Competition. I’m delighted to invite you to be one of the first viewers of our brand new website.   We’ll be using the SPPCC Blog to bring you the latest news about our event, and occasionally blog about random happenings at SIPA or in the public policy world.   I hope you’ll stay, explore a little, and perhaps even decide to participate in our event.

Andrea Wong, Chairperson
SIPA Public Policy Case Competition