#Harvard Kennedy School

[humansofhds]

Evelyn Nam, MTS ’18

“I am humbled when I witness the impact that my content has on people. It’s been a really cool experience to read messages from nine-year-olds to 65-year-olds saying that they are inspired by my confidence and that I'm being helpful.”

Evelyn is an HDS and Harvard Kennedy School grad and a feminist content creator on TikTok with over 655k followers and 11.5 million likes. View all of Evelyn’s work here, and follow Evelyn on TikTok (@herspective) and Instagram (@herspectivefeminist).

The Journey from Academia to Social Media

I came to Harvard Divinity School in 2016 for my Master of Theological Studies and then went straight to the Harvard Kennedy School where I pursued a second master’s program for two years. So, I ended up graduating in 2020 into the worst economy possible, and an especially hostile one for Asian individuals. 

The year 2020 was a year of reflection for a lot of us, and personally it really gave me the opportunity to process all the education and experiences I had collected at both HDS and HKS, and to think about how I wanted to utilize and leverage them to make a difference and have impact. This led me to start creating content on TikTok. 

I started posting on TikTok somewhat as a joke initially, but when I began to notice just how toxic, racist, and sexist the app was, I decided to address it; and here I am. 

When you live in a white supremacist patriarchy, everyone else faces the risk of being dehumanized. Therefore, when technology is added on top of it, it's even doubly dehumanizing because it is much easier for people to attack and harass each other fueled by the anonymity of social media. There are people on the app who make destructive content and actually get celebrated, recognized for this. Seeing this happen up close was revealing and showed me that I had been living in something of a progressive bubble. 

HDS especially is such a spiritually progressive place that it made me think that the world couldn’t really be that bad. So, in a way, TikTok, Instagram, and social media influencing gave me a wakeup call. My education at HDS and HKS helped me in different ways. HDS emphasized the tenet of leadership, most adequately expressed in the ability to know and understand where the other side is coming from. I don't have to meet them where they are, but I have to know where they're coming from and to extend empathy even to those with whom I disagree. This does not mean that I should stop calling them out, or that I should stop speaking the truth, but it does mean that even though they might have successfully demonized somebody like me, an East Asian woman, I can still humanize them. This is a really difficult thing to do, but HDS really hammered in its importance for me.  

Friendship as Activism

Additionally, HDS validated my voice and my eagerness to intervene when something is happening that shouldn't be happening. It validated that it is important to trust our instincts for justice, to get involved and to use our power and privilege to get in between somebody who is getting bullied and someone who is bullying them. And so, when I saw bullying happening on the app, how could I not feel called to intervene? If I had turned a blind eye, who was I helping? 

As an MTS student with a focus on Religion, Ethics and Politics, I had structured my course selections in ways that would enable me to be a good feminist. So, while I took gender courses, I also took courses about forgiveness and spiritual counseling because I wanted to be an effective friend to women and non-binary individuals who wrestle the most with patriarchy. There is a lot of religious illiteracy on the app, but I am grounded in my own knowledge that Jesus is a feminist, and a loving God. 

As a progressive Catholic, I may not agree with the church, but I agree with God. I am confident of his love for Black folks, for indigenous folks, for people who are marginalized, struggling, or poor. When God is represented as an authoritative, cosmic being responsible for punishing people and managing punishments, it bothers me because that narrative instills fear in people and it traumatizes them. What I would love to see instead is a more diverse representation of different religions. Right now, the app lacks this, so there's an access gap there that is exacerbating the religious illiteracy problem.

Highlighting Marginalized Voices

TikTok recently made a public apology in which they admitted to having suppressed the voices of LGBTQ+ content creators, stating that they did that because they were afraid that LGBTQ+ creators were going to be bullied by the public. And my response to that is, well they should have reprimanded the bullies instead. 

I think about the many activist content creators that I see, especially Black queer women who talk often about oppression and are so insightful and wise. They don't get as much traction and they have a harder time reaching audiences and going viral than white cis women do. As it currently stands, the content that easily blows up is usually put out by cis white women with “pretty privilege”. The more marginalized identities one has, the harder time they have on the app, so it is quite literally a microcosm of the world. 

One of the reasons why I'm still active on TikTok is that I can utilize my platform to highlight marginalized creators. There is a community in that; we see each other and talk to each other even behind closed doors, and this is necessary because personally, as an Asian woman this has been a really tough year. And one of the things that made it even more difficult was feeling like I was isolated or that nobody cared about my struggles. But through this app, I have met a lot of people who do care about my struggles and care about marginalized identities. 

The  second thing is that I am humbled when I witness the impact that my content has on people. It’s been a really cool experience to read messages from nine-year-olds to 65-year-olds saying that they are inspired by my confidence and that I'm being helpful.  

Practicing Selfcare and Healthy Boundaries

I think my version of internalized misogyny is that I still believe that my role is to self-sacrifice. This is what makes me a great advocate to begin with, because I jump to the defense of people who are struggling without really caring about the risks it might pose to me. 

However, it is not always healthy to think that my role is to prioritize everyone else above myself. It has finally reached a point where that is not working anymore, so I have some unpacking to do there. I am now realizing through social media activism that if I show up all burned out, I'm not good for anybody. So no, I don't think I'm an expert at selfcare yet, and I think being open about that is important because I hope that by being vulnerable about my own internalized misogyny, I can encourage other women to be also open about their own. 

This presence of vulnerability is something I miss about being in the HDS community. HDS is a really special place, and I want people to know that. It is an exquisitely compassionate place, and your time at HDS probably is the only time where you will get to be as vulnerable, authentic, and honest as you can be about yourself and all your flaws and still be accepted, loved, respected and valued. 

The entire culture of HDS is that all anyone has to do is to show up as who they are. And I would like to encourage everyone at HDS to fully know and understand that. 

Interview by Suzannah Omonuk; photos courtesy of Evelyn Nam

[adminnewstrust24]

What will he do if he becomes Prime Minister, Rahul Gandhi told his masterplan

What will he do if he becomes Prime Minister, Rahul Gandhi told his masterplan

Rahul Gandhi/ File Pic In a conversation with Harvard Kennedy School Ambassador Nicholas Burns, Rahul Gandhi said that if he were the Prime Minister, he would have focused on jobs rather than growth. In response to a question during a conversation with Nicholas Burns on Friday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that if he had been the Prime Minister, he would have focused more on job creation…

[vilaspatelvlogs]

हार्वर्ड के प्रोफेसर से राहुल गांधी की बातचीत: कांग्रेस लीडर बोले- चीन हमें कमजोर समझता है, भारत में सरकार की ताकत एक जगह सिमटी

हार्वर्ड के प्रोफेसर से राहुल गांधी की बातचीत: कांग्रेस लीडर बोले- चीन हमें कमजोर समझता है, भारत में सरकार की ताकत एक जगह सिमटी

Hindi News National Rahul Gandhi News|Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi Live Conversation With Ambassador Nicholas Burns Of Harvard Kennedy School Ads से है परेशान? बिना Ads खबरों के लिए इनस्टॉल करें दैनिक भास्कर ऐप नई दिल्ली21 मिनट पहले कॉपी लिंक हार्वर्ड केनेडी स्कूल के प्रोफेसर निकोलस बर्न्स के साथ बातचीत में राहुल ने किसान आंदोलन, लॉकडाउन और EVM का जिक्र कर सरकार के कामकाज के तरीके पर सवाल…

[gwlarson2002]

Richard D. Wolff

7 hrs

·

Lech Walesa and Harvard deplore US capitalism's global decline. Of course, for them it's decline of the "good empire." Self-congratulatory delusions.

[scholarshipsforexcellence-blog]

Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting 2020 (up to $25,000)

Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting 2020 (up to $25,000)

Deadline: January 2, 2020

Applications for the 2020 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting are now open. The annual Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting honors investigative reporting that best promotes more effective and ethical conduct of government, the making of public policy, or the practice of politics.

While the subject can address issues of foreign policy, a…

[amakvitaa]

Harvard Kennedy School Dubin Masters Fellowship 2020/2021 USA

Harvard Kennedy School Dubin Masters Fellowship 2020/2021 USA

Dubin Fellows are entering master’s degree students at Harvard Kennedy School who have demonstrated strong character, academic excellence, the ability to thrive and lead in the face of adversity, and a commitment to making a transformative impact on the communities they serve.

  Application Deadlines:

Step 1: Apply to Harvard Kennedy School: Application deadline is December 3, 2019 at 5:00 p.m.…

[daily-royalty]

“I have to say, the job was very easy because the two princes were delightful to work for. They are the same in private as they are in public, very popular, and they have a genuineness about them, a compassion about them which people relate to and respond to. Very seldomly did we ever felt like we were fighting a rear guard.”

[saynaija]

Nigerian Army, Harvard Kennedy School Strengthens Collaboration On Capacity Development

Nigerian Army, Harvard Kennedy School Strengthens Collaboration On Capacity Development

Nigerian Army, Harvard Kennedy School Strengthens Collaboration On Capacity Development

Nigerian Army, Harvard Kennedy School Strengthens Collaboration On Capacity Development

The Nigerian Army (NA) has pledged to step up collaboration with Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) in order to enhance the capacity development of its officers. The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Tukur…

[lgraberg-blog]

FLEXUS – The efficiency project that became a wound in the cityscape with political consequences

The way to hell is paved with the best intentions, but  if you automate a mess you get an automated mess.

<This blog is an assignment in the class DPI 670M at Harvard Kennedy School, where I am a student in the springsemester 2019>

Picture: https://www.tu.no/artikler/vil-heller-ha-app-enn-flexus/246735

This is a brief review of a digitization project that took place in Oslo, the capital of Norway, in the last decade. Due to major errors that prolonged the project for many years, they ended up spending $ 80 million on an obsolete solution.

The purpose of the project was to prevent people from taking public transport without paying a ticket.

The project goal was to replace the paper ticket with a common RFID Electronic ticketing system for all collective transporting in Oslo and its surrounding urban areas. This required common tickets and ticket validators.  At the larger metro stations in Oslo, physical barriers were set up in connection with the introduction of Flexus. It was estimated that about 80 percent of subway travel went to or from one of these stations. When a passenger reads a valid card, glass doors should open up and drop the traveler in - or out.  In this way, they should ideally ensure that everyone had a valid ticket and that registered traffic data was correct.This functionally is similar to the system Boston metro system has today.

The project was a collaboration between three parties that operated railways (NSB), the metro system and trams (Oslo sporveier), and busses and ferrys (SL), respectively. NSB ordered equipment from Swiss Ascom, SL from Australian-Belgian ERG and Oslo sporveier from Thales. This due to the situation that the various suppliers had expertise that best suited the various companies' activities.

Planned project period: 2000-2005

Estimated cost: 25 million USD (excl. Emloyee cost).

The prerequisites for the loan from the Oslo municipality were that the system should "build on known computer technology solutions" and that it was "proven with good experiences from elsewhere". In the application for the municipal guarantee, the equipment was characterized as "of-the-shelf".

In 2003 the project had spent 35 million USD (excl. emloyee cost).

In 2006, they decided to reorganize the project, and in Jun the new formal project organization was established.

Mid 2009: The project was partially implemented.

2011: The project was discontinued

 Money spent in the 2000-2011 timeframe:

71 million USD (excl. emloyee cost), which was almost three times the estimated cost.

The poor performance of the project resulted in political consequences, and it ended with a public hearing and distrust of the municipal leader in Oslo city.

So the question is – how is the even possible? How is it possible to struggle around in 11 years, spending a huge amount of the taxpayers money…… for nothing? Nobody would like this to be the end result - the way to hell is paved with the best intentions.

Picture: https://www.dinside.no/reise/oslo-har-fatt-nye-t-baneruter/60968306

Assessment of projects can be broadly divided into two main parts: the degree of product success and the degree of project management success (process). Eg. the opera house in Sindney. This was a disastrously poor project management process, but an incredible product success as a world-renowned landmark. The same cannot be said about the Flexus project. Unfortunately, the Flexus project failed on both of these axes.

Espen Eckbo is a famous Norwegian comedian. This video (only in Norwegian spoken language unfortunately) was made prior to a developer conference in Oslo in 2009. In the video he acts a developer who neither knows what the system should do, how the system is intended to be used or who his boss is. As he says in the video, "I'm not a religious person, but it's a miracle that I haven't been fired".

My main hypotheses in this blog are based on available information that I have acquired about this project. I have chosen to split these in two main areas with some sub-items:

Management

Project ownership and management

Communication

Competence

Technical issues

Dependency of legacy systems

Poor introduction testing

Lack of experience and ability to understand the complexity

Management

The various entities in projects with mutual dependence to each other need an overall joint decision-making unit. In this case, the three entities were supposed to cooperate, but did not have an overall responsible unit.

From one report, I could read that: "Because the collaboration became too difficult at first, one put the head in the sand and hoped it would pass. But it never does. It might just get worse and harder. The units wanted to protect their own systems, and no one has been able to impose the other on making changes”.

Strategic clarifications should be taken early, and overall strategic actors and stakeholders must be present in the process. In this project, the partners (the buyers) had different goals, and they had also ignored the users. One example was how they calculated the travelling cost for their customers. One unit had unit rates, the other had a zone system with 88 price zones and the last operated with distance tariffs. The lack of a capacity to make these kind of strategic choices was not built up as a part of the project structure, and therefore they used these as pre-requisites in the project. From my perspective, this led to an unnecessarily complex solution, rather than a simplification. It is important to be aware of such unused opportunities in a change project, especially in the initial phases. Dedicated resources with a mindset that questions the established system is a valuable capacity at this point. I think this was one of the core points that they failed, because it created a bad starting point which became decesive for further progress. They got a three-part, rather than a unified, approach. What if someone at an early stage had suggested another solution than the perpetual obstacles they chose? They could have been an early adopter of future solutions, and a reference for other cities.

Picture: https://www.aftenposten.no/norge/i/jdyaz/Flexus-er-doende---NSB-og-Ruter-vil-ha-egne-kort

The report from the municipal audit briefly concluded that the project was staffed with too few people and had too tiny expertise. According to Norway's most reputable and politically neutral newspaper, Aftenposten: “It seems that the project has sailed its own sea without central management, and that the project board did not receive information about the major delays”. With a too small staff in the project, as pointet out here, they also lack some exploring capability. Most probably they were stuck in a day-to-day focus to solve emerging problems.

Good meeting arenas and communication channels should have been created. This is always important, but especially in this case with three independent entities to interact.

Picture: https://www.vartoslo.no/etter-13-ar-fjernes-sperreportene-pa-t-banen-skandalesystemet-kostet-oslofolk-600-millioner-kroner/

Technical issues

The report from the municipal auditor makes major question marks on the project manager's and the project manager's technical expertise, and they question the realism of the project according to the limited resources that in the early phase should follow up and control the procurement. It seems like the suppliers got too much power and that the project management team never understood the extent of what was to be done. It may therefore appear that the project management has chosen to rely entirely on the suppliers. Trust is important, but at the same time one must be clear about what is the buyer’s responsibility and what is the supplier's responsibility. The buyer has money as a means, while the supplier has this as "target". And the opposite for the product itself. The buyer has the final product as the target, while the supplier has this as its means. This asymmetry is fundamental in a buyer-supplier relationship.

Out of order. Picture: https://bedrebillett.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/img_5071.jpg

Many projects that have failed, one has often oversimplified the problem and underestimated the complexity to be solved. This is reinforced by the quotation from the CEO in one of the co-operation units: “Adapting the “of-the-shelf” product was much more comprehensive than I had imagined”.

Picture: https://www.aftenposten.no/osloby/i/bKxq8B/Forventet-suksess_-men-endte-med-nedtur-Na-skal-disse-fjernes

The project also experienced emerging problems that pulled off project resources to solve adhoc issues.

As a following consequence due to the delays in the project, there were problems with the old paper-based machines, which according to the original plans had long been phased out. Some of the buses piston boxes had to be transferred to the trams, while bus drivers were referred to hand-stamp tickets and cards. It worked poorly during rush hour, and extra bad when one for a period lacked ink for the hand punches and had to let people run for free. "It is untenable and irresponsible to just see that revenue disappears by people driving for free. It is the pointless shop,” summarized the UniBuss director, who was responsible for 70 percent of bus operations in Oslo.

Cards, card readers and vending machines that have not worked have created additional problems with the introduction of the system. The annual report for 2011 states that "a customer-perceived uptime of readers of around 98%, and down to 92% on city buses, is far from acceptable."

In the autumn of 2010, they discovered that 30.000 cards, which had been in stock for too long, resulted in the inspectors not being able to read the information with their readers. By check, passengers with these cards got a fine and had to seek out the company themselves to prove their innocence before the fee was deducted.

All these events are examples that attract too much attention for the project, and need to be resolved immediately. With limited resources available, it is difficult to get sufficient progress in the project's main task.

The project also encountered adversity regarding testing the solution. Contract conditions were clarified in 2003, and the system was to be ready for trial operation in 2005. Tests were conducted, where the recipient accepted and signed the trial operation tests. The supplier Thales also assumed that the system was ready for trial operation. It was definitely not. On the contrary, it turned out that the whole project was in a critical phase. "It should never have been signed that the test of the system was successful in 2005" (CEO of Oslo sporveier).

Seen in retrospect, it is strange that they did not have a more professional test regime on a solution that should be used by the inhabitants of, and visitors to, Norway's capital. It does not appear that they conducted smaller tests to try out the solution in iterations. They have most likely chosen a traditional waterfall model. There is a high probability that the project's major challenges can be explained by this choice, where you are actually blind for much of the project period. (You actually know little about the product going to work).

In summary, we are left with the following:

Many units and different goals created barriers to the progress of the project

The tariff and zone structure remained unclear and the biggest problem

No responsible unit with overall responsibility

The users were not involved

The users' needs were not taken care of

They did not take passengers on advice and they did not take advice from the staff. It was the focus on income hedging.

If you automate a mess, you get an automated mess. Electronic payment is complex technology, but well proven. Problems with the technology were a consequence of the complex organization of public transport in the city of Oslo and the county of Akershus, including the complex tariff and the zone system

Postnote:

Five years after the access rafters were set up, they were still not used. In the autumn of 2011, both the barriers and the readers were disconnected, after passengers had been squeezed into the doors. Physical barriers can be a problem for evacuation of the stations by fire, accidents or the like!

Already in 2010 it was clear that the barriers would not be used. Only now (end of 2018, early 2019) do they start removing them, finally.

Today, the metro system is an open and trust-based system, where there is no need for barriers. The users are happy with a easy solution, and the vast majority of the traveler buy the ticket with the app via smartphone. This applies to both single trips and period cards. It is efficient and reliable. Effective random checks are conducted on a regular basis if the traveler has a valid ticket. It is still possible to buy paper tickets, but this is both more expensive and more demanding. The population of Norway is eager to use digital solutions. The solution works seamlessly between all public transport means, and the cost sharing is a software-based distribution solution. There are now two companies that cooperate. Train transport is handled by NSB (Norwegian state railways), and other public transport is handled by #Ruter.

[pakistaniexpatriates-blog]

Malala To Receive 2018 Gleitsman Award

Malala To Receive 2018 Gleitsman Award

Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai will receive the 2018 Gleitsman Award today (2018-12-06) for her global movement to provide girls with 12 years of free education.

According to details, the award will be presented to Malala from the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy school today. The Gleitsman Award provides $125,000 for activism that has improved quality of life around the…

[anitascheiblich-blog]

This article discusses Trump and his support for the Prosperity Gospel Movement. Being a self-made business man and already extremely wealthy, he demonstrates many of the Prosperity Gospel Movement’s themes in his political career. Some people admire him for his fame and wealth along with the fact that he has never given up. Trump practices positive thinking, one example being his presidential inauguration. He was aware that the amount of people who came to his inauguration was not more than any other president, most likely less. But this article points out that Trump might have said these things in hopes of them actually happening. Positive thinking is encouraged by preachers of this religion, and it aims to create a positive mindset in order to achieve your goals. Trump has also consulted with prosperity gospel advisors before, bring more attention to the practice. One major belief of this religion is that God intends for you to be wealthy and prosperous; it is against His will to be in poverty. Some of the members of the movement that Trump brought to the White House were given an opportunity they never would have had, and the author subsequently points out that these people must be placing there thanks on God. They may also assume they are favored by God because of the opportunities they were granted by Trump. Another discussion point this article makes is how Protestantism “provided a kind of civic glue for our country” during a long portion of U.S. History. Now, we are trying to find something multicultural to replace that, and the Prosperity Gospel Movement is one example. It mostly fails to unite people, considering the way the practice looks down on the poor and advocates for the wealthy. The author of this article examines how the movement is not only for the poor who want to become wealthy, but for the already wealthy, such as Trump. These people might credit all their success to God, and utilize the practice to get more and more rich. This is a common occurrence among preachers who become wealthy under the practice.

I was unaware Trump was a supporter of the Prosperity Gospel Movement, but it makes plenty of sense considering his values and status in America. He is a religious man as most people can tell by his policies and beliefs, and he has no shame of his wealth. Many prosperity gospel preachers have similar views of successful businessmen and Trump is a perfect example of this.

[aajkitaazakhabar-blog]

लड़कियों की शिक्षा को बढ़ावा देने के लिए मलाला को सम्मानित करेगा हार्वर्ड

लड़कियों की शिक्षा को बढ़ावा देने के लिए मलाला को सम्मानित करेगा हार्वर्ड

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ख़बर सुनें

ख़बर सुनें

नोबेल शांति पुरस्कार विजेता मलाला युसूफजई को लड़कियों की शिक्षा को बढ़ावा देने के लिए हार्वर्ड विश्वविद्यालय सम्मानित करेगा। हार्वर्ड के केनेडी स्कूल ने बताया कि छह दिसंबर को आयोजित होने वाले एक समारोह में युसूफजई को 2018 का ग्लेट्स्मैन पुरस्कार दिया जाएगा।

युसूफजई को 2014 में सबसे कम उम्र में नोबेल शांति पुरस्कार पाने का गौरव मिला। उससे पहले लड़कियों की शिक्षा की…

[harvardbisg]

Recap: BISG Kickoff 2018-19

With the new academic year underway, the Behavioral Insights Group hosted its fourth annual kick-off at Harvard Kennedy School’s Malkin Penthouse. The sold-out event provided students with a chance to hear from leading behavioral science researchers, learn how to become more involved in the field, and connect with other students and faculty.

After an introduction from BIG Faculty Chair Professor Todd Rogers, those in attendance were treated to talks from Professors Jennifer Lerner, David Laibson and Professor Rogers himself. The night was rounded off by a Q&A with the faculty, an invitation to join the Behavioral Insights Student Group from BISG Co-Leader Daniela Jozic, and a reception for community members to meet with each other.

Professor Lerner is the first psychologist to have received tenure at the Kennedy School and has just begun serving as the US Navy’s Chief Decision Scientist. She spoke about her pioneering research on the role of emotion in decision-making, the implications of this research for a range of policy domains, and ways for students to contribute by joining the Lerner Lab.

Professor Laibson, the author of several of the most cited papers in behavioral economics, spoke next. In a challenge to the field, he discussed several recent findings raising questions about the ability of isolated tweaks to decision-making environments to change outcomes (see here and here). On a more optimistic note, he noted that Harvard students have a bounty of opportunity to learn more about the emerging science, including through the many courses offered by the economics department.

Finally, Professor Rogers rounded off the formal part of the evening by speaking about his work in applying behavioral science to improve education and citizen engagement. In particular, he spoke about the power that information can have when placed in the right hands -- namely those of parents -- to reduce student absenteeism, as well as the surprising persistence of some behaviorally informed interventions. And while effect sizes can be small, behavioral interventions can have large absolute impacts if they scale well; several of the social enterprises co-founded by Professor Rogers, including In Class Today, show us one exciting path forward.

[libertycue-blog]

Bacon Environmental Fellowship - Harvard Kennedy School

Bacon Environmental Fellowship – Harvard Kennedy School

Bacon Environmental Fellowship – Harvard Kennedy School – The Louis Bacon Environmental Leadership Program brings together emerging leaders dedicated to preserving and enhancing our shared environment. The program connects fellows with highly accomplished national and international leaders, providing them with the skills to:

Foster sustainable environmental impact

Build cross-sector partnerships…