HKS Students Brief World Bank President
by Kevin Miller on October 30, 2009 in HKS News, News
Photo courtesy of World Bank
World Bank President Bob Zoellick, MPP ’81, in deep discussion with HKS students gathered around a narrow table at the World Bank headquarters, waved away staffers reminding him that the 45- minutes set aside for the meeting had long since expired.
On Oct. 16, ten HKS students pitched their ideas on the global food crisis in front of Zoellick and other World Bank executives in Washington, D.C.
The students were the winners of the 2009 Spring Exercise, a cornerstone of the MPP program. Last year, students wrestled with developing solutions to concerns of food security and world hunger.
Discussion evolved around how Zoellick is retooling the World Bank to delve into redevelopment and attack the issues of hunger and food security in unconventional ways. Zoellick offered thorough analysis and critique of what the students brought.
“[Zoellick] had them stop and think about each individual decision,” said Professor Sheila Burke, who accompanied the students. “And the students did a wonderful job of making their case through the analysis.”
High-spirited evaluation of choices from framing to analytical tools complemented and extended a question-and-answer session. Students were treated to an inside look at where Zoellick is steering the organization whose every move has widespread impact on global policy issues.
Three World Bank Vice Presidents lauded the scope and depth of the briefing. Ke Ji, MPP ’10 recalled one saying, “Oh my gosh, [Pres. Zoellick] was really impressed. If he’s not engaged, he’ll just be polite. If he’s interested, he really drills down.’
Kyoung Lee, MPP ’10 relished in the “unfiltered access” to Zoellick, as the institution over which he presides figured largely in her policy memo.
“It was so wonderful,” said Lee. “He exemplifies the ability to be strategic at 30,000 miles above and then dive right down into the weeds for detail,” said Lee.
World Bank staff had been closely involved with all aspects the 2009 Spring Exercise, from the design of the problem to Vice-Presidents playing the role of Zoellick at HKS to evaluate every briefing team.
“It makes me really understand how fortunate I am to have been able to attend the Kennedy School,” Zac Ginsberg, MPP ’10 said. “As a social-justice-minded individual, I can only aspire to continue to share my ideas with those who are committed to such laudable undertakings as solving global poverty.”
V-Khye Fan, MPP ’10 agreed. “It was really cool to see his focus on the ‘world’ part of the World Bank.”
For Ginsberg, the highlight of the meeting was a Socratic discussion on the magnitude of the policy challenges with which they had tangled.
“Once we finally admitted there wasn’t an easy answer, [it] gave way to the President’s eloquent analysis of the issue at hand,” he said. For some, it was another lesson in the education that often takes place outside the walls of the Kennedy School’s classrooms – that the world’s biggest problems have no straightforward solutions, even to the most experienced and intelligent public servants.
As students and staff alike acknowledged, however, those methods must fit within the current environment of the global community.
“President Zoellick discussed how a plan has to succeed not just in itself, but in a certain atmosphere,” said Fan.
Some participants pointed out that, while the rigors of the Spring Exercise were daunting, the experience helped them as they begin their second year towards the Policy Analysis Exercise (PAE) capstone research project.
“The Spring Exercise defined my PAE,” said Fan. “It tied my background at the Department of Defense with my core courses and set it all into a different context.”
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