The Fels Institute of Government is currently looking for applicants to the position of Public Policy Challenge Executive Director for the 2011-2012 academic year at Penn.
For a details on salary, responsibilities, and how to apply, please download the official Challenge ED Job Description 2011.
Penn's Fels Institute of Government, Headquarters of the Public Policy Challenge
Virtual Market Philly Accepts Their Check for $5,000 from the Judges
The 2nd Annual Public Policy Challenge is officially at an end after Sunday’s Finals at the National Constitution Center. Five teams delivered fantastic presentations, outlining well thought-out ideas to make Greater Philadelphia a better place. In the end, team Virtual Market Philly emerged as the grand-prize winner of $5,000 – $2,500 of which will be donated to a cause of their choice. Rachel Cahill of Fels, Jennifer Ralston of the School of Social Policy and Practice, Natalie Robles of the City & Regional Planning Program at PennDesign, and Lise Wagnac of Bryn Mawr College developed an idea inspired by an effort to increase access to fresh, healthy food within the “food deserts” of Baltimore (called “Baltimarket”). Their project involves creation of a virtual supermarket – or online grocery store – bringing convenience and affordable prices to “food deserts” in Philadelphia; because 1/3 of Philadelphia’s population lives within short walking distance to libraries, Team Virtual Market Philly proposed that libraries be designated pick-up sites.
All of our teams – FairHealth, WalkPhilly, SubWalk, and Impact Gardens – had great ideas, and the judges took a great deal of time deliberating after the presentations on Sunday in the National Constitution Center’s Kirby Auditorium. During that process, judges had a difficult time coming to a consensus. But ultimately, they determined that Virtual Market should be the winner based on practicality and potential impact of their idea.
Our panel of judges was a thoughtful and powerful group; they included Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor Jim Cawley, Pennsylvania State Rep. Dwight Evans, John DiIulio, Professor and Director of the Fox Leadership Program at Penn, Philadelphia City Councilwoman Marian Tasco, Jeffrey Cooper, VP of Government and Community Affairs at Penn, Donna Cooper, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and former Pennsylvania Secretary for Planning and Policy, David Eisner, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center and former CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, Helen Gym, Board Chair, Asian Americans United and founder of Parents United for Public Education, and Pennsylvania State Rep Chris Ross.
The Judges Pose with the Winning Team. From Left: PA State Rep. Chris Ross, Councilwoman Marian Tasco, Helen Gym, Donna Cooper, Teammate Jennifer Ralston, Teammate Lise Wagnac, Teammate Natalie Robles, Teammate Rachel Cahill, David Thornburgh of Fels (in rear), Lt. Governor Jim Cawley, Jeffrey Cooper, PA State Rep. Dwight Evans, and David Eisner.
The following brilliant minds will be judging the projects presented by our five finalist teams at the Public Policy Challenge Finals, taking place on Sunday, March 20th from 1 – 4 p.m. at the National Constitution Center’s Kirby Auditorium:
Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor Jim Cawley
Pennsylvania State Rep. Dwight Evans
John DiIulio, Professor and Director of the Fox Leadership Program at Penn
City Councilwoman Marian Tasco
Jeffrey Cooper, VP of Government and Community Affairs at Penn
Donna Cooper, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and former Pennsylvania Secretary for Planning and Policy
David Eisner, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center and former CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service
Helen Gym, Board Chair, Asian Americans United and founder of Parents United for Public Education
Pennsylvania State Rep. Chris Ross
If you haven’t registered to attend the 2011 Public Policy Challenge Finals yet, you can do so by clicking here. A reception will follow the announcement of the winning team; the event, complete with food and beverages, takes place at the Fels Mansion at 3814 Walnut Street until 7:30 p.m. on the 20th.
Penn's Fels Institute of Government, Headquarters of the Public Policy Challenge
Tags: fels fest, fels institute of government, finals, judges, philadelphia
After the February 21st Round Robin, the Public Policy Challenge 2011 staff team at the Fels Institute of Government set to work reviewing scoring sheets and placing teams in ranking order according to how feasible and effective our Round Robin judges deemed each project.
Along with Fels Executive Director David Thornburgh, the PPC 2.0 staff is excited to announce that the following five teams will advance on to Round II of the Public Policy Challenge 2011, which will involve one last workshop with time for one-on-one project feedback from with two Philadelphia-area policy practitioners, a quick dry-run presentation rehearsal, and of course, presenting at the Public Policy Challenge Finals on March 20th at the National Constitution Center.
Listed in alphabetical order, these teams will be taking this competition to the next level:
Team FairHealth Philadelphia
Daniel Bernick, Joanna Chae, David Wengert
To increase price transparency in health care, FairHealth Philadelphia has developed a four-step plan that will ultimately lower costs and increase fairness in Philadelphia’s health care system. Capitalizing on current infrastructure and federal health reform mandates, FairHealth’s proposal will make it simple for health care consumers to determine the out-of-pocket cost for office visits and non-emergency procedures before they choose providers. Predicated on the idea that health care providers must compete on both quality and cost, this plan will reduce the cost of health care in the Philadelphia region and benefit those making difficult decisions about their health and well-being.
Team Impact Gardens
Amanda Garlen, Rachel Meadows, Anne Misak, Samantha Porter
Vacant lots in Philadelphia are an often-discussed problem among city policymakers, because they are not just eyesores – they’re frequently used illegally as sites for prostitution, drug deals, and other crimes. Impact Gardens envisions launching a pilot program aimed at transforming these abandoned properties into a network of community gardens used for community development, agricultural education, farmers’ markets, and other neighborhood-focused programs.
Team SubWalk Philly
Molly Cherington, Dylan Hayden
Have you ever visited the dark, dank, empty, and – let’s face it – downright ugly Broad Street Concourse in Center City? Team SubWalk Philly wants to transform this blighted concrete underground labyrinth into a viable, vibrant, transit-oriented business district. Their plan is segmented out in phases, and it would ultimately result in development of rentable plots for mobile businesses, a performance amphitheatre, park-style benches, and a venue for local artists to display their work.
Team Virtual Market Philly
Rachel Cahill, Jennifer Ralston, Natalie Robles, Lise Wagnac
Inspired by an innovative effort to increase access to fresh, healthy food within the “food deserts” in Baltimore, this project involves the creation of a virtual supermarket, or online grocery store, bringing convenience and affordable prices of traditional grocery stores to “food deserts” in Philadelphia.
Team WalkPhilly
Karla Sainz, Jennifer Kerner, Marissa Litman, Cassandra McLeod
This project is aimed at enhancing quality of life for Philadelphia’s senior citizens by getting the ball rolling on development of an “aging in place” strategy for the city’s policymakers. Team WalkPhilly would like to identify a 20-to-30 block stretch of the city in which there is a dense senior citizen population and a strong need for walkability improvements. By leveraging various strategic partnerships, their project would result in a survey and a series of workshops targeted towards developing policy proposals that would make these neighborhoods easier for Philadelphia’s senior citizens to lead active, mobile, functional lives.
Shop Talk at Workshop #2
Teammates talk amongst themselves during breaktime at Workshop 2, which took place on February 7th
After a fast-paced couple of months, we have finally arrived at Round II of the Public Policy Challenge 2011. Workshops 1 and 2, which took place on January 31st and February 7th respectively, gave our student teams several “tools” to carry in their public policy “toolboxes,” and the hard work that followed resulted in a total of ten solid projects – all focused, in diverse ways, on making Greater Philadelphia a better place to live, work, and thrive.
On February 21st, a total of 28 experts – ranging from real-life policy practitioners to Penn professors to civic leaders to lobbyists to GIS specialists – stopped by the David Rittenhouse Laboratory Building. Divided into four panels among four different conference rooms, the judges listened intently as Public Policy Challenge teammates delivered 5-minute pitches about their projects. After answering many tough questions and hearing a great deal of useful advice, teams left the “Round Robin” judging event both exhilarated and excited.
Scoring review is currently underway. By week’s end, five of our ten teams will advance to Workshop 3 and the Finals (which take place March 20th at the National Constitution Center).
Stay tuned for our announcement of Finalists, and for an announcement regarding our distinguished panel of Finals Judges.
Tags: challenge, fels, round robin
Attention Teams, Workshop Leaders, and Judges:
Please click here to download and view a finalized version of the Challenge 2011 Background Materials. The document has been updated with finalized locations, times, workshop leaders, and deliverables.
We at Fels are looking forward to Workshop #1 on January 31st!
Exterior image of the National Constitution Center
After working through the break to book sites and speakers for our upcoming workshops and judging events, we have confirmed the following times and locations. Perhaps the most exciting piece of news on the list: our Finals event in March will take place at the National Constitution Center.
Workshop #1 – Monday, January 31st (5:30-8:30pm)
Houston Hall – Golkin Room
Workshop #2 – Monday, February 7th (5:30-8:30pm)
Houston Hall – Golkin Room
Round Robin – Monday, February 21st (5:30-8:30pm)
David Rittenhouse Laboratory – A5, A6, A7, A8
Phase 2:
Workshop #3 – Monday, March 14th (5:30-8:30pm)
Houston Hall – Golkin Room
Finals – Sunday, March 20th
National Constitution Center
The 2nd Annual Public Policy Challenge is off to a fantastic start this year, after a total of 51 participants and 6 sponsors have signed on to the competition.
Selected from a large pool of highly-qualified individuals, the chosen participants this year represent diverse backgrounds and skill sets, not to mention schools at Penn (and other parts of Philadelphia). Wharton, Penn Law, Penn Design, Fels, the School of Social Policy and Practice, the Graduate School of Education, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and even Bryn Mawr College are represented among this year’s teams. Members also come to us with varying levels of expertise on different subjects: some are former Peace Corps members; others have worked in the private and public sectors as educators, financiers, designers, and entrepreneurs, among other backgrounds.
The Challenge’s 10 teams (ranging from 4 to 6 members each) were grouped based on policy interests and essays, and include focus areas like transportation, food access, public education, and fiscal reform, as well as several others. This is an exciting time to participate: a total of six sponsors have given their support to the Challenge, including Campus Philly, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism and Marketing Corporation, Ross Associates Inc., the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, S.R. Wojdak & Associates, and Ceisler Media & Advocacy. Support from these well-respected local institutions means that they believe our work can help to make a difference in this vibrant and historic region. They will make the winning team’s $5,000 prize, and the potential for that team’s project to become reality, possible.
The Public Policy Challenge Meet-and-Greet event for teams, Fels staff, and last year’s participants will be held on Monday, December 6th at 6 pm at the City Tap House located at 3925 Walnut Street. Philadelphia City Councilman Bill Green, Campus Philly President and CEO Deborah Diamond, and board members from Young Involved Philadelphia will be addressing the group on the importance of student engagement in the Greater Philadelphia community. We are also excited to announce that Executive Editor Janine White of Philadelphia Magazine, as well as Dave Langlieb of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation will talk to teams about “How to Get Things Done in Philadelphia” during the Challenge’s 1st workshop to be held in late January.
Out of a large pool of highly qualified applicants representing nearly every graduate program at the University of Pennsylvania, 50 students stood out the most to the Public Policy Challenge Selection Committee! They have been placed into 10 teams of 5 based on their policy interests, which range from improving K-12 education to promoting urban agriculture to improving public transit services in Greater Philadelphia (and everything in between).
The 50 selected students represent Wharton, Penn Design, Penn Law, Penn’s Graduate School of Education, the Fels Institute of Government, the School of Social Policy and Practice, Penn Liberal and Professional Studies, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and Bryn Mawr College. Of the selected participants, 4 are undergraduate students who displayed exceptional dedication in their applications.
This is an exciting time to participate: a total of five sponsors have already signed on to support this groundbreaking competition, including Campus Philly, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism and Marketing Corporation, Ross Associates Inc., the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, and Ceisler Media & Issue Advocacy. Support from these well-respected local institutions means that they believe our work can help to make a difference in this vibrant and historic region.
The next stop for the 2nd Annual Public Policy Challenge is the Team Meet and Greet Event to be held at the City Tap House (located at 3925 Walnut Street) on Monday, December 6th from 6 pm to 8 pm. We hope to see you there!
Penn's Fels Institute of Government, Headquarters of the Public Policy Challenge
Campusphilly.org featured the Public Policy Challenge as a new and promising way to revitalize Greater Philadelphia. Ana Liss wrote that the PPC offers an opportunity for students to learn the process of producing and implementing public policy to aid the region in its expected growth. Check out the article at campusphilly.org and fill out the application by November 12th.
