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Dear Friends:
As we gather with loved ones this Thanksgiving season, I find myself reflecting on the extraordinary community that makes the Policy School thrive.
I am deeply grateful for our dedicated faculty who inspire the next generation of changemakers, our remarkable students who bring fresh perspectives and boundless energy to tackling society's most pressing challenges, and our alumni who are making meaningful impacts across the globe.
From TEDx stages to research conferences, from community workshops to international convenings, this month has showcased the power of collaboration and the ripple effects of committed public service.
Thank you for being part of this journey, and for all you do to create a more just, sustainable, and equitable world.
Warmly,
Maria
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Maria Ivanova
Director, School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs
Co-Director, the Plastics Center at Northeastern
Professor of Public Policy
| | "DOERS AND DREAMERS" SPOTLIGHT | | Clockwise from top left: Bella Wood delivering her TEDx Boston talk in front of an image of her grandmother, her mother, and her; Bella and her mother at the TEDx talk; scenes from the cattle ranch that has been in the Wood family for nine generations | |
From Grassland Roots to Global Stage: MPA Student Reimagines Rural Innovation at TEDx Boston
MPA student Bella Wood ’26 captivated the audience at TEDx Boston's 2025 Planet Action event, sharing a powerful vision that spans nine generations and challenges how we think about agricultural innovation.
Taking the stage at MIT on November 15th, Bella joined a "Living Soils" panel featuring global leaders in sustainability, agriculture, and regenerative systems. But her message carried something the others couldn't replicate: the weight of nearly two centuries of family stewardship on the shortgrass prairies of northeastern New Mexico.
Bella's connection to the land runs deeper than policy or theory. Her grandmother's family has operated their cattle ranch since the early 1800s, passing it down through female heirs long before women had the legal right to own property. Today, Bella continues her grandparents' mission to restore and conserve the fragile grassland ecosystem.
In 2022, Bella founded Ranch Lab, a startup that's rewriting the rules of agricultural innovation. Rather than imposing top-down solutions, Ranch Lab creates partnerships between family-owned ranches and the scientists, innovators, and investors who can help them thrive. These relationships are generating affordable, sustainable technologies that actually work in the real world.
Bella's TEDx talk highlighted a concept that could transform rural America: intergenerational living laboratories in grasslands. By weaving together her family's multi-generational story with a bold economic vision, she demonstrated how strategic agricultural investment can build both economic prosperity and social vitality in rural communities, places often overlooked by traditional innovation ecosystems.
| | UPDATES FROM THE POLICY SCHOOL | | | |
Director's Message to Companies: Transform at the Speed the Plastics Crisis Demands
One year after Policy School Director Maria Ivanova challenged audiences to reflect on the plastic paradox, fifteen TEDx Boston Planet Action alumni gathered at the New England Aquarium to assess progress. In her Ideas in Action talk "Shaping Policy from Neighborhoods to Nation," Prof. Ivanova stressed an urgent reality: we need leadership from the middle out. And campuses could lead in commitments and in concrete action. READ MORE
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Social Networks: Recipes for Disaster Resilience
Prof. Daniel Aldrich spoke at the TEDx Boston Planet Action at MIT on his research on the role of social capital during shocks and disasters. Rather than focusing only on individual or government responses, Prof. Aldrich emphasized the role that bonding, bridging, and linking social capital play in helping people survive and thrive. READ MORE
| | | The Policy School at Planet Action 2025 | | Pictured: Rong Bao, Maria Ivanova, Sofia Metzler Concepción, Nicole Vandale, David Jefferson, Claren Copp-LaRoque, Michele Rosenthal, Sen. Ed Markey, Ruth Thermidor, Bella Wood, Daniel Aldrich | |
Back to the Future: Reenvisioning Boston's Public Spaces
Prof. Cara Michell has been selected for Cohort 8 of Boston's Public Art Accelerator, which empowers artists to bring bold visions to life and build a stronger, more equitable creative ecosystem across the city. Prof. Michell is developing a proposal for a temporary public art installation, inspired by a photo of her mother, that will transport viewers to Boston places that gentrification and redevelopment have swept away.
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Economic Measures: Taking Stock of Gender Differences
Prof. Alicia Modestino presented her research on “Gender Differences in Economics Seminars” at the 7th annual Conference on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Economics, Finance, and Central Banking held in Paris at the Banque de France. This paper is forthcoming in the American Economic Review.
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Top of Her Class: Professor Honored Among Leading Women of Law
Prof. Sharmila L. Murthy was honored at a celebration recognizing exceptional women lawyers who serve as pioneers, educators, trailblazers, and role models in the legal profession. Prof. Murthy was selected as part of the 2025 "Top Women of Law" class by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.
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The AI Divide: Politicians, Progress, and Pink Slips
Prof. Beatrice Magistro presented, as part of the Resilience Studies speaker series, her research on how politicians predominantly see AI as productivity-enhancing, while the public leans toward viewing AI as job-displacing. She argued that understanding such gaps is crucial for sustainable AI governance and that, if left unmanaged, they risk generating populist backlash similar to anti-globalization movements.
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Government Contracts and Human Rights in the AI Age
Prof. Kimberly Lucas co-hosted a Global Ideas Lab Convening alongside Prof. Martha Davis (NU Law School) and aleja jimenez jarmillo (City of Boston). The Convening brought together experts from the US, the UK, and Canada to discuss the intersection of human rights, AI, and procurement.
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Post-Pandemic Challenges for Family Child Care Providers
Prof. Kimberly Lucas took part in the 47th Annual Fall Research Conference of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) in Seattle, WA. They and Wellesley College colleague Wendy Robeson presented their work on post-pandemic family child care providers in Massachusetts.
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Early Childhood Experts Bring Research Priorities to the Fore
At the Early Childhood Summit hosted by Strategies for Children in Worcester, MA, Prof. Kimberly Lucas co-founder of the MA Early Childhood Policy Research Collaborative, facilitated a workshop focused on surfacing pressing research questions from the early childhood field alongside the MA ECPRC Leadership Team. READ MORE
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Urban Inequalities and How to Find Them
Prof. Dan O'Brien joined the Boston University Department of Sociology and Initiative on Cities for a special session of the Urban Inequalities Workshop to talk about his latest book The Pointillistic City (MIT Press, 2025), which provides ‘a new paradigm of research, policy, and practice that acknowledges the multiple scales at which we live every day’.
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"The Numbers": Where Theatre Meets Data to Repair a Broken World
Northeastern's Civic Data Theatre, co-designed by a multidisciplinary team, including Prof. Moira Zellner, staged several performances of "The Numbers." This original theatre piece, developed by Northeastern's Data Theatre Collaborative with support from the Mellon Foundation, examines the many ways we interact with data in our lives. READ MORE
| | Image credit: Amelia Cordischi @ameliacphotography | | | |
From Research to Rachmaninoff: PhD Student Takes the Stage
PhD student Rong Bao took part in the Northeastern University Wind Ensemble - Fall Concert at the Fenway Center. She performed in two pieces: David Maslanka's Clarinet Concerto and Sergei
Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances. Rong has been playing piano for more than 20 years, starting at the age of four. She has performed with Yale University Berkeley College Orchestra, University of Richmond Chamber Ensemble, Northeastern Wind Ensemble, and the Northeastern Chamber Ensemble.
LISTEN TO RONG'S PERFOMANCES ON YOUTUBE
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Policy School Brings Student Voices to UN Day Gathering
Sajjad Sharifi ’27 (MS Urban Informatics) and Amanda Gomes ‘27 (BA Political Science and International Affairs) attended, together with Policy School Director Maria Ivanova, the annual UN Day Luncheon hosted by the United Nations Association of Greater Boston (UNAGB) at the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in Cambridge, MA.
READ MORE
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Students Map Their Way to Victory at GIS Day Competition
Congratulations to the two Policy School School graduate students who won prizes in the digital StoryMaps competition at Northeastern's annual GIS Day event. Innocentia Botor Ashai '25 (MA International Affairs) took first place and Tasnim Ahmed '27 (MS Urban Informatics) took third place.
| | Left to right: Tasnim Ahmed, Prof. Fang Fang, Innocentia Botor Ashai | |
PhD Student Challenges Top-Down Climate Planning
PhD studen Johan Arango-Quiroga co-authored, with colleagues at MIT, "The Equitable Resilience Framework: An Environmental Justice Strategy for Community-Led Resilience Planning.” This work, led by Janelle Knox-Hayes at MIT presents a methodological framework for climate resilience planning that moves beyond top-down technocratic approaches.
READ THE ARTICLE
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PhD Student Plumbs Social Currents in River Management
PhD student Gerardo Gentil presented his research on the Milk and St. Mary rivers at the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) Annual Conference in Denver. Gerardo's work highlighted a crucial insight: Managing water wisely means managing relationships as water challenges aren't just hydrological; they're deeply social.
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Sleepless in Seattle: PhD Student Moderates Multiple Sessions on Environmental Policy, Water Management, and Climate Resilience
PhD student Gerardo Gentil attended the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management (APPAM) Annual Conference in Seattle, where he had the privilege of moderating sessions on water, climate resilience, and environmental policy.
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Policy School Students Earn Innovator Awards
MPA student Bella Wood and MPP student Safiya Khalid were two of 31 innovators honored at the Women Who Empower summit. Bella was recognized for her work with Ranch Lab, the platform she founded that connects young innovators with established agricultural producers. Safiya earned 2nd Place in Social Impact for her foundation and leadership of the Community Organizing Alliance, which seeks to center the experiences and voices of BIPOC through civic engagement. READ MORE
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Reading Between the Policies | Tue, Dec 2nd (4:00-5:30 pm ET)
NAPPS and Reading Between the Policies invite you to our very first Author's Roundtable with Prof. Dan O'Brien., author of this year's book selection, The Pointillistic City: How Microspatial Inequities Affect Well-Being in Our Communities and What We Can Do About It. Join us for a virtual discussion with Prof. O'Brien , followed by two Q&A sessions: one focused on the book and another open to topics raised during the discussion. Find the MIT open-access link to the book on the Reading Between the Policies Teams Channel Reading Between the Policies | Virtual Circle | Microsoft Teams
Policy Capstone Symposia | Fri, December 5th and Tue, December 9th
online symposium: Dec 5 at 12:00 pm ET | Register here for the Dec 5th online symposium
Boston symposium: Dec 9 at 5:15 pm ET | Renaissance Park Bldg. Open Space (online option for those unable to attend in person) | Register here for the Dec 9th Boston symposium
Policy Capstone Information Session | Thu, Dec 4th | 4:00-5:00 pm ET | 909 Renaissance Park and Zoom
Register here
Book Launch: The Politics of Global Rescue with Sidita Kushi | Wed, Dec 3rd (5:00 pm–6:15 pm ET) | 909 Renaissance Park
Why do some humanitarian crises, like Kosovo and Libya, spur humanitarian military intervention, while others, such as Darfur or Myanmar, are relegated to the margins of global agendas? In her newest book, From Kosovo to Darfur, Prof. Sidita Kushi shows that this selectivity gap is not about geopolitical interests or humanitarian norms alone, but also about where crises occur and how they are perceived by Western political elites. Intrastate crises closer to the Western sphere and framed as genocide or systematic killing are more likely to prompt third-party intervention than distant crises narrated as identity-based civil wars. Drawing on new global data and case studies of Kosovo, Libya, and Darfur, this talk will unpack the regional biases, the politics of perception, and their consequences for understanding the humanitarian military intervention phenomenon.
NAPPS weekly meeting | Every Friday | NAPPS Weekly Meeting | Meeting-Join | Microsoft Teams
If you’ve ever wanted to step up, speak out, and shape the world around you, then NAPPS (Northeastern Association for Public Policy Students) is the place to be. Whether you’re eager to test your skills in leadership roles, brainstorm innovative policy solutions, or engage with the larger policy community, NAPPS offers the perfect platform. It’s a space where you don’t just learn—you lead, experiment, and grow.
| | | | Making a Difference from the Local to the Global | | | | | |
