SummerVenturesReportsfromIPEDStudents’SummerInternships

Volume7|Fall2014

INTHISISSUE

JuliusSamson1ErnstandYoung,NewYork

DeannaSalcedo 2SecuritiesandExchangeCommission,WashingtonD.C

YanangSilas‐Bossan 3Pratham‐Aser,Delhi,India

MichaelHebert 3UnitedStatesAgencyforInternationalDevelopment,Ethiopia

spentmysummerasoneofapproxi‐mately 500 interns who worked inthe New York of ice of Ernst and

Young (EY), one of the biggest auditingirms in thecountry. IworkedasastafffortheInformationTechnologyRiskAdvi‐sory(ITRA). ITRAisaunitofEYthatspecializesinsystemsandprocessriskmanagement. Itprovidesadvisoryandauditingservicestoclients across industries to ensure thatinformationprocessedbyvariouscompa‐nysystemsarecredibleandreliable.Therangeof servicesoffered includesassess‐ment of newly implemented or existingapplication and software systems, net‐work and hardware infrastructure, anddata privacy and protection. EY providescerti ication to company systems thatmeet industry accepted standards or re‐

commendsactionstoachievethesame. EY envisions its advisory practice togrow quickly within the succeedingyears.AlongwithotherEYbusinesslines,ITRAhelpstopreventfraudulentactsdue

Julius Samson (first from right) at the EY International Leadership Conference in Orlando

JuliusSamson,ErnstandYoungITRiskAdvisory,NewYork

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IPEDSTUDENTASSIGNMENTSSUMMER2014

EricCarroll,FundacionParaguaya,Paraguay

AislingCurran,USCouncilforInternationalBusiness,NewYork

LorenaDeLarra‐Landa,Fonkonze,HaitiMatthewDeakin,USAID,WashingtonD.CEvanDembkowski,USAID,WashingtonD.CSarahFarooq,Sanergy,KenyaKathleenFrazier,TimapforJustice,SierraLeone

MichaelHebert,USAID,EthiopiaSeanKenney,Philadelphia‐SerengetiAlliance,Tanzania

JohnMulqueen,UNDP,SamoaLisaNeuner,FrenchStudy,FranceGeoffreyOrth,InternationalBusinessandGovernment,NewYork

MichelleRoque,SpanishStudy,PeruGabrielRossi,FrenchStudy,NewYorkDeannaSalcedo,SEC,WashingtonD.CJuliusSamson,ErnstandYoung,NewYorkYanangSilas‐Bossan,Pratham‐ASER,India

KarinaSolomonik,UNDP,NewYorkThomasWetmore,FoglampResearchCorporation,NewYork

ThomasZuber,ArabicStudy,Jordan

FORDHAM | IPED ordham University’s graduate program in International Political Economy and Development trains

graduate students in the advanced interdisciplinary analysis of global economic relations and international development issues. Graduates frequently pursue professional careers in international finance and banking, international economic policy, and in international relief and development.

THE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY AND DEVELOPMENT

SUMMER VENTURES  | FALL 2014 

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to lack of transparency and lax securitymeasures similar to those of Enron andWorldCom. I functionedasa regular staff in theunit’s assessment of HBO, Footlocker,andSiemens.Thisfunctionenabledmetoutilizethepresentationandwrittenskillsthat I had learned from IPED’s ProjectManagement class. I drafted assessmentreportsandattendedwalkthroughmeet‐ings of the client’s systems and pro‐cesses.The structure of the internshipprovided vast opportunities for internsto learn the various businesses of theirm,engagewithother interns,andnet‐workbothwithstaffandexecutives.To‐wards the end of the internship, EY or‐

regulation. DERA’s function is todeve‐lop rules based on congressionalman‐dates, and to perform rigorous econo‐mic research to project, and justify theimpact of these rules. After the 2008inancial crisis, DERA’s scope and re‐sponsibilities have grown as the SECattached more emphasis on economic

hissummerIhadtheopportunitytointern with the Securities and Ex‐

change Commission (SEC) at their head‐quarters in Washington, DC. I was a‐ssigned to theDivision of Economic andRiskAssessment (DERA) in theOf ice ofCorporateFinance. TheSECisa lawen‐forcement entity in charge of securities

analysis in all divisions of the agency.Having been assigned to the rule‐writing division, my task was to con‐ductbaselineeconomicresearch foranupcoming rule on a disclosure of theexecutive hedging policy stemmingfrom the Dodd Frank Wall Street Re‐formAct. IPED’s course onAppliedEconomet‐rics was fundamental in helping mesecure the internship, and succeed inthejob.DERAisaquantitativeanddata‐drivenof icewhichutilizesSAStoana‐lyzedata.During the internship, I tookpartinaresearchonSociallyResponsi‐ble Investment Funds by pulling datafromWharton Resource Data Services,and by processing data and runningregressions. Econometrics has taughtme the importance of good data, andhasgivenmethebackgroundinSAS. My experiencewith the SECwill beveryvaluablein indingmynextcareeropportunity. Aside from the personalrelationshipsthatIhadformedwithmyco‐workers and co‐interns, I had ex‐pandedmyskillsetsubstantiallyonthequantitative side. My desire is to pur‐sueacareerinthepublicsectorandmytimewiththeSEChasallowedmetogeta irsthand understanding of both thebene its and challenges of workingwithin the government. I have alsolearnedwhichelementsof the industryinterestme.Thiswillde initelyhelpmere inemy job search and leadme to arewardingcareer.

DeannaSalcedo,SecuritiesandExchangeCommission,

WashingtonD.C

JuliusattheInternationalLeadershipSeminarinDisneyWorld,Orlando

DeannaSalcedo( irstfromleft)duringherinternshipinWashingtonD.CwithfellowIPEDstudents

IPEDSummerInternshipsDuringthe3‐SemesterIPEDprogram,all

studentsareencouragedtoseekinternshipsorlanguageimmersionstudyprogramsduringthesummerbetweentheirsecondandthird

semesters.Toaidwithexpensesforthesetrips,severaldifferentcompetitivescholarshipsare

awarded.

ganized a leadership conference atten‐dedbyallofthesummerinternsacrosstheUnitedStatesandtheworld.InthisconferenceheldinDisneyWorldOrlan‐do, interns attended a series of work‐shops, team building activities, andtalks by Senior Executives of the irm.My internship program eventually en‐dedwithanofferofafull‐timeposition.

ContinuedfromPage1EYITRiskAdvisory

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verthesummer,IinternedwiththeAnnualStatusofEducationReport(ASER)India,aunitofthePrathamEducationFoundation.ASERisaNon‐Governmental

Organization(NGO)whichisprimarilyfocusedoneducation.Itisalsoresponsibleforconductingacitizen‐ledbasiceducationsurveyinIndia.

Every year, from August to January,nationwide training sessions are con‐ductedforvolunteersurveyors.600,000childrenaged5to16fromeverydistrictin the country are tested on 2nd gradeliteracy and numeracy. Household andschooldataarealsocollected.Attheendof thesurvey, thedata isanalyzedandareportispublishedinJanuary.Thereportis used by state governments, and otherorganizations, including Pratham, to im‐plement better policies to improve edu‐cation. The success of the project hasencouraged Pakistan, Kenya, Tanzania,Uganda,Mali, Senegal,Mexico andNige‐ria (JUBA group), to adopt a similarmethod. I worked with the Assessment unit,which is responsible for designing themethodology. I also conducted a compa‐rative analysis of ASER’s methodologywiththoseusedintheJUBAgroupcoun‐tries and in the USAID funded EGRA(Early Grade Reading Assessment). Forone week, I also participated in the na‐tional training and the pilot survey forASER 2014. In this project, I had the

YanangSilas‐Bossan,Pratham‐ASER,Delhi,India

MichaelHebert,USAID,Ethiopiauring the past summer, I partici‐patedintheinternshipprogramof

United States Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID) in Ethiopia. In‐terns were assigned largely to workwithpartnerorganizations.

IworkedwithCNFAontheirUSAID‐Agricultural Growth Program (AGP).CNFA, was founded in 1985 with thegoal of stimulating economic growtharound the world by nurturing entre‐preneurship, private enterprise, andmarketlinkages.WithUSAID‐AGPfund‐ing and guidance, CNFA in Ethiopiaworked to engage growth and innova‐tion in the livestock and dairy farmingsectors. Ethiopia’s economy is based largelyonagricultureandlivestockproduction.As such, these industries play a criticalroleintheeconomicdevelopmentofthecountryasawhole. InEthiopia,howe‐ver,accesstocreditisweak,particularlyfor those working in the livestock sec‐tor.Thismakesitchallengingforentre‐preneurstotapthefundsthatarenece‐

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Yanang(middle)conductingthepilotsurveyforASERinDelhi

Mike(middle)bytheWenchiCraterLakeinEthiopiaContinued on Page 4

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SUMMER VENTURES  | FALL 2014 

ssarytoexpandandgrowtheirbusiness‐ses.Inthiscontext,Iworkedonaprojectthat aimed to enhance entrepreneurs’access to credit agencies.Thiswasdonethrough the provision of business andtechnical support, as well as the exten‐sionofguaranteesontheirloans. Ireviewedandrevisedbusinessplanssubmitted by small business ownersfroma inancial perspective,while tech‐nical experts provided advice on properlivestock and dairy management. Oncethe advisory services were completed,the entrepreneur could approach localbanks with a solid business plan, and a50% loan guarantee under DCA(DevelopmentCreditAuthority)backing.This greatly increases their chances of

securing a loan, and creatingor expand‐ingasuccessfulbusiness.

WhileIdidnothavepreviousexperi‐enceinthelivestockindustry,Iwasableto applymy programmanagement toolsand inancialanalysisskillsthatIlearnedfrom Dr. Schwalbenberg’s Project Man‐agement courses toprovide feedbackonthe entrepreneurs’ business plans.Through this internship opportunity, Ihave gained an experience of workingwith USAID, a premier actor in interna‐tional development, as well as an expo‐sure to international and small businessgrowth.

AsIsearchforpost‐graduateemploy‐ment in the ield of international devel‐opment,bothmydegreeinIPED,aswellas my time with USAID in Ethiopia willenhancemycredentialsandassistme inmysearchforajobopportunity.

PrathamASER

chancetooverseetheprocessfromstartto inish. I also learnedhow to trouble‐shootproblemsthatcameupduring thecourseofthesurvey.Towardstheendofmy internship, I did some research fortheNigeria team for their irst pilot testinOctober. The IPEDcourses thatweremost re‐levant during the internship were Com‐munity Economic Development, and theProjectEvaluation (course in the Philip‐pines) from which I built a measuring,monitoring, and evaluation frameworkfor Pratham from scratch, and the Eco‐

nomicDevelopmentPolicy.Inthiscourse,wereadabookcalled“PoorEconomics”wheretheauthortalkedquiteabitaboutPrathamandASER’swork.MyworkwithASER helped me better understand thelessonsandreferencesmadeinthebook. This internship helpedme build net‐works across all the African countriesthatconductedthissurvey. Iaminteres‐ted inworking for thenon‐pro it sector,related to information and policy deve‐lopmentinthepublicsector.Theintern‐ship de initely providedme a irst‐handexperience on development work in acountrywithverysimilarobstaclestomyown,Nigeria.

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USAIDContinuedfromPage3

YanangwiththestudentsinDelhi,India

EditorialBoard

JordanRadovan

EditorandDesigner

JuliusSamsonSeniorEditor

JuliusSamson,DeannaSalcedo,

YanangSilas‐Bossan,MichaelHebertContributors

Dr.HenrySchwalbenbergIPEDProgramDirectorTel.718.817.4064

Email:ipedjounal@fordham.eduiped.fordham.edu

THE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY AND DEVELOPMENT

Fordham University Dealy - E517 441 East Fordham Road Bronx, NY 10458, USA

FORDHAM | IPED