Second-year student Ophelia Akoto, set to graduate in May, will enter Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management to pursue her Ph.D. in the fall.
“I think that the Master of Public Service at the Clinton School prepared me for this program and I am very confident that it is one of the main reasons why I got accepted into the program.” Akoto said. “I learned about research through Field Research Methods, I learned about communication, I learned about program planning through Dr. Bavon’s class, and my IPSP and Capstone were research-focused, and I had to collect data and make informed decisions.”
Brandeis’ Ph.D. program teaches students to design and conduct policy research. The program boasts a 100% employment rate and a top-10 national ranking. Its 10 renowned research centers and institutes cover social policy areas ranging from disability policy to economic and racial equity.
Akoto, a native of Kumasi, Ghana, said she wants to use her Ph.D. to pursue a career with the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, or World Bank, working on policies that affect the lives of women and children and influence racial poverty.
“I chose Brandeis because their model is advancing knowledge through social justice, and I liked that because, if anything, Covid has shown us, enlightened us about the inequalities that exist,” Akoto said.
Akoto said that she is excited to continue working with students and faculty who share her passions. She is especially grateful for her classroom experiences and instructors at the Clinton School.
“The heart and the passion of the teachers at the Clinton School,” Akoto said when asked what she will remember most about the Clinton School. “I look at someone like Dr. Richards who goes all-out and goes out of his way to help and make sure that you are doing fine. One of the reasons why I applied to the Ph.D. program was that after my IPSP, I submitted my research paper and Dr. Driver wrote on my paper that I would do well in a Ph.D. program, and that boosted my confidence to apply. Dr. Bavon has also played a very important role in my life at the Clinton School, he has really inspired me. He’s given me so much advice.
The people at the Clinton School – my classmates inspire me and push me,” she added. “You see people implementing things that they’re passionate about. They’re not just talking about it, they’re doing it. The heart and the people – those are my favorite things about the Clinton School.”
As a McLarty Scholar, Akoto spent her fall semester working with Vital Voices Global Partnership. She researched how strong networks, skills, and knowledge are formed, maintained, and sustained through participating in various Vital Voices programming. She interviewed past Vital Voices fellows like Rehmah Kasule, Founder of CEDA International; Mersiha Smailovic, Founder of NGO LEGIS; and Violeta Bermúdez, former Prime Minister of Peru.
“Working with Vital Voices has given me the opportunity to learn about the difficulties that women leaders and women entrepreneurs face,” Akoto said. “I feel like that will be very important in my Ph.D. program, just having that practical knowledge.”
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