In remembrance of the one year anniversary of the passing of Dr. Ruth Cardoso, President of Comunitas and former First Lady of Brazil, the Brazil Office of Harvard’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) is proud to announce the recipients of a prize recognizing the highest quality undergraduate and graduate student projects completed as part of its Public Policy Immersion Program (PPIP). The recipient of the undergraduate prize is Dana Seesel (Harvard College 2011) and honorable mentions were awarded to Sam Downing (Master‘s degree in Public Policy candidate at Harvard Kennedy School of Government) and Adilson Moreira (Doctor of Juridical Science candidate at Harvard Law School).
The PPIP was created in the Summer of 2009 to expose Harvard students to the complexity of policy challenges in Latin America’s largest democracy. Students participating in the program undertake on-site research projects related to improving the nation's government, education and health systems. During the program, students are also introduced to the novel and effective programs that Brazil has developed to tackle poverty, develop human capital and reduce inequality through lectures and discussions with leading academics, activists and policymakers. Between June 1st and August 4th, 2009, 14 students from Harvard College, the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Law School and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences participated in the 9-week intensive Public Policy Immersion Program working with some of Brazil's leading institutions in São Paulo.
Dr. Ruth Cardoso was one of the founding members of the Advisory Group of Harvard's DRCLAS Brazil Office and served as part of the group until her passing in June 2008. She was known as a scholar of complex social processes including Japanese immigration, the impoverished outskirts of major cities, and urban social movements. Dr. Cardoso was also a prominent social reformer throughout her life. During the administration of her husband, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, she founded Comunidade Solidária (Solidary Community), a not-for profit organization that forged partnerships among government ministries with businesses and civil society organizations in tackling major challenges faced by the poor and excluded populations. She led the transition of the organization to become Comunitas, an NGO focused on social welfare programs and research on corporate social investments in Brazil.
A committee formed of members of the Advisory Group of Harvard's DRCLAS Brazil Office judged the student projects and determined that the award should be given to Dana Seesel. A rising junior at Harvard College with a concentration in Government, Dana was awarded the prize for her case study on “Modernizing of Public Management in São Paulo.” The research study was written for Fundação Brava, a private foundation that supports initiatives to encourage modern management methods in the Brazilian public policy sphere that strengthen the capacity of state and local governments to reform and modernize their management practices and agencies. In recognizing the accomplishments of the study, the committee was particularly impressed with Dana’s comprehensive approach to document the complex factors that contributed to the city’s successful adoption of fiscal responsibility practices during the Administration of then mayor José Serra.
The committee also awarded two honorable mentions. One to Sam Downing, from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, for his study on the leadership challenges faced by the mayor of São Paulo in securing the approval of a new city plan. He produced a case study for the NGO Centro de Liderança Pública (Center for Public Leadership). The second went to Adilson José Moreira, from the Harvard Law School, for his research on concepts of racial equity that are used in constitutional and legislative debates to support or obstruct the passage of more progressive affirmative action policies in Brazil. His paper was produced for Ação Educativa, a non-profit organization in São Paulo that seeks to promote the right to education in Brazil.
Professor Alexander Keyssar, Matthew W. Stirling Jr., Professor of History and Social Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, who led a one-week student trip to Brasília in the third week of the program noted, “it is an honor for us to have had the privilege of benefiting from Dr. Ruth Cardoso’s guidance during her time with us and we hope this tribute is a meaningful way to continue to recognize her contributions to Brazil and to public policies.”