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Prospective Clients
Capstone workshops apply the practical skills and analytical knowledge learned at SIPA to a real-world issue. Students are organized into small consulting teams and assigned a substantive, policy-oriented project with an external client. Clients include public agencies (from the local to national level), international NGOs and multi-national organizations, and major firms in the private sector—recent examples include Booz Allen Hamilton, Clinton Global Initiative, Congressional Research Service, Human Rights Watch, J.P. Morgan, New York City Mayor’s Office, and the World Bank Group.
Student teams, working under the supervision of a faculty expert, answer a carefully defined problem posed by the client. Each team produces an actionable report and an oral briefing of their findings at the close of the workshop that is designed to translate into real change on the ground. For an example of recent reports visit: www.sipa.columbia.edu/academics/workshops/sample_reports.html
The collaboration between SIPA students and the organizations benefits both parties. The organizations benefit from the expertise of SIPA students, who have a wide variety of professional and educational backgrounds and who are in the final semester of a demanding, two-year professional degree program at one of the leading schools of international and public affairs in the world. The students benefit from the opportunity to put learning into practice. We seek to partner with organizations that can offer a project that is timely, but not urgent, which can be completed within a four-month period, that is of value both to the organization itself and to the learning experience of students—and produces actionable recommendations, which ideally will be utilized by the client within the near future.
Quick links:
Application Form for Potential Client Organizations