Giacomo Bagarella, Class of 2013
I knew I wanted to concentrate in Government from the beginning of my time at Harvard, and that decision has stood the test of time. In my undergrad, I focused on international relations and wrote my senior thesis on the effects of the global economic and financial crisis on European defense spending and cooperation. It was a long and arduous process, but it was well worth the effort for all the insight I received from my adviser and tutorial leader and for the opportunity to interview leading practitioners and scholars on this topic. Following my graduation, I began my career as an Urban Fellow in the New York City government, working to streamline the City’s procurement processes. This outstanding program enabled me to form long-lasting bonds with a group of peers who were similarly dedicated to solving social and economic issues and to witness first-hand how bureaucracy and politics drive policy and outcomes. This experience led me to pursue a joint Master of Public Policy at the London School of Economics and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, spending my first year in London and my second one in Singapore. It was an amazing exposure to the world of policy—economic, security, urban, and their intersections—on multiple continents. Most recently, I’ve moved back to Boston and began working as policy advisor to the Chief Digital Officer at the Massachusetts Office of Information Technology (MassIT), the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’s technology agency. In my role, I lead internal operations as well as MassIT’s engagement with other state agencies as we rebuild the state’s website from scratch.
Juan Aparicio, Class of 2015
I knew I wanted to concentrate in Government from the time I applied to Harvard and have never looked back since. The flexibility of the concentration allowed me to explore the breadth of Harvard’s offerings, while its resources and staff allowed me to explore my personal interests in depth. Not only was I able to continue pursuing an artistic passion in contemporary ballet, but I dove into my professional interests by conducting policy research in Armenia, studying energy politics in Russia, and more! I was able to travel the globe during my time at Harvard (seriously, I filled a passport) in no small part thanks to Government. While an undergraduate, I was a recipient of the Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship – a path to public service through diplomacy. After graduating in 2015, I joined the Masters in Public Policy program at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. There, I was able to train in leadership, negotiation, management, and policy analysis – all while concentrating in International and Global Affairs. Studying Government at the graduate level demonstrated just how well the Government concentration prepared me for the future. Today, I represent the United States abroad as a diplomat in the U.S. Foreign Service. As a Political Officer, I apply my studies in Government every day in meetings with host nation officials, through cables back to Washington D.C., and in the everyday interactions that serve to represent the American people abroad.
Tábata Amaral de Pontes, Class of 2016
Tábata Amaral graduated in Government and Astrophysics from Harvard College. Coming from one of the poorest regions of Sao Paulo, she has co-founded VOA!, which prepares students from public schools for Science Olympiads, Acredito, a political renovation movement, and Mapa Educação, which strives to make education a priority. Tábata received McKinsey’s Next Generation Women Leader Award in 2017 and Glamour’s Women of the Year in 2018. She met Barack Obama in 2017 and Malala Yousafzai in 2018. Tábata was elected Federal Deputy to represent the state of Sao Paulo and the Democratic Labor Party with 264,450 votes and was the 2nd most-voted woman in Brazil.