Organizations and Events

GPPI offers a variety of student organizations and events for students to participate in as a great supplement to their academic work.

Annual Public Policy Conference | Georgetown Public Policy Review | Project Honduras | Georgetown Public Policy Student Association | Kiara Minority Student Association | Sustainability Working Group | Policy Dinners | The Policy Game

Annual Public Policy Conference

No other policy program in the U.S. gathers together such an inspiring community of students, scholars, and specialists as The Georgetown Public Policy Institute (GPPI). Each year, GPPI students work together planning this annual public policy conference. The event brings distinguished academics and policymakers to D.C. to discuss the most pressing and complex social issues of the day. This day-long event also provides a unique opportunity for current policy experts to address and hear from the next generation of policy professionals. GPPI's Annual Policy Conference attracts speakers and a diverse audience from the nation's top policy schools, non-profit, and government organizations, in addition to members of the Georgetown and D.C. policy communities. Last year's conference drew an audience of 200 people. We expect this year's event to build on our past successes and attract even more attention from the DC policy community.

For more information, please visit gppiconference.org.

Georgetown Public Policy Review

The Georgetown Public Policy Review is now online!  Check it out at www.gppr.org.

The Georgetown Public Policy Review (GPPR), published semiannually in the fall and spring, features articles, interviews, and book reviews that contribute to the thoughtful discourse of public policy. The editorial board is composed of graduate students from the Georgetown Public Policy Institute (GPPI). Recent issues of the GPPR have focused on topics ranging from international trade to welfare reform and have featured interviews from prominent policy makers such as Charlene Barshefsky, the US Trade Representative to the WTO. Students can join the staff of the GPPR in the fall or spring and help out in any of the following areas:

• get hands-on experience editing
• make contacts with public policy professionals and solicit article submissions
• write a book review and get your byline in The Review
• put your creative talents to the test in laying out The Review's pages
• cyber stuff, including working on The Review's website
• raise money through advertisements, subscriptions, and party planning. The GPPR also throws two fundraising parties every year.
• For more information about the GPPR, please send an email to gppireview@georgetown.edu.

Project Honduras

GPPI's Service Committee is initiating a service learning project in Roatan, Honduras. Twelve students will spend Spring Break on the impoverished island conducting a needs assessment and renovating an elementary school.

Georgetown Public Policy Student Association

The Georgetown Public Policy Student Association (GPPSA) organizes academic, professional, and social activities, including community service projects such as collecting children's books for a public school, donating clothes to a family shelter, and cleaning up a local playground. Other GPPSA events include brown bag lunches, the annual student policy conference, and formal and informal social gatherings.

Kiara Minority Student Organization

Kiara means "to change or make a difference." Our group has chosen to make a difference by representing the diversity that comprises the "public" in public policy. We want to ensure that the GPPI student experience is enriched by acknowledging and confronting the issues of race, gender and ethnicity that will surround our future decisions as leaders and policymakers. All GPPI students interested in promoting diversity and awareness are welcome.

Kiara hosts roundtable discussions throughout the academic year to supplement academic learning and better equip students to deal with the issues of today; past topics include affirmative action, the digital divide, welfare reform and urban planning. The organization also works to recruit faculty and students of color to help provide different insights into the world in which we live.

The Sustainability Working Group

The Sustainability Working Group (SWG) is a partnership of students, faculty and staff. SWG is dedicated to increasing sustainability efforts and awareness at GPPI and the surrounding community.

Policy Dinners

The Policy Dinners give students the opportunity to dine in a small group with some of Washington’s most notable policymakers. On location at restaurants across the district, speakers share thoughts and opinions on subjects ranging from words of advice, to the state of the Nation, to experiences that shaped their lives. Past guests have included:

• Bill Coleman: Former Secretary of Transportation
• Jason DeParle: Reporter, New York Times, welfare and poverty issues
• Jessica Einhorn: Former Managing Director of the World Bank
• Barney Frank: Congressman, 4th District, (MA-D)
• Wade Horn: Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• John Podesta: President, Center for American Progress, and former Chief of Staff to President Clinton
• Harvey Rosen: Senior Economic Advisor to President Bush
• Mark Shriver: Former Delegate, Maryland General Assembly

The Policy Game

Each spring, GPPI students immerse themselves in a “game” simulation. Students portray key decision makers (including senators, lobbyists, foreign ministers, and cabinet members) and play out the policy and political choices they face. The students have the opportunity to present to the “President of the United States,” played yearly by a well-known policy player in D.C. Past “Presidents” have included John Podesta, former White House Chief of Staff, Tony Lake, former National Security Advisor, and Alice Rivlin, Former OMB Director and CBO founder. The most recent games have included drilling in ANWR and U.S. domestic policy, China-Taiwan relations and US international policy, and the Kyoto Protocol and US environmental policy.

Here are a few FAQs answered by a GPPI student who has participated in the Policy Game:

What does the day look like?
You'll start the Game with a hearty breakfast and lots of coffee. After the Dean welcomes you, you'll break into lobbying sessions where experts will move from room to room, meeting with different legislators and shaping their view of the situation. Meanwhile, the President's staffers will meet with each other and try to collect information from Cabinet advisors. The morning culminates in a large advisory session where the President asks her advisors to assess the crisis and offer policy options. The session results in a proposal that the President send to Congress for approval. Then, you break for a yummy lunch. Debates, testimony, and roll call take place in the afternoon.

How much preparation do I have to do for the Policy Game?
About a week prior to the Game, you'll get a "briefing" binder that contains relevant information about the issue. The background and arguments surrounding the issue are available to you in the binder and you can refer to it throughout the Game. You could do some research on Google prior to the Game, but in most cases it will be obvious what your character's position would be.

How much "theatre" is involved?
It's a simulation, so there's definitely an element of theatre. However, no one's going for an Oscar here. You'll do some public speaking in front of your peers, and there's no reason why you have to channel Lieberman or McCain. Think of it as an articulate discussion among intelligent peers.

What if I don't know anything about lobbying/petitioning?
If you've been attending the Saturday morning Capitol Hill Skills workshops, you're good to go. If you haven't, then GPPI alums who work on the Hill will be there to guide you. In my opinion, this is one of the most attractive parts about this year's Game. It's a chance to learn the best techniques winning an argument. Who doesn't want to learn that?!