Fels Hosts Fourth Annual Public Policy Challenge National Invitational in Philadelphia

On March 22, the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania and Governing, the publication of record for state and local leaders, hosted the Fourth Annual Public Policy Challenge National Invitational at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. The Public Policy Challenge is a one-of-a-kind event that enables graduate students with a passion for public service to design a solution for a public policy issue of their choosing and pitch it before a panel of judges. Eleven teams participated; the four finalist teams were comprised of students from Penn’s Fels Institute of Government, Carnegie Mellon’s H. John Heinz III College of Public Policy and Management, New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs.

Georgia's team (fem)me was awarded the first-place prize of $10,000 for their plan to help combat the chronic lack of feminine hygiene materials available to homeless women, as well as the taboo surrounding the discussion of menstruation and feminine hygiene in general.

Runner-up team Schoogle, the winner of the the Penn Public Policy Challenge earlier this month, seeks to address asset management and procurement redundancies in the School District of Philadelphia by introducing a mobile application that would allow school principals to better track their schools’ inventory. As the team noted in its presentation, this issue has been the subject of several front-page articles in the Philadelphia Inquirer in recent days, highlighting the extent to which this proposal is relevant to the Greater Philadelphia community.

To learn more about the event, click here.

You can read more about how the Public Policy Challenge's student teams are making a difference in the New York Time's article "Helping Women and Girls. Period. Part Two."