Geoffrey Buswick, MPA 1993
Director and Office Manager
Standard & Poor’s Public Finance Ratings Office: Boston, MA

Geoff is a Director and the office head of Standard & Poor’s Public Finance Ratings Boston Office. As office head, Geoff is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the regional office, as well as overseeing the investor relations activities that serve New England. Geoff joined S&P in 2000 as a state and local government analyst. In that role, he served as the state primary analyst for Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, and was active on the Massachusetts and Connecticut state credits as well as covering various counties and localities throughout New England. Additionally, Geoff was a national sector leader for both state revolving fund/pool issues and pension issues (including other post-employment benefits).

Prior to joining Standard & Poor’s as an Associate in the State and Local Government sector in 2000, Geoff served as the CFO for the City of Gloucester, Mass. and was responsible for all treasury, collector, assessor, MIS and procurement activities for the city. In addition, he spent three years as the Administrative Officer for the City of North Adams, Mass. He also worked as an Assistant to the Town Manager in Chelmsford, Mass. Geoff holds both a B.A. in Political Science and an M.P.A for the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. He is a member of the Government Finance Officers Association and the Boston Municipal Analysts forum, which is affiliated with the National Federation of Municipal Analysts.

Clem Clay, MPA 2004

Connecticut River Program Director
Trust for Public Land: Northampton, MA

I seized every opportunity to incorporate agricultural policy into my coursework and internship, as I looked to CPPA to help me place my interest in sustainable agriculture in a broader policy context that could increase my impact. I expected to use this knowledge in a nonprofit management position, so I welcomed the opportunity to explore public management at CPPA while concurrently pursuing a PMBA from the School of Management. Since graduating, I have managed the Trust for Public Land’s Connecticut River Program, using land conservation tools to celebrate and protect New England’s largest watershed. Land conservation at TPL is a pragmatic and creative exercise in using public and private investments to correct for market failures that undervalue the public benefits of undeveloped land. As a national organization with over 400 employees, TPL has taught me a great deal about effective nonprofit management, while demanding that I draw daily on knowledge of farm policy, politics, economics, policy analysis, and management that I lacked prior to my time at CPPA. As every UMass alum knows, the farms and forests of this region are critical to its identity – I feel fortunate to work alongside many others who seek to keep these working and natural landscapes intact.

Lori Gordon, MPA 2000

Intelligence Analyst
MITRE Corporation

As an intelligence analyst consulting to the Department of Homeland Security, I daily apply the research tools and analytical skills that I sharpened while at CPPA. Because briefings to the sponsor must be targeted and succinct and often require an extremely quick turnaround, I often use the comprehensive and sequential methodologies ingrained in policy analysis to identify an issue and its alternate resolutions. For other projects that require more of a conceptual approach, such as developing new programs that bridge or reconcile separate efforts of government and industry, CPPA's classes on government organizational environment, structure, and decision making have proven beneficial.

Emily Hopta, MPA 2002

Assistant to the Secretary
West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

Emily joined the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (WV DHHR) in September 2002 and is Assistant to the Secretary.  WV DHHR is one of the largest state government agencies, with over 5,800 employees in 55 counties and a budget of $3.5 billion dollars.  She works on department policy and assists the 5 department bureaus (Medical Services, Behavioral Health and Health Facilities, Children and Families, Child Support Enforcement and Public Health) and a variety of statewide boards and commissions with program operation and support. She also serves as vice-chair of the Family Protection Services Board, the licensing body for domestic violence programs in West Virginia, and works with West Virginia's First Lady Gayle C. Manchin on healthy lifestyle initiatives and programs for children and families.

In 2005, Emily received the Purple Ribbon Award from the WV Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Guardian Angel Award from the WV Women's Commission.  She also completed Leadership WV, a statewide leadership development and education program for emerging leaders who are committed to addressing the challenges and building on the unique opportunities found in the Mountain State.

WV DHHR's current focus areas include working with CMS on Medicaid Redesign, studying residential placement of children, rebuilding community-based behavioral health services and addressing the need for healthier lifestyles.  West Virginia has had a number of challenges in the past 12 months that have drawn on the Department's wide range of services, including welcoming Hurricane Katrina evacuees and the loss of lives due to coal mine explosions.

"The CPPA program helped define my interests in social welfare policy and grounded my understanding of the policy process, with one of the most important classes being one of the first - Dr. Brenda Bushouse's course on Politics and the Policy Process.  All of the classes are valuable in my position with the Department, and I particularly enjoyed the wide array of electives CPPA encompasses in its course schedules.” Unfortunately, West Virginia has yet to become a magnet for CPPA graduates but I continue to hope that some of the wonderful friends from my class will consider relocating to the great state."

Dina Khassenova, MPA 2004

Coordination Officer for Kazakhstan
United Nations
After graduation I returned to my home country and worked for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for two years as a program/budget specialist. I recently joined the United Nations country team as a Coordination Officer for Kazakhstan. Under my current position I assume overall responsibility for and coordination of the developmental activities of the UN carried out at the country level.

I have chosen development work because I am looking for a career with meaning, action, diversity, satisfaction, and an abundance of options. I understand that development work is not glamorous. It requires a lot of work and commitment to help countries and people in need. To me the rewarding part is that development work is serious and has a huge impact on millions of people. In my work I have a chance to get involved in so many different issues, while having an impact on people's lives and doing something really worthwhile.

Carlo Ruiz-Giraldo, MPA 2004

Environmental Specialist
Ecuadorian Municipalities Association (Quito, Ecuador)

Ecuador is a small country, about the size of Nevada. Over here, policy reality differs quite a bit from the United States. The political instability makes public decision-making a rather challenging task. More and more, public officers and politicians see policy analysis as a need rather than an alternative. I work as an environmental specialist at the Ecuadorian Municipalities Association, which groups all 219 towns in Ecuador, assisting them in various fields such as strategic planning, sanitation, financial management, decentralization, economic development and environmental management.

My tasks include providing technical assistance in capacity building for environmental management in municipalities, policy analysis and design, and lobbying for the environmental decentralization process. “After working for more than five years in the environmental and legal fields, I feel all the skills I acquired after the completion of my Master’s Degree at CPPA are indispensable to make a substantial difference compared to other public institutions providing similar services. Large, medium and small towns’ capabilities differ one from another, and the challenges facing decentralization urges them to adopt strategies, policies and regulations based in a coherent and comprehensive analysis. I believe that the technical approach I acquired at CPPA will make a difference in the Ecuadorian Public administration.”

Jon Weiser, MPA 2005

Assistant Project Director
Center for HIV Educational Studies and Training: New York, NY

Upon last May’s graduation I moved to New York City for a summer fellowship at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force researching LGBT parenting. When my fellowship ended I took a job as the Assistant Project Director of the PARTY (Prevention Assessment of Risk Taking Youth) Project at the Center for HIV Educational Studies and Training (CHEST), a public health research institute associated with Hunter College. Although I am primarily researching sexual risk behaviors associated with club-drug use, I have been able to continue to research LGBT policy issues and am in the process of writing papers about LGBT community attitudes towards same-sex marriage and parenting. My experience at CPPA gave me the analytic skills necessary to conduct quantitative and qualitative research at the professional level, augmented my writing skills - teaching me to write in a clear and succinct manner, and gave me management skills that would not have been gained at an ordinary public policy program. Thanks CPPA!

Kristin Wood, MPA 2002

Economic Development Specialist
Congressman John Olver (District 1, Massachusetts)

As an Economic Development Specialist for a Ranking Member of the Appropriations Committee, a significant portion of my job is spent evaluating and developing projects being proposed for federal funding, ensuring that all funding criteria are being met, and making recommendations to Congress regarding which projects should be financed. To inform my work, I participate on a number of infrastructure boards and spend a lot of time in the community working with state and regional entities and officials. In addition to my appropriations work I am responsible for drafting and interpreting legislation, writing and delivering speeches, developing press releases, attending meetings and events both with the Congressman and acting as his representative across the district when he is in D.C. Finally another significant portion of my job is providing aid and consultation to regional planning and transit agencies, municipalities, municipal organizations, non-profits and businesses across western MA regarding financing, planning and operational matters.

“Prior to entering the CPPA program I worked as a business analyst for a multi-national company, which equipped me with a strong understanding of business operations. Although that knowledge is very helpful in my job, it was my work in the CPPA program that provided me with many of the skills I use daily. To simply state what I do- I absorb and analyze enormous amounts of material very quickly and then concisely communicate that material to the public, Congress and governmental agencies in oral and written form. Although many of my colleagues have post graduate degrees, my Chief of Staff frequently comments that the quality of my work clearly demonstrates that I graduated from a strong post graduate program. I thank and credit my professors and the CPPA program for giving me the tools I need to effectively do my job.