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Public Policy at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy | University of Toronto

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at The University of Toronto

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Lindsay Handren

MPP Recent Graduates

Lindsay Handren

December 1, 1998 | By |

Policy Analyst, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)

Year of Graduation
2015

Prior Education
University of Prince Edward Island, Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Science and History

Prior Experience
Editor-in-Chief, The Cadre (UPEI)

MPP Summer Internship
Policy Intern, Intergovernmental, Social and Economic Policy Unit, The Mowat Centre

What did you like best about the MPP program?

The Master of Public Policy program at the University of Toronto’s School of Public Policy and Governance provided me with a strong foundation in all things public policy, from its theoretical underpinnings to the act of policy implementation and beyond. In doing so, it equipped me with the tools necessary to excel in the workforce after graduation. However, what I liked best about the program was not what happened inside the classroom, but what took place outside of it.

Having relocated from Prince Edward Island to Toronto to pursue my MPP, I came in intending to seek out at least one extracurricular activity as a means of building a local network. I could not have known how many of these activities I would participate in, or how large of an impact they would collectively have on my overall program experience. From established student leadership initiatives such as the Public Policy and Governance Review and the Public Good Initiative, to new projects like the Municipal Policy Action Case Competition and the wide range of workshops put on by students and faculty alike, I was fortunate enough to engage with and contribute to a truly diverse set of extracurriculars. Each one involved a unique application of the MPP program’s foundations, and each helped me to develop and hone my skill sets as a policy practitioner. My local network did grow, but not in the manner in which I had forecasted it to – instead of a single network, I found myself with multiple. I will be forever grateful for the experiences, and for the access these networks continue to grant me into some of the most innovative minds in public policy today.