NYU Wagner Team a Finalist at National Invitational Public Policy Challenge in Philadelphia

We are thrilled to announce that the student team representing NYU Wagner at The National Invitational Public Policy Challenge in Philadelphia was selected as a Finalist on March 19, winning $5,000 to be put toward implementing its project, called Kudos. The challenge was hosted by the Fels School of Government at UPenn and sponsored by Governing magazine.



Kudos encourages the use of underutilized vital services for LGBTQ homeless youth in NYC through an innovative rewards program. When the four Finalist teams were revealed, after a series of round robin presentations, the Fels coordinator announced Wagner as a perennial in these competitions, alluding to the fact that we are the only school to have made it to the Finals in all five years of the challenge.

The Finals were held on Sunday at the historic National Constitution Center. The team’s multiple presentations were stellar, and the members handled their Q&A with grace and aplomb. The team members included:

• Raniah El-Gendi, MPA '16 (Raniah did not participate this weekend, however she was instrumental in the development of the project)
• Omar Smiley, MPA '17
• Christalyn Steers, MPA '16
• Derek Weng, MPA '16
• Alice Wong, MPA '16

Will Carlin, Adjunct Professor of Project Management & Communication, coached the team for two intense weeks on their presentation, and Professors Jan Blustein and John Gershman provided support in the development of their proposal.

Governing magazine published an excellent article on the Kudos project.

Congratulations to the team and their supporters for their extraordinary efforts.