OCS Conference Funding Submission

Event Photo:

Me at Harvard Business School (Klarman Hall)

Keynote Speaker-Cotopaxi CEO

Closing Ceremony- SECON

Name: Mansi Wadhwa

Degree Program: MPA IN PUBLIC & NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT & POLICY

Specialization: PNP-Social Impact, Innovation & Investment

Conference Host Organization/Institution: Harvard Kennedy and Harvard Business School

Conference/Competition Name: Social Enterprise Conference

Conference Term: Spring Conference Start Date: 2026-02-28 Conference End Date: 2026-03-01

What were your takeaways from this conference/case competition?
I gained clearer understanding how theory translates to practice in social impact. Tracy Palandjian's keynote on AI governance highlighted the gap between developing guardrails and actually enforcing them across legal, public health, and financial systems. The affordable housing panel revealed that financing remains the primary barrier to scale, with national funding models failing to meet local demand despite proven need. I was struck by how activists and community organizers drive change more effectively than top-down institutional frameworks. The emphasis on lived experience in the disability tech panel challenged my assumptions about stakeholder engagement and reinforced the importance of inclusive design.

How will your participation in this conference/case competition support your professional development?
I connected coursework concepts to real implementation challenges. Keynote speaker Neel Lakhani's point about balancing impact narratives with profitability frameworks for investors clarified tensions I've been studying in SI3. Madeleine Smith's work on value chain blended approaches demonstrated how systems thinking operates in practice. I engaged with practitioners working in impact investing, blended finance, and digital infrastructure, several from organizations I'm targeting for summer internships. The digital public infrastructure panel expanded my understanding of how foundational identity systems enable financial inclusion. These conversations helped me identify which professional paths combine policy analysis with operational execution.

What are some next steps or action items this conference/case competition inspired?
1. Research bilateral trust frameworks (human-human and human-tech) in emerging market financial systems
2. Explore public-private partnership models in digital infrastructure through a social enterprise lens
3. Follow up with AI and DPI panel speakers about digital identity work, especially with Jonathan Donner and Sam Lazarus
4. Incorporate profitability narrative case studies into spring coursework
5. Map organizations addressing market design failures in the digital inclusion space

What are some tips or best practices that you would like to share with other Wagner students who attend a conference/case competition?
1. Research speakers beforehand, and prepare common threads for networking
2. Prioritize depth over breadth. I attended specific panels to engage more deeply with the topic
3. Take extensive notes to reference specific points when introducing yourself during the Q&A session
4. Be courageous to ask questions that show critical engagement with the panelist's works
5. Arrive early to sessions you care about most
6. Follow up within 48 hours on LinkedIn or their preferred communication channel, while your conversations remain fresh

Wagner Areas of Impact: Government, Health, Housing, International Development, Leadership, Nonprofits, Social Innovation