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SPP Student Awards Recognize Academic Achievement, Social Justice Work
The School of Public Policy (SPP) presented two awards to outstanding students at its graduate reception on May 10.
Palista Kharel, MPPA/MBA, received the Philip Hertz Scholarship Award; Toby Armstrong, MPP, received the M.V. Lee Badgett Award for Social Justice.
The Hertz award was established in 2004 by alumnus George Hertz, a member of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences Advisory Board, in honor of his father, Philip Hertz, a lifelong public servant. The scholarship recognizes academic achievement, commitment to public service and potential to make outstanding contributions in public policy and management.
Kharel, this year’s Hertz award winner, was born and raised in Nepal and is a graduate of Kenyon College. Before enrolling at SPP, she worked as an economic research project coordinator at the Sonoma County Economic Development Board and the Sonoma County Workforce Investment Board, and received a Projects for Peace grant to improve school infrastructure and student outcomes and establish a scholarship program at a rural public school in Nepal.
This spring, Kharel was invited to present her SPP capstone project, “Access to Technology and Student Academic Achievement: Evidence from Nepal,” at the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management student conference. This summer she will begin work at an education-focused social enterprise in Washington, D.C., where she will support education leaders in K-12 schools to achieve student and organizational performance goals.
The Badgett award was established in 2016 in honor of Badgett, an SPP and economics department faculty member whose research and public scholarship have helped advance social equity. It is awarded each year to a graduating student whose work focuses on social justice and who demonstrates potential for future contributions to social equality.
Armstrong, the 2018 Badgett award winner, is dedicated to furthering environmental justice. As a UMass Amherst undergrad, he studied sustainable energy policy and completed a thesis on socioeconomic-based inequities in the enforcement of environmental regulations.
At SPP, Armstrong was a member of the team that won first place in this year’s Massachusetts Chapter of the American Society of Public Administration’s 2018 Capstone Competition, for the project “Cannabis Legalization: Challenges and Opportunities in Small Communities.” He has accepted a job as a market research fellow at Sustainable Energy Advantage, a renewable-energy consulting firm in Framingham.
“The Hertz and Badgett awards were created to recognize students who, through their work and actions, have demonstrated their commitment to public service and social equity, two of the core values of the School of Public Policy,” said Satu Zoller, SPP associate director. “Both Palista and Toby honor the intent of the awards. I am sure they will represent SPP well as they move forward in their careers—and I can’t wait to see where their degrees take them.”