Sierra Edstrom

Hometown: Denver, Colorado

Degree and graduation year: MPP, 2024

Where I interned: The National Academy of Public Administration

What I am doing there: I am conducting a 50-state inventory (including Washington, DC), looking at Vote by Mail (VBM) policies and procedures from a systems administration perspective. The 50-state inventory research is the basis of a paper explaining my findings and providing recommendations for states.

The most important thing I am learning: How to write, research, and study in a professional rather than an academic setting. 

The most challenging part of my internship: The most challenging part of my internship was being remote, not working in the office, and having that in-person contact makes a difference, but my team and most of the Academy made it work and still stayed connected.

What surprised me the most: How much I like working in the systems administration and analysis area of Policy. I didn’t originally want to work in elections or politics, but my work on the systems and how elections work in states and between levels of government is interesting and an area I would like to keep researching. 

Why I’m studying public policy: Public Policy initially seemed just like the next logical step and was not something I knew a lot about going into my 4+1 program. I ended up liking policy and everything related to policy I have done at the Academy, and is something I would like to pursue as a career. 

Future plans: I would like to keep up with some of the edits and final work that my summer work will need during the school year and to keep interning at the Academy. Ideally, I would like to work for the Academy or a similar institution in research and systems administration after I graduate.