Whitley Plummer

Hometown: Bronx, New York, by way of Clarendon, Jamaica

Degree and graduation year: MPPA/MBA 2021

Where I interned: Through my fellowship with the Civic Action Project (CAP), I was placed at Metropolitan Area Planning Council

What I did there: It was a great experience to join MAPC’s Land Use Department as an intern for their economic development planning team. I was given several projects to work on. The team was grappling with the effects of COVID-19 in real time, so my main project was to do research on economic resilience and bouncing back after an economic shock. I learned a lot about what steps can be taken to ensure a region is more resilient. I presented my findings—recommendations and best practices—at the end of the internship to the economic development team and other planners who were interested in my work. 

The second project involved building a grant tracking database to track COVID-19 grants that the economic development team was interested in pursuing for MAPC or for municipalities in the region. I developed the database using Airtable; this was fun because I got to pull from what I learned in a business analytics class that I took. Eventually another department became interested in the tool I built; they requested I expand the tool so that it could be used by the whole organization, because, at the time, each department was tracking grants on their own spreadsheets. 

My other two projects were smaller, but they were also quite interesting. I worked with an amazing planner from the housing team to gather data and create data visualizations for a Housing Needs Assessment for the town of Ashland. Lastly, I worked with my supervisor to develop an outreach strategy for the distribution of a small business survey that was being rolled out to assess how COVID-19 was impacting Asian business owners in Quincy and the surrounding area. 

The most important thing I learned: I learned that everyone is learning! COVID-19 caused everything to be completely upended. It was instructive to watch the team respond in real time. I also learned the power of convening. I was able to join calls with municipalities and listen as they shared best practices in response to COVID-19. Oftentimes we want to come up with the best idea, but sometimes you do not have to reinvent the wheel. Working with others and collaborating allows for ideas to be shared and for participants to brainstorm improvements. It was good to know that it is not always about having the best idea but knowing when and where to find good ideas.

The most challenging part of my internship: It was challenging to know how to filter out what was important during my research and what was superfluous. COVID-19 brought to bear many of the systemic issues facing our country, and the economic development team was really focused on bringing an equity lens to their economic development and resiliency planning work. It was scary to think my recommendations would be used to address some of those problems, because there is no one right answer to solving an economic crisis, ending persistent racial discrimination, and addressing climate change—and you will not solve that within the time span of one internship! I just had to be open when I had concerns and check in with my supervisor to debrief and get clarity on my deliverables. 

What surprised me the most: I think the thing that surprised me the most was that institutions have limited power! MAPC does great work, but they have very little authority over municipalities; they can provide incentives, leverage relationships, etc., but developing and implementing good policy takes a village! It cannot just be individual institutions or the federal government doing the work. Municipalities, corporations, CDCs, foundations, universities, individuals—everyone must be on board, committed and tirelessly working towards equity to get things to change.

Why I’m studying public policy: As a black woman and an immigrant, I think it’s really important to understand how policy is made. So often policies are created that negatively impact the lives of people who look like me, so I think it’s time that more people like me help shape policy. Policymaking needs to be more representative, and more diverse voices need to be at the table.

Future plans: Oh, my goodness. This dreaded question! No, I am kidding. I want to work in economic development and help improve the lives of people in communities that are hurting.