Student Profile: Bruno Xie, MPP Class of 2023, IPAL’20 Alumni

Bruno Xie, MPP Class of 2023, was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil to Chinese parents. “To be a Brazilian-born Chinese person made me a minority in both Brazil and China. However, this identity shaped my interest in engaging with people from different backgrounds and having cross-cultural conversations.”

Growing up in two countries also meant Xie saw the unique societal challenges each country faced. “Though both countries implemented policies to address challenges, I thought there must be a better way to solve these problems. Economics seemed like the best path to understanding and addressing global issues.”

Xie went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in international economy and trade from Peking University School of Economics and graduated top ten in his department. While in school, he had several finance internships, including at Citibank ISF Research Institute, Guotai Junan Securities, and China Securities, where he researched markets and provided investment advice to traders. He found that he enjoyed analyzing data to come up with his own conclusions.

While working on one of these reports, Xie shifted away from straight economics and toward public policy. “I was doing a report on the Chinese security industry,” Xie said, “and I discovered that national security policies in China had increased the demand to upgrade surveillance systems throughout the country. Doing that research helped me realize how important public policy is to shaping industry trends, and I decided I wanted to analyze how public policy impacts the private sector.”

Xie began looking for programs that would teach him more about policy analysis. During the summer of 2020 he joined Harris’ International Policy Action Lab (IPAL), a five-week program taught by faculty from Harris and Peking University, to learn about evidence-based policymaking. “I knew how important policy and data analysis were, and I was excited for the opportunity to learn those skills.”

Xie found that IPAL did not disappoint. “I had the opportunity to co-author an academic paper, learn the programming language R, and create data visualizations. It was the first time I learned coding, and the experience was incredibly valuable. Before IPAL I thought I wouldn’t be able to code, but during the program I became much more confident as we applied coding to real world issues.”

While participating in IPAL, Xie decided he wanted to pursue a Master of Public Policy (MPP). “Harris was on the top of my list because I really enjoyed the Harris faculty that taught IPAL, and I wanted to continue a data-driven approach to public policy.”

As he winds down his first year in the MPP program, Xie says he is happy he chose Harris. “The classes have been interesting and I’m gaining a new perspective into policy.”

As for future plans, Xie says he is still exploring his options. “However,” he said, “my upbringing of cross-cultural conversations makes me lean towards being a data analyst. I’d like to work at the intersection of business and policy, helping  each side better understand the other to improve both policies and business strategies. Wherever I land, I am confident that the technical skills I’m gaining at Harris will be useful.”