Alumni Profile: Joshua Charles, MPP’23

Joshua Charles’s pathway to public policy began as an undergraduate at Cornell University, where he majored in interdisciplinary studies and economic development.

Some classes he took on international development, he said, are what led him to where he is today. “Taking courses on poverty, health, and inequality, along with courses on economics and development, opened my eyes to the potential of solving complex global crises. I began to think about those crises as they related to development, which I had never thought about before,” he said.

Charles subsequently went to Zambia in the summer of 2019, serving with the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development. “My experience in Zambia was a decisive one. I saw and experienced how a lack of export diversification, challenges in creating effective macroprudential policy, and deficits in public infrastructure can promote currency fluctuation, sovereign debt challenges, and volatile financial markets. No longer did I seek to have an impact solely in America—I wanted to work on an international scope,” he said.

Charles returned to Africa the following year, interning in Uganda and Ghana. “In Ghana I interned for an infrastructure development company, Primesec Ghana Limited, where I provided company executives with recommendations on bankable infrastructure projects and partook in high-level discussions in the private sector. And in Uganda, I interned for the Global Livingston Institute [GLI] and spoke to community members to implement their perspectives on one of GLI’s sustainability plans. Those experiences,” Charles said, “provided new facets on my perspective on economic development. I saw that economic development requires a communal effort as well as corporate development.”

His experiences in Africa, Charles said, also helped him recognize his limitations. “I realized I didn’t have the skills to change my scope of capabilities from solely qualitative work to quantitative work. I believe research is more applicable when qualitative work can be synthesized with quantitative work.”

The Harris Master of Public Policy, Charles said, was ideal for gaining those skills.

“Harris was a great opportunity for me to delve into econometrics, national security, strategy, and development, while also dipping my toes into courses related to project finance and international business.”

Most importantly, however, Charles said he developed a greater appreciation for the complexity of policy and business decisions while at Harris. “Resources will almost always be limited, so the key is—based on your strategic objectives—finding a way to move things forward. I think no matter if you're a policymaker, a representative from the nonprofit space, or you’re in the private sector, relationship management is key. You have to understand your positionality to get your intended outcome done.”

Relationship management, Charles said, has been integral for him as CEO of Frontier Dominion. “I do a lot of work on sales optimization, lead generation, client engagement, project management, relationship development and management—it’s fairly qualitative work. However, the quantitative skills I gained at Harris—such as statistical testing, regression analysis, or machine learning methodologies like the Monte Carlo method—are critical research and business intelligence services we provide our clientele.”

As for advice for incoming and current Harris students, Charles said, “Tap into the resources at Harris. You have access to some of the best thinkers in the world. You have access to Nobel prize laureates. Once you tap into the resources you have, that's when you can be the most successful.”