Obama Scholar Trixie Conlu, MAIDP Class of 2019

Trixie Conlu, 26, most recently a consultant for public-private partnerships and infrastructure finance at Atkins Acuity in Singapore, is dedicated to helping close the infrastructure gap in her home country. While serving as a project manager in the Department of Transportation for the Philippine government, she observed that the biggest bottleneck to infrastructure development was not lack of money to build projects – instead, it was a lack of well-studied and well-structured projects.

With a BS in Management Engineering from Ateneo De Manila University, Conlu sees infrastructure as a way to fight inequality: “I think that improving infrastructure – and thereby providing improved public services and better physical access to opportunities for everyone – is a great way to equalize a society in which the gap between rich and poor is ever widening,” she says.

Conlu plans on pursuing her MBA after completing the MA-DP and Obama Foundation Scholarship to further her education and impact on urban development.

“I am inspired by people whose frustration and optimism simultaneously drive them to action. I am fortunate to have encountered many such people in my line of work, and I look forward to meeting more of them at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.”