Student Profile: Sehare Hemani, EMP Class of 2022

Incoming Evening Master’s Program (EMP) candidate Sehare Hemani is a Senior Analyst at The Connell Group in Chicago, where she leads qualitative and quantitative research projects that “uncover the functional and emotional needs of individuals so the organization can better serve them.” 

Passionate about research and data, Hemani has been searching for a way to combine her interests with positive social impact. “I landed on the Harris EMP as a way of discovering what policy area I want to dedicate the rest of my life's work to.”

Hemani graduated with honors in 2008 from UCLA with a degree in Mass Communications. Her family moved from Pakistan when she was a child, living in various countries before landing in California for high school and college. “With being undocumented often comes some degree of financial instability, so signing up for more debt for graduate school wasn't exactly comfortable. After college graduation, I sat until I was able to figure out a path to legal status in the US and get a job. That opportunity came in 2012 around the time that President Obama approved DACA.”

Having been directly affected by public policy, Hemani feels it is her turn “to figure out how to recreate for others the opportunities that I’ve had. I graduated with honors from UCLA and I was sitting at home twiddling my thumbs. I don't want anyone else to be in that position.”

Hemani moved to Chicago after college, and through DACA she was able to secure an internship at TMP Worldwide  that soon became a job writing for their Content Strategy Team. There, Hemani realized a deep appreciation for data and expert-backed material. "When I would set up one-on-one interviews with experts to fortify my writing, I started to realize that I enjoy exploring perceptions on a decision and understanding individuals’ functional and emotional needs," said Hemani.

Hemani decided to transition to a role that allowed for experimentation with different methods of data collection, which led her to a brand strategy firm and B Corporation—a for-profit company that has received private certification for social and environmental performance. “Volunteering has always been a large part of my life; it's an aspect of my faith that manifests itself as giving back to my community. Working with nonprofits and other B Corporations that take into consideration the people they serve, their employees, their community, and the planet—I had never felt more satisfied or fulfilled.”

Later on, Hemani further built on her research skills at a quantitative research company that created a Statistical Analysis System (SAS) platform allowing for quantitative analysis and data collection. Eventually she wanted to transition to a workplace that allowed for more qualitative consulting work as well, which she has found with the Connell Group. “They do a lot of research in health care—a tangled and complex problem in our country. Being able to talk to physicians, nurses, and chief medical officers about data integrity in the healthcare space and how they're trying to use patient data in a meaningful way has been really exciting.”

Living in Chicago and having realized over her career the importance of an understanding of economics for sustainable policy, Hemani said it was a “no brainer” to pick Harris for her program. “It feels like the right opportunity for me to dive into different areas and figure out the next 30 years of my career. I like that the EMP has weekend seminars to discover various policy areas, and it’s not tied to one specific policy area, so you can figure out what your own adventure will be.”