Student Profile: Allison Elmer, MPP Class of 2024

A native of San Jose, California, Allison Elmer graduated from UC San Diego (UCSD) with a double major in Political Science (concentration in Public Policy) and Linguistics (concentration in Language and Society). Getting involved with The Food Cooperative—a student-run nonprofilt organization at UCSD—is what first sparked Elmer's interest in public policy.

"The Food Cooperative provides low-cost vegan meals to the school community, and I began working with other members of the co-op to address a backlog of unfiled taxes," said Elmer. “It exposed me to a lot of new ways of thinking about community work and organization, and really had a pivotal role in changing my perspective on what it means to be a leader and how you can best impact your community.”

Elmer's involvement with the Food Cooperative led to other community engagement experiences in San Diego, including UPLIFT San Diego, where volunteers work with unhoused members of the community to reconnect them with housing and other community programs, Greenpeace, and Todd Gloria’s campaign for the San Diego Mayorship.

Academically, Elmer also worked as a research assistant for a PhD student in the political science department at UCSD. "I worked on program evaluation for Jewish Family Services, which has a safe parking program—they essentially partner with organizations/businesses so those partners can use their already existing parking lots from 6 p.m. – 7 a.m., with access restricted to participants, staff, and security of the program during those hours. That research assistantship also was my first real exposure to data analytics and led me to explore graduate degree options so I could build up my data analytics skills."

The Harris Master of Public Policy program, Elmer said, was exactly the next step she was looking for. "I want to use quantitative data analysis to ensure policy is effective, and Harris’ quantitative focus definitely resonated with me.”

“Plus, there’re so many directions you can go with the public policy degree. Policy touches aspects of everyone’s lives, whether it’s a local nonprofit program that’s helping out community members or national policy that’s influencing infrastructure and climate change.”

While at Harris, Elmer joined Harris Community Action (HCA), a program in which Harris students use their data and policy analysis skills to support the work of nonprofit organizations on Chicago’s South Side. "Through HCA, I've been working with Serving People with a Mission to help improve their data collection and storage systems. I've also gotten involved in sports (including the pickleball club and taking classes at 606 Karate), and I am also interning with the Illinois Justice Project.

However, Elmer is also quick to note that she is not solely focused on academics and Harris extracurricular activities: "I also have been taking advantage of being in Chicago. It's a big city, and I want to remember to have fun!”

For those considering Harris, Elmer said attending information sessions was invaluable. “Just hearing students and alumni speak about their Harris experience, what they were involved in while here, and what they went on to do after finishing the degree really confirmed that Harris was the community I wanted to be a part of.”