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Being able to quickly and effectively convince others to follow your recommended course of action is a powerful and marketable skill. Test your persuasive speaking skills in a public policy setting in the annual Policy Pitch Competition. 

Our first place winner of the , says that the competition helped enhance her confidence in both policy writing and public speaking - skills she says are important for students strengthen in their time at ������-Dearborn. 

When asked why she decided to participate, Nadia said, "In my junior year of high school, I had to complete a policy proposal for my AP Government class. It was about environmental protection in the Michigan Great Lakes. This original proposal 2 years ago got me into environmental advocacy and is what inspired my topic this year about the environmental and ethical amendments to the Minamata Convention regarding small-scale gold mining. I also have always enjoyed public speaking and debate, so I was excited to use my public speaking skills persuasively."

She also says that as a Pre-Law/Chemistry major she picked a topic that aligned with her interests in public policy and environmental advocacy. Through the Policy Pitch Competition, Nadia remarks how she was able to express those interests which allowed for further research into being involved in those fields in her future. 

Our second place winner of the took on a campus-wide issue to challenge the two-week requirement student organizations have to reserve a room. 

He says his desire to participate in the Policy Pitch Competition was fueled by his experience in running a student organization. “We had difficulty reserving rooms for events this semester due to a required two-week buffer between scheduling the event and the day of the event itself. This impacted our ability to get the most engagement possible in our organization. I noticed this was not an isolated experience when interacting with other organization leaders.” 

So, Meci sent out a survey in order to gauge the impact the policy had on others, “when I saw the policy pitch competition flyers, I knew I had to address this policy. Working with several student organizations and Student Government, I came up with and presented suggested solutions that the school offices involved in event registration should enact.”

When asked why he thinks the Policy Pitch Competition is important, Brian said, " it gives students a stage to voice issues and concerns in our community, state, and nation. It allows us to practice and utilize public speaking and project planning skills. Most importantly it's a great avenue for change on our campus, bringing campus-wide issues to the attention of the university.” 

Wondering if the Policy Pitch Competition is something you could do? Brian says, “no matter how niche of a topic or concern you might have for your community, don't hesitate to try and fix it. Although people might not realize its existence or effects, fixing it has the opportunity to create good for a community, rather than if it is left alone.”

Thank you to our donor and sponsors of the event.

Prizes for competition winners funded by Dr. Stanley Sorscher (pictured left) through a gift to the ������-Dearborn External Relations Support Fund.

The fund supports student interactions with Michigan State Legislators to discuss the need for investment in higher education at the state level, and other activities such as the Policy Pitch Competition.

Sponsors:

• Office of External Relations
• Department of Social Sciences
• College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters
• Master of Public Administration and Policy Program
• International City/County Management Association (ICMA) Student Organization