DEVS Alumni Profile: Selena Zhang

Selena Zhang
MANAGER, PROGRAMS AND RESEARCH, INSTITUTE ON MUNICIPAL FINANCE AND GOVERNANCE

After majoring from Global Development Studies (DEVS) at Queen's University, Selena Zhang went on to do her Master’s in Public Policy (MPP) from the University of Toronto, graduating this year with the highest cumulative GPA in the program. Soon after completing her MPP, she landed a job at a think-tank in the Munk School of Global Affairs, called the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance (http://munkschool.utoronto.ca/imfg/), working with Enid, Slack, one of the world’s leading expert in municipal finance.  This is what Selena has to say about her new job:

As the IMFG's new Manager of Programs and Research, I'm immersed in every part of the Institute's daily operations - research and publications, visiting scholars, finances, events, seminars, graduate student scholarships, communications, strategic planning, etc. I'm learning a lot about how to run your own research and policy shop. The other day, for example, I was knee-deep in media and op-ed pitches (one of our events was featured in the Toronto Star http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2015/10/15/revenue-tools-not-a-dirty-word-says-new-toronto-city-manager.html). Public finance has never been my strong suit, but I'm lucky to be in a position where I get to engage with academic discourse everyday. Our research now is mainly focused on urban fiscal health, but we have work coming out around themes of climate change, governance, big data, and more.