b'The Pulte InstituteforGlobal DevelopmentThrough the Keough Schools i-Lab (Integrationgrowing number of first-time partners eager to Lab), Master of Global Affairs students specializingwork with i-Lab student teams, as evidence of in Sustainable Development and Governance &its effectiveness.Policy immerse themselves in a consultancy-style project with real-world impact. The resultThese partnership experiences transform our of this team-based worka summer in the field,students professionally and personally, while bookended by three semesters in an academicalso delivering real impacts for our partners and settingcould be a technical report, a toolkit, orthe communities they serve, she said. There is case studies for use by their partner organization.no greater reward as a student than seeing your Regardless of the final product delivered, the i-Labwork used by the sector to effect real change in supports student formation and local impact onour worldand for our partners, great reward issues ranging from food insecurity toin knowing they are helping to shape the next state fragility. generation of global leaders.New partnerships broadened experiential learningDevelopment of a new curriculum is currently opportunities for the Master of Global Affairsunderway for graduate and undergraduate student cohort in 2023. Global Ministries, thestudents pursuing poverty research in humanitarian relief and development organizationchallenging global contexts, part of the of the United Methodist Church, collaborated forUniversitys overarching Poverty Initiative. The the first time with an i-Lab student team on aPulte Institute will pilot this program with Master project to evaluate agricultural interventions forof Global Affairs students at the Keough School communities in Cte dIvoire, Mozambique, andthrough i-Lab in the fall of 2024.Sierra Leone.Whatever global challenge they choose to The Keough Schools wider commitment tomeet, Entrepreneurship and Education Program meaningfully engage around the Global FragilityDirector and i-Lab Administrative Director Act also contributed to creating additional i-LabMelissa Paulsen says the program provides partnerships. The U.S. Department of State and thea unique opportunity to problem-solve with Center for Strategic and International Studies wererenowned global affairs experts new i-Lab partners in 2023, with student teamsand organizations.exploring projects tied to the policys objectives to foster stability in regions struggling withFrom scoping a project with a partner to violent conflict. designing ethical field research, conducting key informant interviews and focus group Tracy Kijewski-Correa, William J. Pulte Directordiscussions, and analyzing and synthesizing of the Pulte Institute for Global Developmenttheir data for the benefit of stakeholders and and academic director of the i-Lab, notes thepartners, this real-world experience provides programs transformative potential for studentsMGA students with the necessary soft and is powerful because they dont have to wait untilhard skills to work on some of the worlds most they graduate to have an impact. She points to theentrenched issues, Paulsen said.number of returning partner organizations and the 1109 | 2023-24 Annual Review'