Kennedy School fellow learns to ask the right questions
When Hodan Osman, M.C./M.P.A. Mason Fellow 2018, arrived in Cambridge last summer, she knew exactly what she was looking for. After spending nearly five years working in Somalia’s fledging government, the former banker had three things in mind. “I came to the U.S. to find lattes and sidewalks,” Osman says with a laugh. “I’d been working in Mogadishu since 2013, and we would hear explosions outside the compound while we were having meetings about the country’s financial future. We’d order lunch, and you’d hear the bombs dropping. It’s amazing what you come to accept as normal.” While Cambridge certainly has sidewalks and lattes in abundance, the third thing Osman was searching for proved a bit more elusive. “I’m passionate about state-building,” she says. “After spending several years working in a new government, I wanted to know: Is there a process for state-building? A formula? An A to Z? We’ve been doing things that...