2020 INTERNATIONAL ALUMNI ESSAY CONTEST WINNERS'' ESSAYS

The Impact of KDI School on My Current Life

Huamani, Sandro (2017 MPP, Peru)

<Photo of growth on my education business>

Studying at KDI School was one of the most incredible experiences that I have lived. I would like to start this essay by thanking IDB for the scholarship, my KDI professors for their teaching and patience, my KDI friend and my family for their incomparable support. To explain how important KDI School is in my life, I will use an approach of before-and-after method (Impact Evaluation) where the treatment variable would be KDI School experience and result variables are three important aspects of my current life: i) my job performance in the public sector, ii) the growth of my education business and iii) my development as university professor.

What is the impact on my job performance? Before KDI School, I was a Specialist in tariff regulation at SUNASS, the regulator of sanitation services in Peru. I was in charge of estimating tariff levels that some drinking-water firms charge users. However, immediately after KDI School I became Adviser of regulatory policies at SUNASS, and I was able to collaborate in the design of public policies to contribute to the improvement of the Peruvian sanitation sector. For instance, I have been collaborating in the design of regulation for sanitation services in rural areas where the main object is to provide incentives to community organizations in order to improve their sanitation services. I have also been collaborating in the design of a new regulatory scheme for sanitation service firms in which the main purpose is to make companies provide the service at a minimum cost (productive efficiency) giving an optimal quality to improving the social welfare.

What is the impact of growth on my education business? Before KDI School, some friends and I founded an education center in economic theory and finance in Lima, called Lambda Group, where we provide specialized courses to around 1000 students each year. After KDI School, I could invite international friends who I met when I was studying at KDI School to teach some courses in order to improve the quality of our education service and provide new knowledge to our students. One of them is Inayat Ullah (PhD from KDI School) and Rony Rodriguez (MDP from KDI School) who have been teaching Development Economics and Advanced Stata, respectively. This helps us to gain greater prestige in the academic world and allows us to make KDI more widely known in Peru.

<Photos of my development as a university professor: Industrial Organization Class>

<Photos of my development as a university professor: Regulation and Competition Class>

What is the impact on my development as a university professor? Before KDI School, I could not be a professor at a national university (one of my dreams) because I needed a master''s degree to comply with a law requirement. After the KDI School, I could achieve this dream because I won a contest to be a professor at Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, the oldest university in Latin America and one of the most prestigious ones in Peru. Nowadays, I am teaching courses such as Regulation and Competition, Industrial Organization, etc. I am sure that KDI School experience allowed me to have enough skills to teach these courses successfully because it gave me more knowledge and excellent professors who have taught me not only Economics or Public Policy but also values to be a good human being, so they are my role models to improve my performance as a professor and love this beautiful career.

Finally, I would like to mention that I enjoyed to write this essay because I will always have a report about how important KDI was in my life. Thank so much KDI School!