Gaku Funabashi, MPP’98 | John Liuzzi, MPP’01 | Alumni in Mexico

Gaku Funabashi
MPP’98

Sometimes change happens in a quantum leap, but more often it’s in the steady accumulation of many small steps. Gaku Funabashi knows this well from his job as a private-sector development policy specialist with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), a government agency that lends technical assistance to less developed countries. Funabashi acts as an in-house consultant advising JICA on private-sector and industrial development. “My work,” he says “varies from surveying small and medium enterprises in one country to identifying problems and the projects necessary to solve these problems in another country. I also advise government officials on how to formulate policies to develop the private sector.”

Funabashi’s work has taken him to Thailand, the Philippines, Laos, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Iran, Ghana, and South Africa. While in Bulgaria, where he stayed for more than two years, he came to appreciate the importance of small steps in making a big difference. In the country to advise on industrial development, he quickly discovered that Bulgaria lacked even the most basic foundation for analysis and policymaking.

“There was little micro-level statistical data or information on enterprises. So I started by conducting a thorough industrial survey and an analysis of information we collected. As technical assistance experts, our role is not only recommending necessary policies, but training government officials so they can continue the process themselves after we leave. Hence, I arranged a seminar series on sectoral analysis, and by the time I left Bulgaria, my colleagues were able to analyze industry by themselves. This is still a long way from policy formulation, but it was rewarding because this kind of small achievement is a necessary step for the future.”

Stepping back from the incremental change, Funabashi can see its longer-term impact not only for the developing countries he assists but for his own country, Japan. The methods of cooperation and joint effort he instills in other countries can be reapplied at home. “Personally, I think that even though I’m working for other countries now, I’m also contributing to Japan’s future progress by considering how it should respond to the way the world is moving.” I want to be a part of the change to reshape my own country. And I believe it needs to have other perspectives to start something new.”

John Liuzzi
MPP’01

John Liuzzi enjoys his work in the US Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, and not just for the travel that takes him everywhere from Western Europe to the Far East. Liuzzi loves his job because he is promoting free trade while simultaneously helping ensure the proper function of the rules-based global trading system. “Working to prevent or remove trade barriers is the heart of my work; there’s nothing more gratifying than helping an exporter (often a small business) get past an illegal trade barrier. In an era of globalization, the extent of a small business’s access to foreign markets can often mean the difference between success and failure, creating wealth and new jobs or being forced to close up shop for good.”

As a member of the Office of Agreements Compliance, Liuzzi investigates and resolves foreign trade barriers under agreements to which the US is party. Frequently, his clients are smaller companies trading overseas for the first time. “And along the way, they may come up against trade barriers, and they don’t know what to do. They don’t know if these barriers are legal or not, or if the US even has a trade agreement with the country in question. So they come to us.”

Complementing his implementation work, Liuzzi participates in trade negotiations as a member of US negotiating delegations; his most recent work was serving as a senior adviser to the negotiator for a chapter of the US-Australia Free Trade Agreement. His specialty, government procurement trade, focuses on trade in things governments buy, everything from ball point pens to metal detectors to nuclear power plants. “In any economy,” he says, “the government is the largest purchaser of goods and services, and there’s a set of trade rules that regulate how it does this at the international level.”

Liuzzi always knew he wanted to pursue federal government service, “to work on policy that affects the entire nation,” and has found satisfaction in working to implement and improve our foreign economic policy. “I firmly believe that increasing trade between nations not only increases wealth, but also fosters development, enhances security, and promotes democracy. To be sure, the current global trading system is far from perfect; there are many problems that have not yet been resolved or even understood—labor issues and environmental concerns for example. But without solid trading systems based on clear, defined rules to which members agree to adhere, how can there be any hope of addressing or making progress on these issues? We have to start somewhere, and I think we’ve made a very good start.”

Alumni in Mexico

Alumni in Mexico City are making a difference in every possible way. From working in the federal government on issues of poverty and social welfare to regulating the new telecommunications industry; from teaching to administering academic programs; and from banking to private consulting—it is hard to find an area where the presence of Harris School alumni cannot be felt.

In Federal Government

By improving efficiency and financial stability, Juan Manuel Calderón Alvarado (MPP’98) is helping the Social Security Mexican Institute (IMSS) protect the well-being of the elderly, disabled, and infirm. As Technical Coordinator of Strategic Planning and Operations in IMSS’s Revenue Generating Services Unit, Calderón has been a key part of its restructuring, and if he and his colleagues are successful, they will contribute to “the viability of the whole system.”

Several alumni are working with Mexico’s Ministry of Social Development (SEDESOL), the agency charged with implementing social policy particularly in poor populations. Among this group is Oliver Azuara (MPP’02), Director of Opportunities for Social Development. Azuara is responsible for finding ways to help SEDESOL’s programs keep pace with changes in the population and economy. In one case, Azuara contributed to the creation of Programa de Apoyo Alimentario, a program that will benefit more than eight hundred thousand families by overhauling eligibility for food support and helping break intergenerational poverty cycles.

As Director of Strategy and Design of Social Programs, Victor Chora (MPP’02) is also looking for ways to improve SEDESOL’s programs. He reviews program effectiveness, suggests reforms, and helps states develop social policy planning to improve the well-being of people in poverty. Although a difficult job, Chora enjoys his work as well as traveling to the rural, isolated communities targeted by the agency. “It makes me feel good to talk with the people in the localities that I visit, helping them to understand a particular policy or program.”

As Director General of Institutional Management at SEDESOL’s Undersecretary for Planning and Evaluation, Marco A. Mena (MPP’94) works to help strengthen the state governments’ institutional and policy tools for fighting poverty. On any given day, he might negotiate technical cooperation agreements between state and federal governments, represent his agency before other governmental bodies, or coordinate social development-related aspects of key annual reports—including those by SEDESOL and the President. Previously, Mena also served as the Undersecretary’s Chief of Advisors.

As Director of Socioeconomic Studies in the Ecological Planning, Ecosystems Conservation, and Watershed Area at the National Institute of Ecology (INE), Claudia Rodríguez Solórzano (MPP’01) specializes in Mexico’s environmental management decentralization. Currently, she is also conducting a socioeconomic diagnosis of the environmentally degraded but economically vital Lerma-Chapala watershed to determine its decline and possibility for recovery. Rodríguezis proud of the work she is doing at INE. “I try to contribute ideas for understanding the source of environmental problems in order to find the solutions for them.”

At the Secretary of the Treasury’s Administration and Selling Service (SAE), Carlos Nieto-Parra (MPP’95) recently took on a new challenge. As a member of the Strategic Planning Unit, he is helping to determine the best methods of handling the federal government’s assets. This position is a natural transition given his prior research projects for SAE. He analyzed the management of forfeited and seized property by Mexican Customs and conducted an extensive international comparison of asset management companies, like SAE, to identify best practices.

Andrés E. Aymes Ansoleaga (MPP’99) combines his interests in the public and financial sectors as the Chief Operating Officer for Banco del Ahorro Nacional y Servicios Financieros (BANSEFI), SNC. A government development bank, BANSEFI has a large network of branches, including 290 in rural areas, which serve 1.6-million customers. As COO, he has made strides to reverse the bank’s complicated financial situation while continuing to expand formal banking and financial services to poor communities, which Aymes says is BANSEFI’s most important endeavor.

As the Deputy Federal Fiscal Attorney for Financial Affairs, Luis Urrutia (MPP’98) provides invaluable legal and financial advice to the Mexican Ministry of Finance and Public Credit. While he enjoys offering perspectives on the implementation of financial policies and political agendas, Urrutia also has an impact on a smaller scale. Encouraging professionalism and dedication from those around him, Urrutia is helping his staff overcome differences in education by training them to be at the same professional level.

As the Director General of Economic and Regulatory Analysis at Mexico’s Federal Telecommunications Commission (COFETEL), Lester Garcia (MPP’96) is working to improve the telecommunications market conditions in Mexico. Whether solving problems to keep the industry running smoothly or analyzing its development to plan for the future, Garcia knows each task is important. “To be a regulator you have to understand that your decisions have a direct impact on jobs and in overall national development, as well as better prices and services. Your decisions have to be thorough, but at the same time fast and accurate.”

In Academia

Beyond the public sector, Harris School alumni contribute to the life of the mind at the Universidad Iberoamericana (IBERO) and Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE), both highly respected universities. David García-Junco Machado (AM’95) directs the IBERO’s Continuing Education Program and Gabriela Pérez-Yarahuán (MPP’96) teaches in the IBERO’s Department of Social and Political Sciences. But Pérez-Yarahuán’simpact is not limited to the classroom. She was also part of a recent departmental reform adding courses on statistics, regression analysis, political economy, and game theory. In addition, she coordinates the Diploma Program on Social Policy, a joint project of the IBERO and Harris School in which faculty teach collaboratively on a range of topics. “The first of its kind in Mexico, we have had over one hundred students from all over the country and from different government agencies and nonprofit organizations.” And that partnership is now about to intensify, thanks to a recent grant from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), providing for internships, scholarships, and academic exchange. (See “France to Mexico: The Harris School Goes Global” in this issue.)

In the IBERO’s Department of Economics, Cesar Velázquez Guadarrama (PhD’02) encourages his students to impact the world around them. “I like to teach my students about their social environment, about Mexico’s needs and that they should be part of the solution,” he says, adding he is rewarded when his research is useful. For example, two years ago he participated in a World Bank project on local public services. The study became a tool for governments to determine the costs and benefits of new services.

Laura Sour (MPP’00, PhD’02) teaches in CIDE’s Master’s Program in Public Policy and Administration. In addition, she is Executive Coordinator of the Program of Budgeting and Public Spending (Presupuesto-CIDE), which focuses on budget analysis and government reform. Sour has always enjoyed teaching, but coordinating Presupuesto-CIDE came as an unexpected challenge. Sour is rewarded by its many demands, whether facilitating rigorous research or making its work available to policymakers, the media, and the public.

Director of CIDE’s Master’s Program in Public Administration and Public Policy since 2002, Jose F. Tapia-Martinez (MPP’98) has dramatically overhauled its operation, increasing admissions and program requirements. He also added opportunities for practical experience and academic support such as a second-year methodology seminar. But Tapia-Martinez’s biggest reward is “opening opportunities for students from areas with limited prospects. Today our best student comes from a public school in Minatitlan and had never before left its rural municipality.”

In the Private Sector

About to start his own think tank, Carlos Eugenio Paz-Garcia (MPP’99) is examining how social scientific methodologies function in multicultural and multicivilizational contexts and how to encourage their best use. His current project, “Public Civilizational Management,” explores how cultural differences affect fundamental concepts and seeks to allow for such differences in determining successful solutions to social problems. For example, “the conceptual nature of the ‘public arena’ differs widely among cultures, for instance between the Anglo-Saxon–American and Hispanic-Mexican traditions.” Paz-Garcia hopes his work will ultimately help groups worldwide understand each other and work together.

As Vice President of the Public and Municipal Finance division of Protego, a private-sector bank, Manuel Rodriguez (MPP’00) is improving Mexico’s infrastructure and bettering thousands of lives. One recent undertaking was helping a Puebla water utility restructure their finances, enabling further water projects and benefiting two hundred thousand people. Whether freeing resources for states and municipalities or informing policymakers, Rodriguezknows he makes an impact. The results of his work “ultimately have a direct impact on the well-being of the population.”

Fernando Floresgómez (MPP’98) is the Regional Marketing Manager for Latin America at Janssen Cilag de México. Sarah L. Gordon (MPP’96) helps small nonprofits and large corporations alike reach their audience. As a consultant for Zimat Golin Harris, a strategic communications, public relations, and marketing firm, Gordon manages a wide range of projects and clients. Whether informing the public about a company’s positive local influence or sharing a nonprofit’s message with its audience, she knows she impacts how her clients communicate. But for her, it is also exciting to see the evidence of her hard work, “to actually see the articles in print. It’s tangible proof that I have been successful.”