2022-23 Executive Education

The Duke Center for International Development (DCID) hosted 93 officers from the U.S. Army’s 95th Civil Affairs Brigade over four in-person training programs. Participants learned about the core principles of good governance and experts in the field led in-depth discussions about political and economic institutions, civil conflict, armed non-state actors, and peace and stabilization interventions. The program, led by DCID Director Edmund Malesky and Director of Executive Education and Strategic Initiatives Matt Bunyi, concluded with a day-long group exercise centered around a governance scenario.

In October, DCID hosted 21 early- and mid-career professionals from across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for the Leadership Development Fellowship (LDF), a program organized with World Learning through the U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) of the U.S. State Department. As the LDF academic partner, DCID facilitated training covering three primary themes: civic engagement, innovative leadership and social entrepreneurship. It drew on the expertise of Sanford faculty and practitioners in the Triangle. DCID also worked with Matt Nash to create a bilingual video series and workbook on social entrepreneurship for the participants. Professor of the Practice Roy Kelly and DCID Executive Director Jon Abels co-directed this program.

In May 2023, 20 professionals from six continents traveled to Duke to start the intensive two-week Distinguished Humphrey Fellowship Program, a Fulbright exchange activity funded by the U.S. Department of State and administered by the Institute of International Education. This year’s cohort focused on Human Rights and Social Justice, with Fellows working on issues ranging from migrant rights to indigenous peoples’ rights to disability access issues.

During their week at Duke, Fellows took classes with professors ranging on topics like human rights law, human rights budgeting and transformative dialogue. Building on Duke’s location in the southern U.S., fellows visited several sites to explore the historical and contemporary implications of the U.S. Civil Rights movement.

Following their time at Duke, Fellows traveled to over a dozen host organizations working on human rights and social justice issues across 11 states in the country to get exposure to novel programming ideas. Organizations included the Office of Navajo Government Development, Washington Parks & People, Southern Poverty Law Center, Neighborhood Empowerment Network, Tahirih Justice Center, Harvard FXB Center for Health & Human Rights, State of Illinois Executive Ethics Commission, N.C. Human Trafficking Commission, Access Living, The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), MDC, Inc., Team Harmony, and Amnesty International. Fellows finished the program with meetings with organizations and the Department of State in Washington, D.C.

Catherine Admay, senior lecturer, and Matt Bunyi, director of executive education and strategic initiatives, served as faculty director and program director, respectively.

Monitoring and Evaluation of Development Programs

During the two-week Monitoring and Evaluation of Development Programs (M&EDP), 11 participants learned the key steps and analytical tools needed to design and monitor programs and develop an analytical framework to evaluate their performance and outcomes. The program was led by Professor of the Practice GP Shukla and Director of Executive Education and Strategic Initiatives Matt Bunyi.

Behavioral Economics

Behavioral economics (BE) serves as a design framework that helps program managers improve project effectiveness by furthering their understanding of human decision-making, biases and communication. This three-and-a-half-week online course led by Joseph Sherlock, a behavioral scientist at Duke's Center for Advanced Hindsight, explored how these behavioral insights can further the understanding of development challenges faced by low-income communities. Working alongside Duke faculty and peers, seven participants applied their new knowledge and skills to various development sectors during the course’s immersive and engaging group project component.