Though World Bank meetings have a reputation for being dry, first year MIDP candidate Dwinanda Ardhi had his heart set on attending the annual gathering in Washington. In order to score an invitation, however, he had to obtain an official recommendation from his school. That’s where MIDP’s Professional Development Services stepped in.
“When you’re here at Duke, we will support you. That runs the gamut from professional development workshops, to advising on CVs and cover letters, to writing letters of support,” Poole says. “Whatever we can do to help our fellows with professional development.”
For Ardhi, the benefits of attending extended well beyond the discussions and panels. Back home in Indonesia, he serves as a communications officer in the ministry of finance. At the meeting, he was one of only two students in the U.S. from his unit, and was able to connect and network with officials from his home country as well as the World Bank’s officials and former officials from Indonesia.
With these new connections, he intends to stay in touch and hopes to contribute to future DCID trips to Washington, perhaps even setting up meetings with the Southeast Asia unit of the World Bank.
We asked him about his experience in an email:
What did this opportunity mean for your career?
I am grateful for having the opportunity to attend annual meetings of the World Bank Group and the IMF in my capacity as a student at Sanford. I attended some seminars which the topics are relevant to my study here, such as human capital development and global poverty reduction.
I also got the opportunity to visit the Communication Office of the World Bank with the Indonesian Delegation in Washington DC. Before coming to Duke University, I have been working for some years at the Communication and Information Services Bureau at the Ministry of Finance of Republic of Indonesia. The opportunity to visit the Bank’s Communication Office means a lot for my career. For example, we learn how the Bank manage their publications, reports, website, social media, and more importantly how they deliver information to different stakeholders, such as government, NGO, academics, and general public in all over the world.
How was the support of the DCID staff helpful to you?
The DCID staff were very helpful. I talked to Stephanie Alt Lamm and Caroline Korda Poole about the plan to attend the meetings and they were very responsive and supportive. They also helped me to get a recommendation letter from Professor Indermit Gill. I got the letter from Professor Gill in one day, so I could submit my application before the deadline.
It’s so great to know that you can always come to the DCID staff office and have a discussion with them about your study and career plan.
