#PolicyProfile: Funke Aderonmu, MPA ’24
Jan 10 2024
By
Brittany N. Murray
Source
Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
“Before coming to Princeton, I was a contractor with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), focusing on food security and resilience issues. Our team worked with many partners across Africa, Central America, and Southeast Asia to help improve their investments in agricultural development and reduce hunger and malnutrition. My previous roles centered more on policy research and advocacy, including two years at the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality. There, I worked on several economic and social policy issues, primarily to promote racial and economic equity. I developed a real interest in public policy as an undergrad at University of California, Davis.
I took courses in economics and global politics that highlighted the ways that specific policies helped reduce poverty in some contexts but also policies that exacerbated or created some of the economic inequality that we face today."Funke Aderonmu, MPA ’24
It exposed me to how policy can be used impactfully to promote and shape society to promote more progress and better support human wellbeing. More broadly, my interest in inequality and global poverty issues stems from my background. I was born in Nigeria, and my immediate family moved to the U.S. when I was 9. As I got older, I learned more about the world and saw how different life in Nigeria is from the U.S. I began questioning why some people have more access to opportunities to pursue their goals and advance while others do not. There are different disparities in everything from life expectancy to educational opportunities. I grew curious and wanted to help people thrive in their context, wherever that is. After Princeton SPIA, I want to continue working in international development to advance economic policies and initiatives to support populations and communities in developing countries. Ultimately, the goal is to help improve people's lives and provide more opportunities for people to thrive.”
At SPIA, We Care
Our Community
We are committed to ensuring that all members of our diverse community feel respected, supported, and valued both inside and outside the classroom. We seek to strengthen the capacity of our students to promote equity and foster inclusion while here and in the broader world.