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School of Public Policy Students Honored as Best and Brightest Among Tomorrow's Leaders

What do a half-Eskimo from Alaska and a boy from the wrong side of the tracks in Oakland, California share in common? They have been selected as two of the best examples of public policy scholars in their underrepresented ethnic groups.

Pepperdine School of Public Policy students Jennine Stebing (MPP ’09) and Maurice Williams (MPP ’10) were recently chosen from over 200 applicants as recipients of the prestigious Millennium Momentum Foundation (MMF) Best & Brightest scholarship award.

The MMF supports and encourages students and young professionals from various ethnic backgrounds in public service-related fields through education, mentoring, and leadership development training.

Jason L. Seward, who founded the MMF, notes, “Our leadership must reflect, and be sensitive to, the diversity in our communities. The education and professional development of our young people in preparation for this challenge is of paramount importance.”

In 2007, the Pepperdine School of Public Policy (SPP) received the Ambassador of Education Award from the Millennium Momentum Foundation as an institute of higher education that is committed to educating and professionally developing a pool of diverse public policy scholars and practitioners.

Here’s a closer look at Stebing and Williams, and how they intend to make a change in their communities.

Jennine Stebing

As a half-Inupiaq Eskimo from Anchorage, Alaska, Jennine Stebing perceives a problem in how the U.S. government prioritizes Native American interests. Employing what she calls her "unique perspective as an Alaskan native," Stebing has developed a clear vision for improving conditions for Native Americans.

She intends to open communication between the U.S. government and Native American agencies. “I would love to be a liaison in either a federal agency, nonprofit, or tribal organization,” explains Stebing, who is pursuing both a public policy education and a certificate in dispute resolution at the School of Law. “I’m looking for more understanding and increased dialogue about Native American issues. For instance, the Indian Health Service (IHS) is vastly underfunded, and congress has said they will increase funding, but in reality it’s not a high priority for them.”

It is certainly a high priority for those who rely on the IHS and other federally funded Native American services. Stebing flexed her policy-making muscles in the summer of 2008 as an intern at Alaska’s Denali Commission (DC). As a DC Fellow, she worked with the federal agency to help create a community plan for Native American housing and healthcare. “I’m really interested in helping out my community with education and services that you would think would already be provided,” she says.

Stebing earned her bachelor's degree in Spanish and Latin American Studies at the University of Arizona, which she chose as a school with a lot of diversity. As a female representative for the United National Indian Tribal Youth, she volunteered her time with the elderly and at youth summer camps, and interned at the university’s Native Nations Institute. After taking year off following graduation, she realized her calling was to be involved in making changes through policy.

The Best & Brightest award brings together minorities from public policy in monthly workshops. Stebing is excited about contributing with her particularly interesting cultural heritage as an Alaskan half-Inupiaq Eskimo now married to a Mexican. She explains, “I don’t know if the Millennium Momentum Foundation has ever had a Native American scholar before. I definitely have a unique perspective to bring to the table. I want to help different minority groups help each other through understanding.”

Maurice Williams

Maurice Williams has been groomed for a career in public policy since his high school days. Raised in a turbulent household in Oakland, California, his student government teacher gave him a sense of direction for achieving his life goals.

Williams wanted to help people, particularly other African Americans raised in similarly difficult circumstances. His teacher advised him to get involved in local government. At a high school campus clean-up in the eleventh grade, Williams made an impression on California senator Don Perata and was offered an internship. For the next few years he worked in Perata's office during summer breaks from Stillman College.

Upon graduation the history major and student body president joined Perata's office fulltime as a community liaison in Oakland, serving essentially as the eyes and ears of the senator. It was during his internship and this first steady job that Williams realized there was a lot more he wanted to do to fix community problems, problems he saw as a result of decreasing value placed on education.

“I was the first in my family to graduate, and I believe education is the key to everything,” says Williams. “As someone who went to public school I believe in them—there’s a lot of good there—but we need more bang for the buck. A good education can help troubled kids overcome family issues and other problems.”

Williams should know. His father moved out when he was very young, and Williams himself left home at just 12 years old, moving between family members for the next six years. He understood from a young age that studying hard would be his ticket to a better future. It’s a personal history that not only propels him toward a career that will help others with similarly troubled family backgrounds, but also toward creating a family to call his own.

“After graduating I’d like to get married and have kids, whenever that happens,” he says. “Family and education are very important to me, and I’m trying to instill in my younger sisters that they need to finish high school, to finish college. It’s not about us in the end. It’s about our futures and our kids’ futures.”

Williams learned of Pepperdine’s MPP program while working in Perata’s office. With the senator's term in office up this year, Williams' move to SPP came at the right time to make a completely new start. "Give me a shovel to get on the ground and do some work. I don't mind working because I just want to get things done," he says.

The problem is in trying to find the right avenue in public policy to do this. "Politicians are often very hands off, so changes can take a long time," Williams laments. “Public policy needs to be about hands-on experience, and serving the people."

by Sarah Fisher