When Simon Wang (A&S '25) transferred to Pitt as a sophomore, he was fresh off a summer working in the nation’s capital and hungry to dive deeper into the work he did there.
“This conviction I’ve always had for public service was really activated during that time,” he said. “I came into the school year running off the energy of that experience and wanting to get involved in issues however I could right away.”
Today, Wang is a senior preparing to graduate in the spring with degrees in economics and psychology. In his three years at Pitt, he served in student government, interned with the Institute of Politics, and researched the effects of child poverty through the psychology department. He was in the first class of Policy and Social Impact Fellows in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and is a University liaison on Pitt’s Student Civic Engagement Council.
He also co-founded the Pittsburgh Policy Initiative (PPI), for which he was recently awarded Campus Compact’s prestigious Student Leadership Impact Award for his inspiring leadership in the fields of civic and community engagement. Wang founded PPI in the fall of 2024 alongside fellow Pitt student Jaydep Halder, and says the initiative was born from a desire to combine his interest in high-level academic research with wanting to make a positive impact on communities at the local level.
“I’ve always been interested in getting my PhD and doing research as a form of social change and impact,” Wang shared. “But as I thought about it more, I wondered how you square being a big government researcher and affecting policies that promote economic justice on a large scale while also remaining tied to communities that are going to be impacted by these policies every day. You might do research and come up with a plan that looks good on paper, but is this really going to help people? Did you ever ask them?”
PPI is a student-run and operated think tank committed to developing the next generation of civic leaders while addressing the intersection of public policy research, advocacy, and community engagement. PPI research teams are currently working with local partners on issues of affordable housing and food insecurity in the Pittsburgh region.
“I think students are uniquely positioned to do this type of work and help elevate community voices in the policy-making progress,” he explained. “It’s disarming to talk with a student… I don’t have a PhD. I’m not some expert coming into your community. There’s no power dynamic there.”
Wang credits a wide range of advisors and mentors for getting him to where he is today, including PPI advisor Catherine Cordova, the director of the Office of Community Engaged Learning in the Fredrick Honors College, and Erica Owen, an associate professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. Wang met Owen when he enrolled in her graduate-level Quantitative Methods course his junior year, but says the relationship was influential well beyond the course material itself.
“It was definitely eye-opening to see how these economic principles were taught at a policy school, but even more important I’d say was building a relationship with Dr. Owen. I was at her office hours every week—she probably felt like she couldn’t get rid of me,” he said with a laugh. “But we had so many amazing conversations that fall about careers in public policy, ways to get involved… She even wrote me a letter of recommendation and helped with my application for the Truman Scholarship in the spring.”
Owen was also supportive of Wang’s participation in the Policy and Social Impact Fellows Program, an experience he says allowed him to draw upon some of his previous community engagement work while gaining a new perspective on how policies are administered and implemented on the local level. He shared that this program and courses offered by Pitt Public and International Affairs for undergraduates to get involved in public policy are great ways for students interested in being part of PPI to gain the perspective and skills that will serve them in their work.
“All of the faculty I’ve taken courses with have so much experience- not only academic experience but real-world experience, too… There hasn’t been a real programmatic approach at the University or a way for students to engage with policy work like this before, so I think things like the minors and these new classes will be helpful in allowing students to learn concepts and skills earlier in their career.”
Wang plans to say on as an advisor to the new PPI executive board following graduation but says the group will continue as a completely student-run, student-operated organization. He hopes that opportunities for collaboration with the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs will continue to grow as people become familiar with the Initiative and its work. and discussed bringing on additional faculty members as advisors and co-sponsoring events as two possibilities for future partnership.
Undergraduate students can explore our website to learn more about the BA in Public Policy, minors in public policy and global policy, and the Policy and Social Impact Fellows Program, or contact Undergraduate Programs Coordinator Jazmin Kent-Loera at JAK512@pitt.edu with any questions.