Academia is where Felipe Blanco, a third-year public administration Ph.D. student at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), feels he is meant to be.
Born and raised in Mexico City, Blanco received the majority of his education in that city.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in public sector economics in 2007 from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and his master’s degree in public administration and public policy in 2010 from Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE), studying abroad for a semester at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at University of Texas at Austin in 2009.
He transitioned into teaching in Mexico City, most prominently as an adjunct professor of public administration at CIDE from 2010 to 2013.
“And then after that, I started doing a lot of work around consultancy, around public organizations and public policy, pretty much evaluating different programs at the federal level mostly in Mexico,” Blanco said.
Blanco moved to the U.S. in 2016 and, in doing so, began working as a community organizer for the non-profit Nebraska Appleseed, speaking to communities about healthcare access and policy.
But he found his role, albeit helpful, was not where he felt like he wanted to be, Blanco said.
