Feature
Believing in the Power of the People
Paige Swem MC/MPA 2026 has built her career around a simple but powerful belief: meaningful change happens when institutions share power with the people they serve. From leading democracy reform efforts in Michigan to studying public leadership at Harvard Kennedy School, she has championed grassroots, participatory approaches that bring citizens into decision-making and strengthen democratic systems from the ground up, earning her the Ash Center’s Martha H. Mauzy Award this spring.
This article was originally written by Carol Kerbaugh for Harvard Kennedy School’s website.
Michigan native Paige Swem MC/MPA 2026 learned early to develop a tolerance for disagreement and a curiosity about why things are the way they are—two qualities that have guided her ever since.
Now working on issues related to participatory democracy and political strategy, she did not always see public policy as the way to help people. Initially drawn to medicine, Paige enrolled at Alma College, a small liberal arts college north of Lansing, Michigan—one of the only colleges in the Midwest with a human cadaver anatomy lab—intending to become a physician.
After her first year, Paige traveled to Ghana to work with a nongovernmental organization delivering medical care to local communities. It was there she realized she could help individual patients as a doctor—or make an even more significant impact by diagnosing and reforming societal problems at the system level.
When she returned to campus in the fall, Paige shifted her focus to political science and began exploring how different groups of people tackle similar problems.
After graduating, she worked in roles helping to get people—and ideas—on the ballot. She served as a campaign finance and compliance fellow for U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow’s 2018 reelection campaign and later as a fundraising coordinator for Voters Not Politicians, a nonpartisan organization working on democracy reform in Michigan.
“We had a really tough mandate to raise $17 million for a statewide ballot initiative to end political gerrymandering,” Paige explains. The campaign was successful: Michigan voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2018 outlawing political gerrymandering and establishing the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. “That was the first experience I realized the power of the people, not just the power of the candidate or the institution.”
“I hold the fundamental belief that the people experiencing a problem or challenge know what the solution is, and that the solution must be grassroots and people-driven to make a difference.”
Paige then joined her campaign colleagues at The People, a nonpartisan political 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organization that empowers Americans to find common ground. One of her proudest projects is the Assembly of the People, which brought together 100 people, selected to be demographically representative of America, for a week-long deliberation on American democracy and how to improve U.S. democratic systems.
“That showed me there’s more that unites us than divides us. I saw that when people come together, they can actually talk to each other. That gave me a lot of hope for breaking through partisan noise and polarization,” Paige reflects.
After several years pushing for reform from the outside, Paige pivoted to working inside government, first for Ingham County and most recently for the Michigan Community Service Commission, where she helped distribute $64 million in federal funds to grassroots organizations. Throughout her time in government, Paige has worked to bring people into the political process and leave doors open wider than she found them.
“I hold the fundamental belief that the people experiencing a problem or challenge know what the solution is, and that the solution must be grassroots and people-driven to make a difference.”
When a professional development opportunity presented itself, an internet search for policy analysis training pointed her to Harvard Kennedy School’s Public Leadership Credential (PLC)—a fully online program for professionals who want to strengthen their leadership and decision-making skills.
“I took one class, then that spiraled into the next and the next,” she says. “I was totally hooked. I loved learning again.” Paige’s mother, Evelyn, who changed careers after 20 years in the corporate world to become a college professor, also inspired her to explore new passions.
After completing the PLC, she applied to the Mid-Career Master in Public Administration (MC/MPA) Program, knowing a master’s degree would open doors to more senior roles and help her fully realize her potential.
Paige has viewed her year in the MC/MPA Program as both a gift and a job.
“My mentality is that this year is a gift to myself—a gift of learning, of growing personally and professionally,” she says. “But it is also a job in the most beautiful way.”
She points to two classes—MLD-201: Exercising Leadership: The Politics of Change with Professor Timothy O’Brien and DPI-247: Justice by Means of Democracy with Professor Danielle Allen—as being particularly impactful.
“I’ve learned to think about how to use the different levers of democracy to move the needle on big issues like housing and healthcare and affordability—issues that people really care about,” she says.
Paige’s involvement at HKS has extended far beyond the classroom. She is the co-chair of the Women and Power Caucus and was elected as a class marshal; she participated in the Women and Public Policy Program’s From Harvard Square to the Oval Office program; and she assisted the transition team of newly elected Governor of Virginia Abigail Spanberger through the Taubman Center for State and Local Government’s Transition Term. As a Center for Public Leadership Gleitsman Leadership Fellow, she also organized events that brought practitioners of participatory grassroots democracy to campus.
Reflecting on her involvement, Paige says she “wanted to be in rooms and in spaces where decisions were happening and bring a new lens to those discussions. The other piece of it is this deep connection and desire with my classmates to learn from one another. I love the genuine care that we approach each other with in conversation.”
She also credits her husband, Sam, for being her constant partner in this journey. “His unwavering support and readiness to embrace the uncertainty of this experience made it all possible.”
Soon, the couple will return to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Paige plans to apply the leadership skills she learned at HKS to continue reforming democracy and building multi-partisan coalitions in the purple state she loves.
“I believe in the power of the people and how we’ll bring change forward from the bottom up,” Paige says. “Now, I have much better ways of thinking about that. I feel much stronger as a leader.”