Policy Analysis Exercise Opportunities
Still looking for a Policy Analysis Exercise (PAE) client? Explore the following PAE opportunities below.
The Sunshine Fund Faculty Driven Team PAE
Are you interested in doing a PAE on a democracy topic? The Sunshine Fund Faculty Driven Team PAE on overseas voting by US Citizens may be the project for you. The faculty advisor is Kathryn Sikkink, Ryan Family Professor of Human Rights and longtime co-chair of the Harvard Votes Challenge. Our client is the President and CEO of U.S. Vote Foundation, a non-partisan voter organization that has produced the most important website to facilitate voting by overseas US citizens. She estimates that less than 10% of the approximately 2.2 million eligible American voters overseas actually vote. Because voting levels are so low, our task will be to identify the barriers voters face when they try to vote. So, if you keep writing potential PAE clients, but are not getting any answers, or trying to find a faculty advisor without success, consider this project, where client, faculty advisor, and funding for travel and research abroad is already arranged in advance on this important democracy topic.
Interested students should contact Professor Kathryn Sikkink at Kathryn_sikkink@hks.harvard.edu.
Rhode Island Freedom Collective PAE
The RI Freedom Collective is a grassroots organization founded by Mario Monteiro, Kyle Campbell, and Steven Parkhurst—three men whose powerful journeys from incarceration to advocacy embody resilience, redemption, and the fight for justice. The Collective serves as a leader in Rhode Island’s criminal justice reform community. Along with a robust presence in the 2026 Legislative Session, the Collective plans to commemorate the 20th year since directly impacted people won the right to vote while on probation and parole. This includes documenting and analyzing the 20-year legacy of the RI Right to Vote campaign by assessing what impacts (both inside the voting booth and beyond) this successful campaign had on Rhode Island’s culture and democracy. We would like a report that includes metrics so we can share it amongst those in government, NGOs, media, and activism. We believe it can be instrumental to benefit those, such as people on probation and parole in Georgia, who are fighting the same struggle. Using our national network (Formerly Incarcerated Convicted People & Families Network) we can get widespread dissemination. Additionally, we believe it is critical for the communities and leaders of Rhode Island to appreciate this policy change, and embrace further reforms that assimilate people with felony convictions rather than ostracize and alienate.
Interested students should contact Christina Marchand at christina_marchand@hks.harvard.edu.