Eden Mulate
Eden Mulate (MPA ’18) speaks about her passion for social justice, her work as an analyst at the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and her experience as a mother, immigrant, and graduate student.
You have a strong passion for social justice. Where did this passion originate?
Growing up in Ethiopia, it was common to see beggars on the street on a daily basis. Despite this being a commonplace experience, it really bothered me, so much so my mother used to let me give the beggars money. So my desire to help those less fortunate than me began very early in my life. However, it wasn’t until I enrolled as an undergraduate that I began to understand the systemic ways in which people come to be less fortunate. I spent four years studying sociology, and that really grounded my ability to contextualize inequality in a broader socioeconomic and historic framework.
How have your ideas about social justice issues evolved over time? Which issues play most prominently in your mind at the moment?
I think that as a 13-year old immigrant, I was completely ignorant of this country’s deep-rooted history of slavery, Jim Crow and racism. In fact, I was completely oblivious to the concept that one’s color makes one superior or inferior. And so in that way, the ideas that I have about inequality began to form during my teenage years as a new immigrant in a diverse high school in the Bronx. Later on, my understanding of social, economic and political inequality crystallized during my time at Barnard, where I dedicated substantial time to thinking through and reading sociological thinkers.
The current issue that I spend a lot of time thinking about is housing in NYC. This is in large part due to my work at the OMB, where I work on housing policy issues.
Why did you choose to earn an MPA degree?
I think that studying sociology was an important groundwork that paved the way to the MPA program for me. Four years of consistently thinking through inequality inevitably leads to the question, what can I do to make change? The MPA program was part of the answer for me: go into public service in order to advocate for changes that will make a difference in people’s lives.
What stood out to you as the most crucial skills and knowledge that you learned in the MPA Program?
The economics course I took second year fall semester taught me very critical skills that I use on the job at the OMB. We spent the whole semester thinking through a policy proposal, developing plans to pay for the proposal, and assessing whether or not the policy would be a good investment. The work that I do now is providing policy analysis that involves legislative review and building cost estimate models, and the economics course taught me how to do that.
Tell me about your experience being a mother and a graduate student.
Being a mom to a toddler and working close to full-time and going to school full-time was incredibly challenging. I wouldn’t have been able to do it had I not had my family’s support. Had I not been so fortunate to have a supportive family, I wouldn’t have continued my education and I wouldn’t be on the path that I am right now where I am building a career that is meaningful. I think that being a mom taught me that when challenged, people have the incredible capacity to rise up to meet the challenge.
What could higher education programs do better to support immigrant students, students with children, and students who have experienced barriers to higher education?
I think that addressing this issue requires broader reconfiguration of the way our society works right now. As a mom, it is stunning to me that day care costs the same as a month’s rent. I attended a hearing on the budget in the City Council, and the Comptroller was testifying. He made the point that the city should develop universal child care because it would liberate a substantial number of women to go to work after having a baby and would open up a new sector of employment for other women and men in the day care system. This is common sense to me, but it is not yet a reality. I think that without addressing broader barriers to entry, graduate programs alone cannot do much.
Let’s talk about your current role at the NYC Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget. In what ways does your role play to your strengths? In what ways have you been pushed to learn and grow?
My current job has a great balance between working with data and writing about policy. I have learned how to work with large data sets to produce analysis, and I have also learned how to navigate complicated pieces of legislation. I think that the MPA program gave me an opportunity to hone both of these skills, and it has been great to employ them on the job.
The job has challenged me to think through very hard questions and consider factors that I normally wouldn’t think to consider. For instance, when thinking through the housing affordability crisis in the city, one of the contributing factors is that there are not enough housing units added to meet the housing demand. As a layman, the way I thought of the affordability crisis had a lot more to do with how building owners hike up rents and not necessarily a broad view that contextualized the supply and demand.
What has surprised you about your professional path so far?
I thought that I would find a more advocacy-oriented role in government, but I have found myself at the OMB where we provide a dispassionate assessment.
What lessons have you learned that you would like to impart to current and future students?
I have learned that moving through the program as a cohort helps build life-long friendships where you find yourself being a support system to your peers and them to you. I think that internalizing the broader mission of the program, which is to train students from disadvantaged backgrounds to assume public service roles in which they can represent their communities, is critical especially during the challenging portions of the program.
What would a success – a concrete victory or social impact – look like for you in the coming years?
In the long term, success looks like a more just and equitable society that closes the racial wealth gap and gives everyone a fair shot at a dignified life.
Thank you, Eden Mulate, for taking the time to share your thoughts.