The Future of International Development: Hope from CID’s Graduating Student Ambassadors and PhD Affiliates

At a moment when the future of international development feels increasingly uncertain, the graduating student ambassadors and PhD affiliates at the Harvard Center for International Development (CID) offer something powerful: hope.

Across the world, development practitioners and policymakers are grappling with shrinking aid budgets, rising geopolitical tensions, humanitarian crises, and urgent questions about how to create equitable and sustainable change. Yet amid these challenges, CID’s graduating community reminds us that the next generation of leaders in global development, public policy, education, economics, and global health is deeply committed to rethinking and strengthening the field.

Their reflections reveal a generation that is intellectually rigorous, globally minded, and determined to bridge research, policy, and practice in meaningful ways.

For Kevin Nguyen, a graduating student ambassador focused on global health and health equity, CID became both an intellectual and personal community.

“My time as a CID Student Ambassador has been one of the most meaningful parts of my Harvard experience because it gave me a community of people who care deeply about international development and social impact,” Nguyen shared.

Through CID’s Speaker Series and programming, Nguyen connected with leaders and practitioners whose work expanded his understanding of development beyond academic research alone. “As I prepare for my next steps in global health,” he reflected, “CID has reinforced the importance of grounding technical solutions in equity, partnership, and a broader understanding of the communities we hope to serve.”

That emphasis on interdisciplinary thinking and real-world engagement appeared throughout students’ reflections.

For Raul Duarte, a graduating PhD affiliate in Political Economy & Government, CID created a space where development research could connect directly to policymaking and public impact.

“CID was a community at Harvard that took seriously the questions I care about and connected me to scholars and practitioners working on those questions across disciplines,” Duarte wrote.

Duarte participated in development economics seminars, retreats, and policy discussions, including hosting Paraguay’s Minister of Economy and Finance during a CID event on navigating uncertainty. He also worked as a CID Research Publications Assistant, helping communicate technical research in economics, public health, political science, finance, and education to broader audiences.

“Reading dozens of published and working papers outside my own subfield sharpened how I think about framing and communicating technical work to broader audiences,” he explained.

As Duarte prepares for a postdoctoral fellowship at Yale’s Cowles Foundation before joining Florida International University as an assistant professor, he hopes to carry forward CID’s model of “combining rigorous empirical work with direct policymaker engagement.”

CID’s interdisciplinary environment also shaped how students thought about collaboration within development practice.

“CID has helped create a development economics community at Harvard that has been lovely to be a part of,” said Gabriella Fleischman, a graduating PhD affiliate. She highlighted how the weekly development economics workshop and development retreat fostered “a learning and research environment that is collaborative and supportive of students.”

For Avinash Moorthy, CID created opportunities to engage with peers and practitioners working on some of the most pressing development challenges globally.

“CID provided a unique opportunity to engage with like-minded researchers and practitioners who care about issues of development,” Moorthy shared.

His research examining the effects of India’s Happiness Curriculum — one of the world’s largest social-emotional learning programs in schools — benefited directly from opportunities to present at CID’s PhD development retreat.

Students repeatedly described CID as a place where ideas moved beyond theory into practice.

For Cinta Nurindah Sari, a student ambassador whose work focused on global health policy and nutrition rehabilitation in rural Indonesia, CID helped deepen her understanding of ethical and community-centered research.

“CID helped me think more carefully about the kind of work I hope to contribute to moving forward,” she reflected, “which is research that is rigorous, grounded in context, and genuinely attentive to the communities it is meant to serve.”

Sari also emphasized the importance of engaging across disciplines and geographies. Through moderating CID’s Road to GEM Speaker Series and conducting interviews for CID Voices, she gained “a broader appreciation for how people coming from many different fields can still be working toward shared goals in international development.”

For many graduates, CID’s greatest impact was creating a sense of purpose during a difficult moment for the development sector.

Hanul Park captured this feeling candidly.

“When I started my degree program, a dark shadow was falling over international development,” Park wrote. “Crises were deepening, aid budgets were shrinking, and many of us in the field, myself included, weren't sure our work still mattered.”

But CID changed how Park viewed the future of development.

“Speakers shared their thinking in ways that were neither blindly optimistic nor resigned to despair,” Park reflected. “They asked the hard questions: how do we build on what has been achieved, reform what has not, and above all, protect the most vulnerable even as the outlook grows darker?”

Later, after publishing a reflection for CID Voices on the future of aid, Park was surprised by the global response. “It was a reminder that ideas shared in one space can travel farther than we expect,” she wrote.

Park’s conclusion captures the spirit of this graduating cohort: “The language of development may be shifting, but what brought us here has not. Every person deserves a dignified life, and no budget cut or political headwind will change that.”

CID also gave students opportunities to feel connected to a broader global community of scholars and practitioners.

“Being a CID Student Ambassador has been a very meaningful part of my time at Harvard,” said Yingying Chen.

Through moderating a CID Career Chat and volunteering at major CID events, Chen engaged with conversations on governance, education, and international cooperation.

“What I will remember most is not only the knowledge I gained, but also the feeling of being welcomed into a community,” she reflected. “CID made Harvard feel more connected to the real world for me.”

For Shreya Tandon, CID provided both intellectual and practical support during the demanding years of doctoral research.

“I am incredibly grateful to CID for being such an important source of support throughout my PhD,” Tandon shared.

She emphasized the importance of CID’s research assistance and administrative support during the early stages of her job market paper, while also highlighting the value of spaces where students’ work could be “shared, discussed, and strengthened.”

“It has been wonderful to be part of a community of people thinking seriously about development questions,” she added.

Sabri Benzaid, a student ambassador interested in humanitarian action, peacebuilding, and systems change, similarly described CID as a place that strengthened both his intellectual and professional direction.

“My time as a CID Student Ambassador has been one of the most meaningful parts of my HKS experience,” Benzaid reflected.

Through facilitating speaker series events and engaging with development leaders, Benzaid explored issues ranging from poverty reduction to women’s leadership in peacebuilding.

“Being surrounded by people who are not only studying development but also trying to rethink how it is practiced has pushed me to think more ambitiously about my own path,” he shared.

Together, these reflections tell a story larger than any one student experience. They speak to the future of international development itself.

At a time when development practice is undergoing rapid transformation, CID’s graduating ambassadors and affiliates demonstrate that the next generation is prepared not simply to inherit old systems, but to question them, improve them, and build new approaches rooted in evidence, equity, collaboration, and human dignity.

They are economists committed to public impact. Global health researchers grounded in community realities. Policymakers who value listening as much as expertise. Scholars eager to communicate across disciplines and sectors.

Most importantly, they remain hopeful.

In a world that often feels defined by uncertainty, polarization, and institutional strain, that hope matters. CID’s graduating community reminds us that the future of global development will ultimately depend on people willing to ask difficult questions, engage across differences, and stay committed to creating a more just and equitable world. And in that future, these graduates give us every reason to believe progress remains possible.