Batten Student Highlight: Grace Makin (MPP '25)

 

Grace Makin, MPP ‘25, currently serves as community engagement chair of the Batten Graduate Council and vice president of the Language in Policy student group, and is a graduate research assistant at the UVA Karsh Institute of Democracy. She is also a student policy intern with the Office of State Programs at the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, continuing her internship from the summer of 2024. 

Q: What has driven your passion for community engagement during your time at Batten?

I think a lot of the work that I am doing and hope to have been successful at in this position stems from my experience in Charlottesville thus far. During undergrad, I was a part of Amnesty International and VISAS. I have also volunteered with Literacy Volunteers, which gave me a better understanding of the Charlottesville community, specifically by directly engaging with people who need support and learning how students in similar positions as me can really support the Charlottesville community in a more active and productive way than we think. The volunteering opportunities that I’ve tried to plan at Batten come from that experience. Knowing that UVA students have such a strong presence in Charlottesville, I would encourage us to find ways to be a bit more engaged with and support the broader community. 

I also think a lot of the classes at Batten emphasize the importance of effective community engagement, which drove my passion for the work of this position and the initiatives of the Batten Graduate Council because of my interest in how we could apply those concepts at Batten.

Q: How have you applied your public policy knowledge to make a difference in your community?

I take a lot of inspiration from the Imagining Equitable Policy class with Professor Claibourn. During a few classes, we discussed how intentionality is needed in community engagement to effectively work toward addressing certain societal issues and inequalities. And with the Community Mentoring initiative and volunteering initiative, I tried to apply that concept by being very intentional about the local leaders that I brought in and the organizations we would spend our time volunteering with. 

I hope everyone who has engaged with these initiatives and the organizations we have volunteered with have taken away some use and importance from them. Overall, though, every Batten class has been incredibly helpful in shaping how I view public service in general and how I view the job that we as public policy students have going forward to support our communities and the amount of power and impact we have to actually do so. I try to keep that in mind when working on community engagement projects.

Q: Can you share an example of a community engagement project you’ve worked on and its impact?

The Batten Graduate Council and the Batten Undergraduate Council worked on a joint community volunteering initiative this year. I worked with the amazing external affairs co-chairs on the undergrad council, Erin Gaul and Alinor Smith to plan monthly service opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students. This included Habitat for Humanity and the Boys and Girls Club. These were great opportunities to become more involved in the Charlottesville community and have more of an impact supporting the community as UVA students. 

And some organizations have also asked for us to continue our involvement. I think that really showed that there’s a need for student volunteer presence and this is work that should be continued. Overall, there’s still more that could be done—even though we did have those events, they were only monthly. It was also a great opportunity to have more engagement between the Batten graduate and undergraduate students.

Q: What role do you think community engagement plays in the development of future policy leaders? 

I think it's a very critical space to have experience in if you want to be a future leader in policy. You need to be grounded in the community you want to serve so you can understand the most pressing issues to address and can then develop your mission and therefore be more effective at the goal you're trying to achieve. Community engagement is vital in developing policy and having any experience in effective community engagement will help policy students succeed.

Q: How do you balance academic demands with your community involvement?

It’s definitely difficult and I think community involvement tends to get deprioritized in people’s schedules. The way I’ve tried to maintain it is by planning my schedule out in advance in my calendar and knowing that once I have committed to it, I have to show up. This requires a lot of intention in what I spend my time on and can commit to. 

I also try to remember that this is not only for myself but for others, and keep in mind that when I sign up to engage in an event as a student, it’s also a representation of Batten and the UVA community. It’s difficult to balance, but it can also be a rewarding experience and really helpful for mental health—taking the time to focus on other things instead of always being immersed in academics.

Q: What does community engagement teach you about leadership and empathy?

I think community engagement for myself and others is really a way to better understand diverse perspectives and experiences, and through that develop a sense of empathy for others which is a critical component of being a great leader. That is the lesson that it teaches, that empathy is necessary in leadership. Having the ability to understand and empathize with other individuals and their experiences is, I think, incredibly important if you’re going into public policy specifically. 

Community engagement also gives you the basis for a lot of leadership skills, particularly ones we’ve talked about in Leadership in the Public Arena with Professor Pennock, and Values Based Leadership with Professor Adams, because it gives you the experience needed to help you gain perspective, taking skills that will help you be a more effective, compassionate and overall caring leader.

Q: What advice would you give to incoming students about getting involved in the community through Batten?

There are so many more opportunities available than I realized, and it just takes talking to others and asking about it to be connected with the opportunities that you’re looking for. So, if you are looking to be involved in service, a great way to do so is to talk to fellow students about the ways they’re active in the community and talk to the school’s student services team to get involved in any ongoing service opportunities. Also, reach out to anyone on the graduate council—they are very connected with current opportunities. With community opportunities, I think there's so much out there, there’s just a disconnect in getting that information.

Garrett Hall at Sunset

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