MPP Spotlight: Melanie Furman

Melanie (she/her/hers) is an Arizona native and a Master of Public Policy (MPP) student, graduating in May 2024. She began the MPP program through the Accelerated Master’s Program, graduating in May 2023 with her B.S. in Public Management and Policy (Public Policy emphasis) with minors in Sociology and Gender and Women’s Studies.

At a young age, Melanie became deeply interested in government and public service. This has driven her to pursue every possible opportunity to learn about the public sector at the University of Arizona. As such, she has interned with the Arizona State Senate Research Department through the Arizona Legislative Internship Program (ALIP); the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, Elections Division (twice!); Arizona List, a statewide political organization, and the Boys of Girls Club of the East Valley through the Bank of America Student Leaders Program.

Currently, Melanie works as a Graduate Assistant at THINK TANK for the Content Tutoring Program. In this role, she supports the administrative side of all content tutoring at THINK TANK. As of Spring 2024, Melanie also works as a Policy Analyst Intern for Creosote Partners, a progressive lobbying firm based in Phoenix. In this internship, she’s been excited to reenter world of the Arizona Legislature from a policy advocacy lens.

Melanie chose the MPP program because she always wanted to do something related to the policy process. After completing ALIP in 2022, Melanie knew she wanted to do work in the legislative branch of government. By being in the MPP program, Melanie has learned technical skills (i.e., statistical analysis) that she would have not otherwise known. This has helped her see a different side of public policy and has helped her better understand data-based policy arguments, especially those in the Arizona Legislature. Given these experiences and what she has learned in the MPP, Melanie hopes to be involved in the legislative process in some capacity post-graduation.

You can connect with Melanie at www.linkedin.com/in/melaniebfurman.