The second annual Policy Pitch Association case competition is slated for March
With as much schooling as a lawyer has to go through, there isn’t much opportunity for students to get hands-on experience until they reach law school.
Kavisha Patel is completing her undergraduate degree in Political Science at Western University and wanted to do something tangible for prospective law students.
“The solutions that I’ve researched and come up with [for assignments] just sit on my laptop. There’s [nothing] productive that comes of that.”
Patel then started the Policy Pitch Association. In now its second year of operation, the Policy Pitch Association is one of Canada’s only case competitions intended for undergraduate students.
Kavisha Patel has been involved in numerous non-profit groups during her undergrad
“There is a huge gap in terms of opportunities specifically like that for students who are interested in policy,” explains Patel, the association’s inaugural president.
The aim is to give undergraduate students an opportunity to tackle real-life problems – outside the classroom.
“We try and get the youth involved in policy-making and thinking about ideas that can actually solve problems plaguing the community through a policy lens,” says Patel.
Last year’s competition ended up having a waiting list for those wishing to participate. The focus of the first competition was around food insecurity. It is an issue that gets no shortage of discussion in public spheres. Letting the youth take a crack at the issue at the case competition provided some unique insight.
“[The judges] were talking to me afterward and they were like ‘these were some things that I haven’t really thought about… I love this youth perspective’,” says Patel on the PPA’s first competition.
Patel says that one of the groups at last year’s competition took a nuanced approach to food insecurity, attempting to brand it as a new millennial trend in order to lift the stigma. “Those ideas only come from people like us.”
Competitors at last year’s case competition cc/Policy Pitch Association
The winners of the competition get their policy proposal sent to lobbyists who are looking to tackle the community issue at hand.
“Just to be able to say ‘a lobbyist group looked at my proposal; they may even use it’… it’s a really big thing and it looks really good on a resume,” Patel says.
And in a field where competition for jobs is fierce, having practical experience is what can make a student stand out.
“When you go for a job interview, every other resume on their desk, that person went to school, they took the same classes as you” Patel says. “What distinguishes you from that person? This is just us trying to help out that way.”
The 2020 competition is tentatively scheduled for March, with registration opening soon.
