Change Agent

To create change in the world, Sherrell Pyatt Harrison decided not to go to law school—instead, she decided to earn a master's in public policy and administration from Northwestern. Having worked as a paralegal, she came to believe that "law is reactive. If you want change, you have to effect it at the policy level."

Pyatt Harrison lived in North Carolina while she pursued her degree, taking classes as her work and family schedules allowed. Her courses covered topics from the way Congress works to quantitative methods—a course most people don't take "unless they're economics or statistics majors," she says. "Now I can look at a report and understand the data."

When she finished her degree in 2015, Pyatt Harrison took a job with the US Postal Service, monitoring all bills introduced in Congress for the effects they might have on the agency as well as briefing USPS liaisons before meetings with legislators.

"Policy changes are more immediate and have greater impact than legal changes, which are more reactive than proactive," she says. At USPS, Pyatt Harrison was directly involved in education secretaries of state on how to increase voter turnout through more efficient mailing and processing of ballots. "We then saw states actually implement these recommendations," she says.

Her next move is to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, where she will help officials prepare testimony about particular cases. Her three children were born during her time at SPS, and she appreciated being able to pursue a degree and "still have a life, have kids, get married, and have a full-time job. I knew I wouldn't feel slighted in my education by taking courses online."

Article by David Lewellen