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  • Blended (Online and On-Campus)
    Session Date
    -
    Application Deadline
    Program Fee
    $12,900
    Faculty Chair
    Matthew Andrews
    Program Director
    Jessie DeLano
    Request Brochure

    Over five months, this program blends 10 online live sessions and 1 week on campus. 

    • Phase 1: Three Weeks Weekly Online Modules
    • Phase 2: On Campus (June 7 – 13, 2025)
    • Phase 3: Fourteen Weeks Bi-Weekly Action Learning Online
    • Community of Practice

    Program Fee: The program fee includes tuition, housing and most meals during your phase 2 on campus program, and curricular materials.
    Boost Impact by Attending as a Team: Teams may consist of up to 4 participants.  All team members must complete the three program phases and will become members of the Community of Practice. One team member is required to attend Phase 2 on-campus at full tuition, while the additional team members will attend Phase 2 virtually at the $2,950 tuition fee. If you have any questions, please contact Jessie DeLano. 
    Executive Certificate: This program is a core program in the Public Leadership and Public Policy concentrations. This program can also be used as a third program for any concentration in the Executive Certificate series.
    Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs): This program aligns with one or more Executive Core Qualifications.

    Curious about the IPP experience? Read alumni stories on the .

Program Overview

Are you a public policymaker frustrated with the limited impact of your government’s policies? Do you see a lot of policy ideas that begin with tremendous potential only to end up incomplete or ineffectively implemented? If so, you are not alone.

Why is policy implementation failure so common? What can be done about it so that we can achieve successful outcomes more often and make real change happen?

Implementing Public Policy is an executive program created to equip policymakers around the world with multiple tools to solve today’s complex public problems. Innovative yet practical, the program blends online, in-person and applied action learning—providing you with the opportunity to put new ideas to action.

The goal of the program is for you to learn how to address your challenge with demonstrated progress during the program. The primary approach used in the program is Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) which embeds:

  • Building teams with a growth mind-set
  • Creating space for change
  • Navigating your authorizing environment
  • Leading through uncertainty
  • Managing difficult relationships
  • Value driven time management

PROGRAM TIMELINE

Three weeks online

 

Phase 1 - Online Modules

May 13 – June 6, 2025 
Time Commitment:  

  • 1 Live Session (2.5 hours) Weekly
  • 2 Online Sessions (8 - 12 hours) Weekly

You will complete an online component that will allow you to reflect on your implementation challenge and consider a variety of issues.

One week on-campus

 

Phase 2 – On Campus
June 7 – 13, 2025 
Time Commitment: 6 Days On-campus

  • 7:30 am - 5:30 pm Live Sessions & Peer Learning Groups
  • Additional Networking Opportunities

At Harvard, you and your peers will be immersed in an intense, interactive environment with Harvard faculty and practitioners to discuss your respective challenges and explore different implementation methods that could help achieve your policy goals.

Fourteen Weeks Action Learning

 

Phase 3 – Action Learning Online
June 14 – September 23, 2025 
Time Commitment:

  • 1 Live Session (2.5 hours) Every Other Week
  • 1 Online Session (4 - 6 hours) Every Other Week

Once you return to your organization, you will continue to work on your implementation challenge using the tools and tactics you learned while at Harvard. You will continue to engage with faculty and fellow participants in an online moderated environment, sharing your experiences, learning, challenges, and breakthroughs.

Community of Practice

 

Community of Practice

Upon completion of the program, you will join the Implementing Public Policy Community of Practice, a growing and thriving network of program alumni who engage regularly through monthly virtual events organized by the alumni moderators that focus on continued learning in the policy implementation space and supporting each other in ongoing professional and personal challenges and successes. 

 

Application Information

Implementing Public Policy is designed for mid-level to senior policymakers from the public, nonprofit, and corporate sectors who are confronting substantial challenges (e.g. infrastructure, social issues, economic growth) in policy implementation. The broad spectrum of professional backgrounds and perspectives of participants will help shape the learning process. You should come prepared to contribute to conversations, be challenged, gain new insights into successful policy implementation, and exercise leadership. This is your opportunity to join a remarkable community.

Explore alumni stories in the .

Your Implementation Challenge: When you submit your application, you will identify your implementation challenge, which will form the basis of your learning throughout the five-month program.

View a sample program schedule for Phases I and III (online).

View a sample program schedule for Phase II (on campus).

WHAT PARTICIPANTS ARE SAYING

“It was refreshing that [Implementing Public Policy] focused on the realities of working in government, acknowledging the complexities of that context, and providing strategies that work for approaching the types of big problems government is there to add
TRICIA KOVACS, DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR FOR TRANSPORTATION MARKETING, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
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Matt Andrews discusses the Implementing Public Policy executive program.

 

Faculty & Research

Matthew Andrews Photo

Matthew Andrews

Edward S. Mason Senior Lecturer in International Development

Monica Higgins photo

Monica Higgins

Kathleen McCartney Professor of Education Leadership
Harvard Graduate School of Education

Robert Wilkinson Photo

Robert Wilkinson

Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and Leadership

Hear from alumni of the Implementing Public Policy executive program at Harvard Kennedy School, led by Faculty Chair Matt Andrews.

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