After the first snooze on my alarm at 5:45 a.m. I force myself to get up and get ready to hit the gym. As I make coffee and wake up my husband (fellow MIIS’er Chris Danger Puder) I think about what the day ahead of me entails. Chris and I haul it to the gym early in an effort to miss the after-work rush. 6 a.m. at Vida Fitness on U-Street is a hustle and bustle of young professionals working out their stress before another day in downtown begins.
Upon arrival back home, I hurry to get ready in our tiny furnished sublet (welcome to D.C. life where nothing is spacious or long term!) and run to my stop in Adams Morgan. The good news I usually miss the L2 and the 42 and 43 follow right after. My stop is I & 18th downtown right next to another famous address, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. (hint it’s a big White House), but a majority of my bus is co-workers at the World Bank Group. Our location on 18th Street spans over 6 different buildings and our security badges dominate every sidewalk within a 3 block radius. With over 5,000 employees from over 140 different countries, WBG is a “family” of 5 different international organizations that finance loans to countries for development projects all over the world. WBG is considered the most famous development bank in the world and is an observer at the United Nations Development Group providing over $30 billion dollars in assistance. The bank’s mission is to elevate poverty through different projects such as: health, infrastructure, water and sanitation, and education to just to name a few.
Located on G Street, I work in the Preventative Services Unit (PSU) of the Integrity Vice Presidency (INT) for the summer for my DPMI+ practicum. INT’s mandate is to assist in preventative efforts to protect WBG’s supported activities and funds; this includes creating policy frameworks to prevent and assist in the allegations of fraud, corruption, bribery, and collusion. Currently, my team is creating a survey for law enforcement and prevention services from different regions of the world examining correlations between prevention, health proliferations, and illicit flows of money. We intend to administer the survey at the conclusion of the summer in anticipation of a conference to be held here at WBG in the fall. The goal is to look at correlations between prevention and law enforcement agencies and compile success stories for publication and “DPMI’esq” break-out sessions to be held for participants during the conference.
This summer I am the only “junior professional intern” on our team but other departments are hosting a variety of JPI’s from all over the world though they are primarily L1’s and L2’s (law students) my background as a paralegal before attending MIIS and my studies specifically in Dr. Ruehsen’s financial crimes classes, MPA coursework in project management, M&E, DPMI, and Dr. Dayton-Johnson’s development economics gave me a marketable CV the PSU was looking for in a JPI for the summer. My days consist of various meetings discussing components of the survey we want to use, a new red-flag check list to publish on the WBG site, and there is always an exciting brown-bag lunch to attend on a variety of topics including new civil registration logistics in the MENA region or risk simulations for Investigators.
At 4:30, I turn of my light in my office (yep, that’s right I actually got a little tiny box all to myself with a door) and head downstairs to meet my husband who commutes from International Relief Development, in Virginia. Heading back to AdMo we decide if we want to stay in and cook or head to happy hour because that is where all the real networking in this city happens.