Amyrrha Estolloso, Class of 2021

COULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND? 

My story is as coherent as it is diverse.  As early as college, I demonstrated a passion for education and social change. I became a recipient of national and international awards for leadership and social impact in my country, among them, in honor of our national hero and another awarded at the Philippine Presidential Palace. After graduating at 20, I obtained my teaching license and moved from my hometown in the province to Metro Manila to pursue my first Master’s degree. I started my career journey the next year as a full-time faculty of English at the senior high school of a Jesuit university. I taught and moderated the debate team for two years, while I concurrently completed my Master of Arts in Education major in Administration degree at the university.

My desire to create a meaningful impact on society is what first drew me into teaching and then to social policy. At 23, filled with youthful exuberance and aspirations, I moved to Paris to pursue my Master’s in Public Policy at Sciences Po, with a specialization in Social Policy and Social Innovation. I was excited to learn and engage with a brilliant and diverse cohort from around the world, and connect over our shared “passion for social change and commitment to reinventing public affairs” which is characteristic of students who come to the social policy stream. This experience ushered me into a whole new world, one that was boundless in its opportunities for growth and impact, as well as one that challenged and inspired me to aspire for a career beyond the four walls of the classroom in which I had taught. It was a beautiful paradox: to move beyond the classroom, I had first to return to and learn from it. This time, as a student in the hallowed halls of 27 Rue Saint-Guillaume for the next two years.

Today, I am based at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark where I have been working for the United Nations Office for Project Services, UNOPS for the past two years. I currently work within UNOPS’ Headquarters Administration team.  

WHAT WERE THE MAIN STAGES IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF YOUR PROFESSIONAL PROJECT?  

In retrospect, I can identify three main stages:          

1 - Understanding purpose and potential (intrinsic self and experiences) 

2 - Striving for preparation and performance (studies and internships)

3 - Exploring possibilities and practicalities (career and job opportunities)

At Sciences Po, I found beauty in the richness of class discussions as well as its innate ability to draw us into meaningful reflection on 21st century challenges, and the roles we play in addressing them. I also better understood my raison d'être or ‘reason for being’ through thought provoking questions which often prefaced the assignment of intellectually stimulating tasks.  My student days were filled with interesting classes ranging from advanced political analysis, to gender and social policy, to social innovation in redesigning welfare provision, to economics, and communication, among many others. I also had professors from two of my classes on my thesis panel during my M2.  It equipped us with what we needed in order to thrive in our next phase: the professional context.

Coming from the education sector, I was ‘over the moon’ when I landed my first internship of 6-months at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.  I had the opportunity to work across a wide range of topics from human rights, to gender equality, to social inclusion, and global sustainability, among others. It broadened my career prospects as well as sparked my desire to explore different topics and key areas linked to sustainable development, while keeping an open mind as I constructed my professional project. Shortly after, I began another internship at the Secretariat of an international non-profit organization at The Hague, in the Netherlands, which focused on food sustainability and sustainable supply chain management. I moved on to join the United Nations Office for Project Services in Copenhagen, Denmark, training within its different teams such as the Integrated Practice Advice and Support Unit and Communications Group.

HOW WAS THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS AT UNOPS AND WHAT ARE THE MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF YOUR JOB TODAY? 

The recruitment process at UNOPS, as it is with any other UN agency, is highly competitive and comprehensive. I had been training at UNOPS for almost a year when this opportunity arose. I applied online through UNOPS’ job portal, and was shortlisted to take the written assessment.  After qualifying, I was invited to participate in the standard UN competency-based interview with a panel composed of the hiring manager, unit head, and HR focal person. Once I became the recommended candidate, I underwent reference checks and an evaluation of my ‘years of experience’ to determine within my position, what specific ‘step’ or level I will begin with, noting how ‘steps’ increase every year. 

My passion for social change led me to UNOPS.  Here, I am able to contribute to projects that are catalysts for this change and for sustainable development.

In my role, I perform tasks that help accelerate UNOPS’ project cycle through key areas of administration, finance, procurement, and asset management. I provide ad hoc operational advice as well as problem solve issues faced in the implementation of day-to-day processes. I also serve as the communications focal point of my team, wherein I engage with Communications colleagues to increase the visibility of our work streams, and brainstorm with teammates on how to streamline our practices while communicating them effectively to the organization. What I enjoy most about my job is collaborating with colleagues at HQ and field offices worldwide, helping them to deliver impactful projects with clear, concrete, and tangible results. I also extend critical administrative support to UNOPS Directors and help organize key events including UNOPS’ Annual Global Leadership Network Conference held in Denmark this year.

I recently spoke about my UN journey and role at UNOPS in a video published online as part of the UNOPS People Project featuring its young professionals.

WHAT HAVE BEEN THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF YOUR ACADEMIC BACKGROUND AT THE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS TO THE POSITION YOU HOLD TODAY? 

We had the ‘best of both worlds,’ benefitting from the guidance and expertise of world-class scholars and industry practitioners as our professors. Classes were intellectually enriching and insightful into labour market landscapes. In fact, my discussions with professors working for UN agencies helped me to understand the requisites of such a career in order to build my own. We also engaged with prominent government and public affairs professionals from various sectors through events and lectures that inspired me to aspire greatly. I wrote my Master's thesis or mémoire on labour migration in the Philippines, whereby I analyzed key national and international policy frameworks through the lens of the Filipino diaspora, and proposed ‘social innovation’ as a solution.  

As a student of the School of Public Affairs, I also had the unique opportunity to participate in the Global Public Policy Network, GPPN through its annual conference. It is “a partnership between 8 prestigious universities in public policy”, for which our team was selected to represent Sciences Po in 2021. We won the GPPN Conference that year as the Best Project with ‘Making Worlds Meet,’ our policy proposal on education and global youth citizenship. I formed this winning team with classmates from Education policy class, and served as team coordinator for the competition. I was able to network and collaborate with peers who shared my passion for social change - which is one of the reasons I chose my policy stream.  This experience enabled me to fully realize my strengths in communication, coordination, problem-solving, and analysis in a project context, which comprises much of the work I do today at UNOPS.

Overall, the School of Public Affairs’ contribution to my career is manifold. It is the training ground which provided me with avenues for practical application of knowledge and skills, empowering me to (re)discover myself in the process.

DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR A STUDENT OR A YOUNG GRADUATE? 

It is a timely question for me, as my sister, Millie Anne, started her Master’s degree in Finance and Strategy at Sciences Po Paris this year. This is my advice to her:  

1 - Cultivate your passions. At Sciences Po, I pursued my passion for debate and public speaking as part of its debate team, competing at the 2020 French Debating Association Tournament. I was also the étudiant référent or student representative.  Outside of work, I served as a youth leader in Denmark for the World Bank-hosted Global Partnership for Education, GPE until early this year. As a youth leader, I engaged in events at the Danish Parliament, supported education campaigns, and even hosted an audiocast for International Day of the Girl. At work, I am part of ‘UNison,’ the UN City choir. These are some of the passions I cultivated outside my traditional tasks as a student and also, as a young professional. I believe that purpose gives our lives meaning but it is passion that makes it colorful. With each new chapter I embarked on, I came to realize that it is not always easy to find it all simultaneously, and therefore, we must endeavor not to lose sight of one while striving to achieve the other.

2 - Build meaningful networks. You are on similar career journeys with those in your cohort, while your professors, the alumni etc. made those journeys not long before you. There is much to learn from each of them. Family and friends are a strong support system as you navigate the intricacies of graduate study and life after graduation. I also fondly recall my own ‘promotion’ or graduation where I was chosen to be a student ambassador. The networks you build can also set a foundation for future collaboration and lasting friendships. In fact, I am co-authoring a chapter on forest governance with a friend and former colleague, in a book on policy regionalism which has been approved for global publication.  

3 - Enjoy the ‘adventure.’  I found comfort and courage in ‘adventure.’ For me, it was the positive counterpart to ‘uncertainty’ which is an inevitable part of human life. It challenged me to view it from a holistic lens - to consider the beauty of the journey and to celebrate small successes of everyday life. When my sister moved to Paris, this is what I told her whilst helping her settle in: it is an adventure, and one that we must face with resiliency and resourcefulness.

My favorite words in Cebuano, our regional dialect, are ugma: tomorrow and gugma: love. The addition of one letter makes all the difference, just as how we choose to live our days makes a difference in how we face the challenges of tomorrow.  It is my parting advice: to live each day with love and gratitude.

Learn more

• The Master in Public Policy at the School of Public Affairs
• The Social Policy and Social Innovation stream at the School of Public Affairs