Heena Mohammed

All Disciplines Award, University of Chicago - Public Policy

Through her early experiences as a young woman from an immigrant background in the North of England to studying Politics and International Relations at the University of Manchester, Heena has been inspired by one key objective: using her lived experiences as a woman of colour to influence policymaking to better serve marginalised communities. Through her early career as a civil servant, she has worked on key social issues including welfare, housing, and criminal justice policy. She has worked on the front line at Jobcentres in Manchester and closely with local communities in the aftermath of the Grenfell tower disaster. Having worked on police powers policy in the immediate Covid-19 response and tackling racial disparities in police powers, she is committed to using this experience to explore innovative solutions to eliminating racial disparities in crime and policing policy. Studying Public Policy at the University of Chicago is an ideal opportunity to complement her real-world experience with a grounding in rigorous academic standards, whilst also taking advantage of living in Chicago to engage closely with crime and social policy - whether through the Crime Lab or by working directly with non-profit organisations in the South and West sides of Chicago.