I’m Ali, that’s short for Alexandria, and I’m a student at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

I’ve always been interested in leadership roles.  In fact, when I was little, I wanted to be President of the United States – well, to be more specific, I wanted to be The President, a professional ballerina and singer (that’s me with the flags). My dream now is to work behind the scenes in politics.

In March, Secretary Hillary Clinton (a Wellesley Alum!) and the State Department announced a global initiative, “The Women in Public Service Project” which is designed to build “a generation of women leaders who will invest in their countries and communities, provide leadership in their governments, and change the way global solutions are forged.”

The initiative kicks off with a colloquium December 15 in D.C. at the State Department,

which I’ll be attending with 10 other students from Wellesley. I’ll be updating this blog from the event, so follow along! The colloquium will kick off an annual Summer Institute, the first of which will be held at Wellesley next summer — you can read Wellesley’s press release here.

I am writing this blog; to provide a student’s view on women in the public sector, and on this initiative specifically.  I will report on my experiences participating in the State Department colloquium and Wellesley’s planning for the Summer Institute, but also, my thoughts on empowering women more generally.

About this Blog

Why the name “P.S.Ali”?

This blog is about my interests in Public Service and how that affects other things I’m into — I like to sing, travel, and am interested in fashion and art history. I am also fascinated by advertising and PR. And as mentioned before, I am currently looking for a job and therefore, “entering the real world.”  The P.S. abbreviation is symbolic of several things of interest to me – Public Service, Women’s Professional Struggles and Fashion and how it plays a role in politics (symbolized here by the ubiquitous Pant Suit).I plan to find creative ways to incorporate my varied interests and experiences into the blog.

The original meaning of P.S., as in Post Script, is also highly symbolic. A post script is an “afterthought,” or an idea added “often hastily and incidentally,” at the end of writing. Women’s roles in politics are sometimes an afterthought too, and they shouldn’t be! I’m hoping to examine this idea — and I hope the Colloquium and the Summer Institute start to turn it around!

P.S. Look for new blog posts every Tuesday. I’m looking forward to your thoughts and to sharing ideas on this important topic!