We reached Riad at his new home base in聽Dominica, an island country of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea, where聽he聽was聽stationed at the time聽with the World Food Programme (WFP), the food assistance branch of the United Nations and the world鈥檚 largest humanitarian organization focused on food security and hunger. Riad is now based in Barbados.
Riad started his work with the WFP's聽COVID response effort in Dominica聽to support those most impacted by the pandemic鈥攁 role he accepted soon after graduating from the Max Bell School鈥檚 inaugural MPP cohort in November 2020.
鈥淲e鈥檙e affecting the lives of people every day here and I鈥檓 seeing the impact policy makes first hand,鈥� he says.
An international background
Originally from Jordan, Riad moved to Canada in 2008 to pursue a BA in Economics and International Development at the University of Toronto. After graduating, he returned to Jordan to work as a senior associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He then transitioned to the public sector to work at the Jordanian Prime Minister鈥檚 office, where he focused on social protection policy.
From there, he accepted a consultancy role with the World Bank in Jordan before joining the WFP. He worked with the organization in 2019 for just a month before starting the MPP program in Montreal.
Driven by a deeper purpose
So why hit pause on a prestigious career in a field he鈥檚 passionate about to go back to full-time education?
鈥淚 needed the theoretical knowledge, mostly because I wanted more legitimacy,鈥� Riad explains. 鈥淢y professional experience was diverse. I did a stint in banking, a stint in consulting, so when I transitioned to public policy, I needed something to ground my thinking.鈥�
Another motivating factor in pursuing public policy for Riad was his deep-seated passion for social protection.
鈥淚 see myself as being a leader and disruptor in this area. I fully believe we need to level the playing field for everyone, or at least provide them with the opportunity to do so on their own, and that gives me the drive to wake up every morning.鈥�
An intense but invaluable experience
Riad was drawn to the Max Bell School鈥檚 program in particular, he says, because the one-year format would allow him to get back to work sooner. But the experience was definitely challenging.
鈥淚t was extremely intensive, as I knew it would be. The hardest part was getting back into that academic mind space and trying to keep up with all the readings and assignments.鈥�
He also chose this MPP because it combined the practical and theoretical approach to policymaking he was looking for.
鈥淭he combination of complexity seminars, skills workshops and case studies was something I really looked forward to. From those, we ended up taking a lot of transferrable skills that I鈥檓 using in my professional career so I think it was a wise choice.鈥�
Building real-world skills
One of the most valuable skills Riad took away from the program was learning to lead and manage teams. 鈥淭he program focused a lot on teamwork and we changed the teams we worked in, which allowed me to polish my team-building and leadership skills. And these are things I鈥檓 using day in, day out over here [in Barbados]鈥�.
Another key takeaway was learning to look at problems from more than one angle.
鈥淚鈥檓 used to looking at things from either an economic or social protection angle. But one thing that stuck with me, which I constantly introduce now when thinking about policy, is looking at it through a human rights-based lens. This is an approach that鈥檚 integral to policy making and that may be lacking in these unique times.鈥�
A meeting of diverse minds
In addition to building these real-world skills that he鈥檚 been able to apply in his current role, Riad found the diversity of his MPP class to be a real plus. 鈥淭he School did a great job of choosing a very diverse group from different backgrounds, perspectives and work experiences.鈥�
As the only Middle Eastern in the group, Riad took every opportunity to share his unique perspective with his peers.
鈥淚 definitely bombarded the MPP family with issues from my side of the world, certain issues the group wasn鈥檛 aware of, and I made a point to constantly mention them,鈥� he says. 鈥淚n Canada, we鈥檙e blessed to think about certain policy issues that present a priority for the developed world. However, there are many other issues in the developing world that also need to be brought to the fore.鈥�
What鈥檚 in store for the future?
Riad will be expanding his role in the Caribbean to serve as a policy officer for cash-based transfers in Barbados, where he鈥檒l soon be moving to help support those most vulnerable both locally and in the entire Caribbean region. Longer term, he plans to return to Jordan and put all that he鈥檚 learned into practice at home.
鈥淚 definitely see myself as a policy maker in Jordan in the long run. Eventually I want to take all of my experience and apply it in my own country,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e have high levels of vulnerability in Jordan, including a large population of Syrian refugees, so there鈥檚 a lot of work to be done back home from a social protection standpoint."
