Former CWU post-baccalaureate student pursues passion for public policy

After returning to her home state of Washington following several years of moving around the country, Maddie Brown Shirley realized that she wanted to start building on the foundation she laid while pursuing her bachelor’s degree.

A year of studying economics and public policy with Central Washington University’s Postgraduate Studies and Research program has taken her back across the country to Washington, D.C., where she is pursuing a master’s degree in public policy at George Washington University (GWU).

Brown Shirley, who earned her undergraduate degree from Southern New Hampshire University in 2022, discovered CWU while trying to identify her next step forward.

“Despite having a degree, a lot of schools didn’t really understand the skills and network gap I was coming in with because of COVID and online school,” she said. “CWU was willing to work with me, and they were really affordable, which I appreciated. When I talked to the CWU team over the phone, I heard all about how engaging the professors were, and what a nice place it is to live. So, all of those things together brought me to Ellensburg.”

As Brown Shirley soon discovered, the College of Business could connect her with a passionate team of supporters and mentors who were eager to help her reach her potential.

“Everything started coming together when I spoke to my teachers and career advisers,” she said. “Tennecia Dacass really took me under her wing, and it was through her that I got to present my research at a conference. That experience helped me realize my love for public policy and how all of my other experiences were connected.”

When faced with the prospect of picking a path for her master’s degree, Brown Shirley had many to choose from, though one school in particular spoke to her. A conversation with CWU Professor of Economics David Zuckerman was the push she needed to follow her intuition.

“George Washington felt like a great fit, but there was some pressure to choose a bigger school,” Brown Shirley said. “Zuckerman told me to follow my heart, and I haven’t regretted doing that since. Whenever I’m making decisions between internships or taking a risk and saying ‘no,’ I have him in the back of my head telling me that if I’m honest with myself, it all works out.”

At GWU, Brown Shirley’s career has sprouted wings. In the year and a half since she started pursuing her Master’s of Public Policy, she has become vice president of the Public Policy Student Organization, while also serving as an intern for U.S. Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington’s 3rd Congressional District.

Through her internship, Brown Shirley found yet another connection to her home in the Pacific Northwest: her hometown of Raymond, in southwest Washington, resides in Gluesenkamp Perez’s district.

“I felt like she was wildly pragmatic, and what I want to be doing in policy is pragmatic work,” Brown Shirley said. “It was also a great way to reconnect with my roots, in addition to my time at CWU.”

Brown Shirley is currently interning with the Committee for Responsible Federal Budget, a leading nonpartisan think tank that analyzes federal budget policy, and educates lawmakers and the public on fiscal policy issues.

Before she graduates in the spring, she has another fiscal policy-focused internship lined up, and she hopes to see her work in D.C. continue.

“I’m starting another internship next semester that aligns with my goals,” Brown Shirley said. “After graduation, I’d really like to stay in D.C. for the foreseeable future, hopefully working on budget and tax policy.”

Looking back at her college career, Brown Shirley hopes other non-traditional students like her see the value in picking a path and walking it, no matter what roads they may have traveled before.

“I’m realizing that there are so many people my age who’ve started one thing and had to shift gears along the way. I’m not behind and neither is anyone else,” she said. “It’s never too late to start something new, and while it might feel discouraging at first, everything adds up. All of your experience is valuable. Everything is a step.”