* The SOP is meant to a stream of text without sectional headings, but here in the interest of understanding, we are highlighting the various sections.

In Bangladesh, one in four girls does not complete secondary education—not due to lack of ability, but because of child marriage, poverty, and an education system not built for her reality. I have met these girls. I have listened to their stories. And I have worked for policies that aim to give them a different future. My name is Nusrat Jahan, and I am a policy practitioner driven by one conviction: equitable development is not possible without evidence-based, gender-aware policymaking.

After over three years working with BRAC and the UNDP, I am now ready to step into a global academic setting that can sharpen my tools, challenge my assumptions, and scale my impact. I am applying for the Master of Public Policy at the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government because it uniquely combines academic depth with real-world governance insights, taught by leaders who have shaped global policy from the front lines.

My journey into policy began at the University of Dhaka, where I pursued a BSS in Economics and graduated among the top 5% of my class. My academic foundation in microeconomics, development theory, and econometrics sparked a particular interest in understanding why well-intentioned development programs often fail to create lasting change. During a research internship at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, I contributed to a study on the leakages in rural microfinance delivery—an early window into how policy design can break or bridge the equity gap.

Post-graduation, I joined BRAC’s Policy Advocacy Unit, where I led a three-district pilot on menstrual hygiene policy in rural schools. The project involved policy research, stakeholder consultations, and coordination with the Ministry of Education. Our work led to the inclusion of menstrual health modules in government teacher training programs—a milestone that reaffirmed my belief in grassroots-driven policy change. I later moved to a policy analyst role at BRAC Microfinance, where I evaluated the digital financial inclusion program targeting rural women entrepreneurs. Using mixed-methods research, we redesigned training modules and improved mobile wallet usability, which led to a 22% increase in loan repayment rates within a year.

To deepen my policy impact, I worked as a short-term consultant for the UNDP, contributing to a gendered impact assessment of COVID-19 relief funds. I also founded “Policy for Her,” a volunteer initiative that organizes workshops for women in rural Bangladesh to understand and engage with local governance structures. Our programs have reached over 600 participants since 2021.

Despite the progress I have been part of, I’ve realized that sustained change demands systems thinking, cross-sectoral collaboration, and global exposure. Oxford’s MPP program offers precisely this, with its intense one-year curriculum rooted in real-world case studies and practical policy labs. I am especially eager to take courses such as “Economics for Public Policy,” “Evidence and Evaluation,” and “Democratic Accountability.” I also hope to work with Professor Kate Orkin, whose research on poverty alleviation and behavioral economics in the Global South resonates strongly with my interests.

I am also applying for the Chevening Scholarship because I share its core values: leadership, global citizenship, and a commitment to improving lives back home. As a woman from a developing country seeking to reform development policy from the inside out, I believe I can both benefit from and contribute to the Chevening community.

Upon completion of the MPP, I intend to return to Bangladesh to lead a policy think tank focused on gender-sensitive economic development. My long-term goal is to partner with the government and civil society to design scalable, data-informed interventions that uplift marginalized communities—particularly women and youth.

In me, Oxford will find not just a student of policy, but a builder of it. I come equipped with lived experience, field-tested empathy, and a hunger for innovation. I am ready to engage, learn, and lead alongside some of the brightest minds in global governance. With Oxford as my crucible, and Chevening as my compass, I hope to return home better equipped to rewrite the stories of girls who, like me, dream of shaping the future—not as recipients of policy, but as its authors.