Laura is a Director in Adult Social Care and Prevention at Newcastle City Council
Laura Choake, EMPA
I joined the EMPA as I was genuinely curious about the causes of the complex social issues I see in my daily work in local government. I wanted to know what best practice suggested some of the solutions may be, to learn new skills and get out of my comfort zone, and above all, to do this alongside similarly curious peers that I could learn from.
The EMPA did exactly that. It gave me some really valuable policy analysis skills, tools, and peer networks which have helped me be highly effective in my professional career.
The varied nature of the content made for an eclectic learning experience which challenged me to think about different policy areas and draw learning from subjects outside of my own expertise.
Having tried and tested frameworks to help dissect and address complex social issues has been one of the most powerful academic learnings for me. Working in adult social care, it’s important to me that people are supported to live their best lives. This course gave me a strong grounding in policy development and evaluation which has helped me create practice that has a real and positive impact on people’s lives.
Beyond the academic learning, the EMPA offered a unique opportunity to learn from a network of peers from a diverse range of sectors, countries, socio-cultural backgrounds, and life experiences. Seeing the policy landscape through these different lenses really made me challenge my own ideas and see the world in new ways. I’ll always take this with me in both my professional and personal life.