Munk School Students Excel in Global Case Competitions

The 2024–25 academic year was a remarkable one for students at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, who demonstrated their expertise, creativity, and collaborative spirit across a number of high-profile case competitions in Canada and around the world.

From climate change and healthcare innovation to immigration policy and ethics in public service, Master of Public Policy (MPP) and Master of Global Affairs (MGA) students tackled real-world challenges with winning solutions. These competitions not only offered valuable experiential learning but also showcased the Munk School’s growing impact on the global policy stage.

Highlights from This Year’s Winning Teams:

• Policy-at-Munk Fall Case Competition (Nov 8, 2024):
  Sixty-five MPP and MGA students addressed strategies to support immigrant integration into the Canadian economy. The winning team included Yuvika Bhatia, Daniel Ebrahimpour, Yixuan Zhang, and Andrew Scarlato.
  
  The Policy-at-Munk Fall Case Competition is a policy-oriented competition open to Master of Public Policy and Master of Global Affairs students in both first and second years.  The competition provides a unique opportunity to develop and hone analytical, presentation, and problem-solving skills in a team-based format.  The competition challenges students to develop an innovative solution to a pressing public policy issue facing Canadians. 

• CARE Sustainability in a Changing Climate (Nov 15, 2024):
  A cross-institutional collaboration between the Munk School and Sciences Po Paris led Naomi Trick, Kathryn McQuillan, and Cassidy McNeil to a win for their strategy to support Germany’s energy transition.
  
  Graduate students from eight teams representing the four CARE partner institutions collaborated over 10 days with the guidance of a coach to address a case challenge focused on Germany's energy transition.  The challenge prompted teams to develop a comprehensive public policy strategy to accelerate the energy transition and promote greater resilience within the German electricity system. This exciting initiative was made possible through the generous support of the Fondation DRG. 

• Urban Policy Lab Case Competition (Jan 24, 2025):
  Students focused on decarbonizing Toronto’s building stock. The winning team included Ananya Yadav, Lukas Kortendieck, Yingxue Zhao, and Yuvika Bhatia (marking her second win of the year).
  
  Students were asked to develop a strategy that the City of Toronto could implement as part of their existing building strategy in the 2025-2030 TransformTO Action Plan. All teams presented a unique and thoughtful set of policy proposals to this multifaceted problem. A full recap of the case competition can be read here.  

• SHIFT Case Competition (Feb 4–8, 2025):
  In partnership with KPMG, this year’s case centered on leveraging AI to improve Ontario’s healthcare system. Solyana Mehari (MHI), Katherine Murphy (MGA), and Yvonne Gong (MBA) took home the win.
  
  The Case Competition invited students to explore policy solutions for integrating artificial intelligence into Ontario’s healthcare system. With a population of over 16 million, Ontario faces pressing challenges such as hospital overcrowding, long wait times, staffing shortages, and rising financial pressures. The competition focused on the potential of AI to improve patient care while addressing the complexities of implementing such technologies across a decentralized provincial system.

• CAPPA National Case Competition (Feb 22, 2025):
  Representing the Munk School, MPP students Noah Lee, Georgia Maxwell, Fadeel Sheikh, Milad Naeimi, and Jean-Pierre Péladeau earned a second-place finish among 14 schools across Canada.
  
  The Competition challenged students to craft a return-to-office strategy for a major federal department navigating a post-pandemic workforce. With social media-fueled resistance and public trust on the line, teams had 10 days to develop a plan and just 20 minutes to present it. 

• GPPN Columbia University (Mar 5–7, 2025):
  
  Fifteen Munk School students competed at the 2025 GPPN Conference in New York. Four teams and 15 Munk School students attended including Aditya Datta, Nicola Harris, Maggie Keyworth and Claire Wilson, who’s team finished first, making this the Munk School’s second first place finish in three years.
  
  Students presented innovative solutions for sustainable development to Deans from eight top policy schools worldwide. MGA-LSE dual degree student Nicole Harris called it “an incredible opportunity” to engage with global peers and showcase the next generation of policy thinking.

• Ford + Munk Case Competition (Mar 28–30, 2025):
  A joint initiative with the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy, this year’s competition focused on wildfire mitigation. The winning team included Francisco Brady (Ford), Ada Trybuchowska (Munk), Ben Grossman (Ford), Julia Brahy (Munk), and Jasdeep Kler (Ford).
  
  Munk School students presented cross-border policy solutions targeting climate change and wildfire mitigation, highlighting the importance of international collaboration in addressing urgent environmental challenges.

These case competitions reflect the Munk School’s commitment to preparing students for the complexities of policymaking through hands-on, interdisciplinary learning. Congratulations to all participants and winning teams for representing the school with excellence.

Learn more about Case Competitions here.