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Building a Consensus

Herb Whren, MSSP’11

Authored by: Herb Whren, MSSP’11

Photography by: Candace diCarlo

Student Life

10/01/11

Social change is the positive and measurable outcome resulting from a governmental intervention. This specific type of change is systemic, long-lasting and delivered through the conduit of social policy. First, a problem must be properly defined and upheld by consensus. Next, the scope of the problem must be determined, and the intervention must be adequately financed.

Herbert Whren is currently pursuing the professional role of “consensus-builder.”

“The MSSP degree helped me to frame problems and support them with data that influence the minds of stakeholders,” Whren said. “In my work with the 2010 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, I had the opportunity to collect data and analyze it for patterns and report discoveries. The result will be new policies that aim to alleviate the suffering of individuals and families who are homeless.”