Graduate / Statement of academic purpose - MSc Development Management [3]

Hi!

I'm writing my

application essay for the MSc in Development Management at LSE

.
Please review my first draft's content and english language. There is no particular question, yet the statement should include:

-Explain your motivation for undertaking the programme(s)
-Describe your academic interests, strengths and background relevant to the programme(s)
-Outline your ambitions and/or research interests
-Include other relevant information, such as additional reading or research, work or other relevant experiences that have informed your decision to apply for the particular programme(s)

-Highlight areas of specific interest within the programme(s) you have applied for at LSE.

Please note! This is my first draft. LSE recommends that the statement should not be longer than 1,000-1,500 words (this one has only 641).

Three years ago, since I started my career in Brilla, a business unit of several gas distribution companies in the country that offer non-bank loans to people with limited resources, I knew what my work goal was. Today, I want to achieve it by studying the MSc in Development Management, to return to Colombia to lead an INGO that leads the country into economic and social growth.

LSE is ranked as the second best in Social Sciences and Management according to the QS World University Rankings. The curriculum of the MSc in Development Management was created to provide professionals with the analytical and managerial skills to solve real situations of an increasingly complex world, and to shape policies and institutions locally and internationally. One of the major advantages of the program is the focus on development based on a global perspective: why some countries are economically and socially more advanced than others. What captivates me most is to be able to analyze how each country gives solutions to problems that may be similar to those experienced in different latitudes, by learning from courses such as International Institutions and Late Development, Economic Development Policy I: Applied Policy Analysis for Macroeconomic Development, Key Issues in Development Studies, and by forming part of the Development Management Project.

By working at Brilla, I have managed to gain knowledge about the economic needs and the lack of opportunities 3.7 million Colombians have when requesting support. With Brilla I have contributed to the wellbeing of people who are mainly in the population cataloged as base of the pyramid (low socioeconomic strata), facilitating access to a credit that allows them to improve their quality of life in specific aspects: improvement of their homes, access to education and purchase of furniture, computers, appliances, cell phones, motorcycles, among other products. Thus, I have achieved a direct impact on social inclusion by granting a formal loan to people who are mostly not backed. Currently, I am designing a financial model based on the savings culture that offers the possibility of accessing a technical, technological and professional education. This way the impact of the solution offered extends to the families of the beneficiaries, generation after generation.

The microfinance movement helps fight poverty, nonetheless it is not sufficiently developed in Colombia. 88% of the population does not have enough income to be able to create a credit profile or even acquire a formal loan. This translates into the impossibility of saving, moving forward and making plans. A panorama of stagnation that does not allow many possibilities of progress, and that forces many people to look for immediate economic solutions, such as drop-by-drop. The result is that the need becomes a debt for which you pay up to 300% in annual interest. This trap catches the most vulnerable, which end with an economic commitment impossible to fulfill. However, I have known, from my work experience, solutions that work. And I'm sure they're not the only ones. That is why I want to broaden my perspective of possible new practices to achieve a greater impact on a population that needs more opportunities. There is an evident potential in financial inclusion, and in Colombia there are a few initiatives, other than Brilla, that offer it.

The power of the NGOs to set in motion real change processes is a panorama that increasingly broadens their perspectives and reach in Colombia. But you have to go to the places where you are designing the best projects to return, and make your own.

With my experience, my motivation and my studies in the MSc in Development Management, I will return to Colombia to improve the quality of life of the most vulnerable people in the country through high impact social enterprises. LSE's program structure will be definite to achieve this goal that I have proposed as a life project.

Thankyou!!