What do a preschool teacher with a dream of running a nonprofit, a CEO of a multi-county social service agency, a retired teacher who works with young adults coming out of foster care, and a retired state government policy expert have in common? They all hold a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Michigan-Flint — and on a recent evening, they came together to celebrate 45 years of the program that shaped their careers and their lives.
The MPA program’s 45th Anniversary celebration brought together alumni, current students, and prospective students for an evening that blended community, conversation, and culture. The night began with a networking reception at the iconic Flint Farmers’ Market, where decades of shared experience filled the room with laughter, storytelling, and connection. The evening then moved to a co-production of “Lucky Stiff,” a hilarious musical farce presented jointly by UM-Flint and the Flint Rep — a fitting finale for a program rooted in the heart of the Flint community.
“I think this is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our MPA alumni, to welcome them back to campus, and to celebrate the achievements of the MPA program,” said Marisa Eynon-Ezop, the MPA program manager.
For MPA Program Director and Associate Professor of Political Science Kimberly Saks, the event was a meaningful reminder of how far the program has come — and how much it still means to those who passed through it.
“I enjoyed seeing alums from across the years — through different iterations of the program, through different eras of faculty — come together and have conversations with new eras of faculty and alums,” she said. “I hope that we’ll be able to continue to sustain alumni who are interesting and involved in the community — as the alumni we have now — and be able to help continue to produce the next generation of public service professionals.”
The alumni who attended that evening were living proof of that legacy. Charles Tomasulo, who received his MPA in 1985, came to the program as an MSW graduate already working in family services in the Flint area. “There was an opportunity to become a director, and there were some skills I needed help with, in terms of grant writing, management, and finance,” he recalled. “The MPA program completed the picture, so I went from a family counselor to an administrator to the CEO of the organization. I am really pleased with what the experience brought me.”
Fellow 1985 graduate Brian Barrie discovered the program through a piece of literature about what was then a brand-new offering. Working for the Downtown Development Authority during the era of Auto World and the Mott Foundation’s downtown investments, Barrie found the program’s flexible scheduling a perfect fit. He went on to spend 25 years in Michigan’s Medicaid program. “A lot of the skills I gained in the MPA program, I used directly — the public finance skills, the statistical skills,” he said. “The program gave me the perfect background for what I ended up doing.”
More recent graduates echoed that sentiment. Carolyn Perry, who earned her MPA in 2018, chose UM-Flint over other options for its affordability, convenience, and hybrid format. Now retired, she volunteers with Moving Day Mafia, an organization supporting foster youth aging out of the system as they begin college. “Getting my MPA gave me more confidence for what I was already doing,” she said.
Deborah Jinnah, a 2020 graduate and current preschool teacher, carries her MPA degree alongside a passion for missionary work and community giving. “Getting my MPA helped me to learn more about what I really love to do,” she said, sharing her dream of one day launching a nonprofit to support children locally and internationally.
Forty-five years in, the UM-Flint MPA program continues to do exactly what it was designed to do: meet people where they are and prepare them to serve the public with purpose and skill.
