“What differentiates this program is that it isn’t just talking about the importance of geopolitics,” says Regina Abrami, the Lauder Institute architect behind the Politics and Policy Program. “It’s asking students to go out and actually understand what it means for businesses, exposing them to the kinds of considerations and constraints that don’t always show up in textbooks.”

Cristina Hernandez, G’27, WG’27, found herself meeting with cattle producers in Uruguay as part of her studies at Penn’s Lauder Institute. The conversations centered on a question she had been grappling with: How will an EU-Mercosur trade agreement affect small and midsize businesses across South America?

For Hernandez, the experience was the culmination of months of preparation through Lauder’s Politics and Policy Program (PPP), a selective co-curricular initiative. Designed to illustrate how political and regulatory forces influence business, the yearlong program sends students into the field to conduct research, interview decision-makers, and produce professional policy briefs.

“This agreement was signed just as I was choosing my PPP topic, after more than 25 years of negotiations,” says Hernandez. “It was like the topic chose me.” The agreement, which provisionally took effect in May 2026, creates one of the largest free-trade areas in the world by linking the European Union with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

Read the full article here.

By Braden Kelner for Wharton Magazine

Posted: July 17, 2026

Lauder Institute

The Politics and Policy Program (PPP) is a flagship co-curricular initiative that empowers students at the Lauder Institute to explore the intersection of business and policy. The year-long experience immerses participants in the policy context of global business through training workshops, sessions with policy professionals, and independent field research. In immersing students in the complexities of global business, PPP readies them for future leadership on the world stage.    

Hiroki Kobayashi, G’26, WG’26 (center), with Sefton Perry (left), head of the Union of European Football Associations’ Intelligence Center, and Andrea Traverso, UEFA’s director of financial sustainability and research, in Nyon, Switzerland. (Image Credit: Courtesy of Hiroki Kobayashi)

Related Content

Read More Stories