Gema Otheliansyah arrived at the Biden School with a background in government finance and a question: how can policymakers ensure policies reach underserved communities? As a Fulbright Scholar from Indonesia, he explored that question through hands-on research, working on projects ranging from AI implementation to local government training. His work earned him the Biden School’s Peter A. Larson Prize, awarded to a graduate student whose paper is judged to be a significant contribution to fostering international understanding in the fields of urban affairs, public policy or public administration.

At the Biden School, students and faculty tackle important research and work related to policy challenges and community issues. The school is home to and affiliated with many notable research and public service centres and engagement initiatives. Being part of this environment changed how Otheliansyah approached policymaking. It taught him to slow down at the point of decision. Before settling on a recommendation, he interrogates the process that produced it and maps what could go wrong. “When we choose one option, it can create an impact, whether it's good or not,” he says.

He carried that mindset into mentoring. Having competed in the Biden School’s annual NASPAA student simulation in 2025, he returned the following year as a mentor to the school’s entrants in the March 2026 competition. Drawing on his own experience, he coached the first-time competitors through the negotiation and consensus-building tactics he had learned under pressure.