PAPA graduate applies real world learning at leading finance company
Coley Anderson, PAPA graduate, attained the type of career he felt led to since meeting his city manager in Galva. Anderson works at Moody's Public Finance Group in Chicago. Photo courtesy of Anderson.
Working as an analyst for Moody’s Investors Service, Coley Anderson has been able to apply multiple skills he learned while completing the Public Administration & Policy Analysis (PAPA) program.
He earned his master’s degree from SIUE in 2011, and now utilizes what he learned at SIU in his professional career.
Anderson said he finds it fulfilling to work for the company because it gives him the opportunity to interact with many different public entities and people from all over the country.
“I like it a lot,” Anderson said. “It’s extremely rewarding to be able to do something I enjoy, while also utilizing my education.”
According to its website, the company is “a leading provider of credit ratings, research, and risk analysis. Moody’s commitment and expertise contributes to transparent and integrated financial markets. The firm’s ratings and analysis track debt covering approximately 130 sovereign nations, 11,000 corporate issuers, 21,000 public finance issuers, and 76,000 structured finance obligations.”
Working for Moody’s Public Finance Group out of the Midwestern regional office located in Chicago, Anderson gets to interact with a multitude of local governments located in a variety of different states.
As a member of the public finance group, Anderson secures bond ratings for cities, school districts, park districts and fire districts for instance, and provides thoughtful research for investors.
Anderson, who is originally from Galva, earned his undergraduate degree at SIU-Carbondale in business management in 2009.
He said he became interested in public administration after speaking with the city manager of his hometown, David Dyer.
“I knew early on that I was interested in local government,” Anderson said.
After SIUE, Anderson found the program offerings in the PAPA program to have served him well in the workforce.
“The program provided learning experiences through real world applications,” Anderson said.
The extensive amount of writing in classes, according to Anderson, gave him good exposure for what he currently does.
The professors, according to Anderson, also provided quality teaching and learning.
“They had professional experience in the field, which made the courses much more interesting,” Anderson said.
He added that the PAPA program helped him obtain the financial analysis, writing and communication skills he uses every day in his career.
Prior to working as an analyst at Moody’s, Anderson worked in hospital administration in central Illinois at the Hopedale Medical Complex for two years.
Filed Under: Public Admin & Policy
