SPAA EMPA Student Spotlight: Luljeta Sylaj
Name: Luljeta Sylaj
SPAA Degree Program: Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA)
Graduation Month/Year: August 2026
Why did you choose Rutgers SPAA?
Rutgers SPAA is where serious public servants in New Jersey come to deepen their expertise. After building my career in public service, most recently as Executive Assistant and Office Manager at the Bergen County Office for Children, I was ready to formalize that experience into a Master of Public Administration and take my leadership to the next level. SPAA offered academic rigor, the practitioner focus, and the professional network to make that possible. What makes this journey especially meaningful is that my 21-year-old daughter is currently in her third year at Rutgers University's School of Communication. Knowing that we are both at Rutgers at the same time, both pushing ourselves forward, has given this experience a dimension that goes far beyond a degree.
What drew you to SPAA and to the field of public service?
Public service has always felt like a calling more than a career. My work at the Bergen County Housing Authority and later at the Office for Children, showed me how directly policy decisions shape real lives and deepened my conviction that the people making those decisions have a responsibility to do so with both skill and humanity. I came to SPAA to grow from a skilled practitioner into a confident leader. Bergen County gave me the opportunity to build that foundation, and SPAA gave me the tools to build even higher.
What do you hope to accomplish with your degree?
I intend to step into a senior leadership role in public administration where I can drive meaningful changes in how agencies serve their communities. SPAA gave me the tools, the credentials, and the perspective to do that work with both skill and purpose. I came into this program with years of experience in public service. I am leaving with a much clearer sense of how to lead. I think often about my children. My son served honorably in the United States Air Force and is now pursuing his education. My daughter is in her third year at Rutgers. My youngest is 15, and he is watching all of us. The example I set for them matters as much to me as anything else.
How would you describe your experience as a student here?
Demanding, rewarding, and genuinely affirming. Balancing a full-time role at the Bergen County Office for Children, graduate coursework at SPAA, and the Eagleton Graduate Fellowship and internship, while being fully present for my family, has required real discipline and determination. None of it would have been possible without the steady and unwavering support of my husband, who has stood beside me through every late night and early morning of this journey. SPAA never made me feel I had to choose between my life and my education. My experience was valued, my voice was heard, and the community I found here made the hard days manageable and the milestones feel truly earned.
If you could describe Rutgers SPAA in one word, what would it be?
Consequential. Everything here connects to real impact in the real world. That is exactly the standard public administration should be held too.
What makes SPAA feel unique compared to other programs or schools you considered?
SPAA trains people to govern, not merely to study governance. The faculty bring genuine public sector experience into the classroom. The Eagleton Fellowship embedded me directly inside state government. And the program's commitment to public service values, integrity, accountability, and equity, resonates with the professional culture I have worked to build throughout my career. I also felt from the very beginning that SPAA recognized me as a whole person, my work history, my community roots, and my readiness to lead.
What have you learned from SPAA that you'll carry into your career?
That great public administration lives at the intersection of competence and character. Policy knowledge matters enormously, but so does the ability to build trust, lead diverse teams, and keep the human stakes of the work in clear view. SPAA reinforced everything I have practiced at Bergen County and gave it a stronger foundation. I am especially grateful for the support Bergen County has extended to me throughout this journey. An organization that believes in its people, invests in their growth, and creates the conditions for them to bring their very best to public service is exactly the kind of institution that makes this work worth dedicating your career to.
What is one lesson, class, or experience that has impacted you the most?
Being selected as one of only 27 Eagleton Graduate Fellows in a statewide competitive cohort was a defining moment. It validated not just my academic preparation, but the full arc of my career in public service. The fellowship, shaped by the leadership and vision of Ginger Gold Schnitzer at the Eagleton Institute of Politics, challenged me to engage with government not as an observer, but as a contributor. That experience confirmed something I had long believed: that I belong at the table, and that I have something important to offer there. I called my family that evening. That moment belonged to all of us.
Where do you see yourself in the future?
In a senior leadership role in New Jersey public administration, driving excellence and delivering meaningful results for the communities I serve. I see myself building directly on the foundation that Bergen County helped me establish, taking the values, the institutional knowledge, and the genuine commitment to community that have defined my career, and applying them at the broadest possible level. I complete my Master of Public Administration in August 2026, and I am ready for what comes next.
How do you see yourself carrying forward the legacy of SPAA after graduation?
By leading with the values SPAA instilled: integrity, accountability, and dedication to the public good. I will mentor emerging public servants, especially those balancing professional ambition with family and community responsibilities, because I know firsthand that it is possible and that the outcome is worth every sacrifice. I will remain a proud ambassador for what rigorous, human-centered public administration can accomplish. And I will carry this degree as both a credential and a commitment, to the field and to the family that believed in me every step of the way.
How do faculty and mentors here inspire or challenge you to think differently?
The faculty at SPAA brings a rare combination of academic rigor and real-world grounding. They do not just assign readings. They ask hard questions, challenge comfortable assumptions, and model what thoughtful public leadership looks like. I am grateful to Dr. Charles Menifield, Dr. James Davy, Dr. Gomez, and Norman Eckstein for their investment in my success, their honesty, and their genuine belief in what I was capable of. They treated me as a professional and a colleague, and that raised my own standard for myself every single time.
What excites you most about the future of public service?
The growing recognition that lived experience, community knowledge, and personal investment in the mission are genuine leadership strengths. Public agencies are being called to do more, serve better, and earn deeper trust, and that requires leaders who understand both the mechanics of government and the human realities it shapes. I am energized by that challenge. With the education SPAA has provided, the experience Bergen County has cultivated in me, and the support of a family that has believed in this journey from the very beginning, I feel more prepared than ever to meet it, and more committed than ever to making public service worthy of the people it exists to serve.