When Mayor Khishgeegiin Nyambaatar of Ulaanbaatar—the largest and most populous city in Mongolia—sought to strengthen the public officials who manage the city, he knew just where to turn.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has invested in humanitarian work in Mongolia for many years. Despite being the largest group among the country’s slim Christian minority, the Church is relatively new in Mongolia and is often met with suspicion. To express goodwill and a love for their Mongolian neighbors, church workers coordinate with the government to provide help in the developing nation. One such need: professional development for city officials.
“Mongolia still has a big Soviet influence,” explains recent MPA grad Kenji Sugahara, a native of Japan and a former church employee in the region. “The mayor of Ulaanbaatar wanted to strengthen the city’s public administrators by providing education in Western theory and ethics.” That’s when Mayor Nyambaatar turned to local church workers. They in turn reached out to their former colleague Sugahara, wondering if BYU could help. As part of his MPA capstone project, Sugahara joined with fellow 2025 graduate Olivia Kirk and coordinated with MPA director Rob Christensen to develop a training for the Mongolian officials. The training, held in Utah, would give the public officials more tools for managing a large city. “The mission of BYU’s MPA program is to transform the world through Christlike leadership,” Sugahara says. “Having public administrators visit from another country to learn is completely aligned with that.”
MPA Crash Course
In May 2025 a delegation of 26 civil servants from Ulaanbaatar arrived in Provo. For most group members, it was their first visit to the United States. Amid their jet lag and culture shock, the officials eagerly dug into a public administration crash course taught by BYU professors.
“This was basically BYU’s MPA program in two weeks,” says Mongolia native Batbold Bukhchuluun, a 2022 BYU MPA graduate who is now pursuing a PhD in education at BYU. Working alongside church employees, he interpreted BYU professors’ morning lectures into Mongolian, covering topics such as ethics, negotiation, and traffic control. “Each professor condensed their classes and life’s research into fourhour presentations,” Bukhchuluun says.
In the afternoons, participants analyzed case studies about a simulated city modeled after Ulaanbaatar.
The training content was tailored to the specific needs Mongolian officials had expressed during pre-program outreach. Sugahara and Kirk had traveled with Christensen to Mongolia a few months before the training and surveyed the group to understand which topics they were most interested in. With this feedback in hand, Sugahara, Kirk, and Christensen returned to Provo and developed a relevant curriculum, working with AI and student teaching assistants to design case studies.
Grateful Mongolian officials shared their impressions of the experience: “The program was well organized and meaningful,” says Otgonbayar Nasan, the head of finance for Ulaanbaatar, through an interpreter. “I learned not only theory but also how to influence stakeholders, negotiate effectively, and lead with morals. The professors are skillful and well educated.”
The attendees also appreciated when professors introduced their families and took the time to learn about Mongolia. Second-year MPA student Allison Haack, who served as a teaching assistant, shares, “Many of the professors had their slides translated into Mongolian and had learned some phrases so that they could connect with the people.” Haack continues, “One professor studied the layout of the city of Ulaanbaatar so that his example could be relevant to specific neighborhoods.”
The MPA program’s effort will pay off far beyond the two-week training—especially for the Mongolian officials. “All the knowledge that’s in the presentations, we’re going to adapt it to our work,” says Ariuntuya Lkhaasuren, an elected city council official. “We’ll train our local citizens and departments so everybody benefits.”
Lkhaasuren appreciated how BYU professors moved beyond rote lectures and used real-world applications to bring abstract theory to life. “That made the concepts easier to understand,” she says. Nasan agreed, noting that discussing case studies after the lectures helped him learn from his colleagues. “Working as a team helped me develop a respect for others’ unique abilities and talents,” he says. “It also helped me to realize those areas that I need to improve.”
Field Trips
Twice per week, the group ventured outside the classroom to visit Utah institutions facing similar urban challenges. The Mongolian officials discussed public transportation with Utah Transit Authority, toured city hall with Provo Mayor Michelle Kaufusi, sat down with the CEO of Wasatch Behavioral Health, and joined Elder Neil L. Andersen (who had visited Mongolia previously) for a tour of Welfare Square and Temple Square.
As the group asked questions on site visits, it was clear to Bukhchuluun that the Mongolian guests cared about finding the best solutions for the people they serve back home.
“They’re really smart people and very humble,” says Bukhchuluun. “They are professionals who are working hard to tackle real-life problems.”
The Mongolian participants really clicked with their guides: “It was interesting to see the group from Mongolia and the people who work at the sites talk through interpreters and start to realize they have similar problems and are all working toward the same goals,” says MPA student and teaching assistant Morgan Farley. “The people from Mongolia were eager to learn and make connections.”
Haack saw their enthusiasm deepen during certain visits. “They lit up when we went to site visits that match their work,” Haack says. “When we went to the Department of Transportation, some people were really excited and had very specific questions. Other people were asking question after question at Wasatch Behavioral because it was very applicable to their area in Mongolia.”
Batkhuyag Bat-Ochir, a police colonel and head of the narcotics department in Ulaanbaatar, came to Provo to study ethical leadership, explore correctional systems, and assess services for mental health and addiction rehabilitation. “We are planning to build more addiction recovery facilities like what you have in this state,” Bat-Ochir says. “This knowledge and practical experience will help me better contribute to the upcoming projects that are initiated by the government of Mongolia to combat addictions to harmful drugs.”
Amid the worksite visits, moments of cultural connection made a lasting impression on both the visitors and hosts. When the Mongolian group gathered with Elder Andersen for a private concert at the Salt Lake Tabernacle, the organist began playing the Mongolian national anthem. “They all rose at the same time and put their hands over their hearts,” recalls Christensen. “It was a powerful spiritual moment.”
These shared experiences were underscored by a recurring theme: The participants from Mongolia showed deep gratitude to everyone they met. Farley says, “They really take pride in giving gifts,” such as scarves, chocolates, candies, and keychains. “Everywhere that we go, they bring some gifts for the people that they meet,” adds Haack. “They want to shake everyone’s hand and say thank you.”
Cultural Connections
For the Mongolian visitors, hearing their national anthem, watching professors and teaching assistants stumble through Mongolian phrases, and meeting students like Bukhchuluun deepened their connection with BYU and the Church.
The Church began sending missionaries to Mongolia in 1995, and plans for a temple were announced in 2023. Still, “in Mongolia, the Church is something new, even mysterious,” says Sugahara. “But this program helped break down barriers.”
Bukhchuluun also observed a shift by the end of the program. Some of the participants had initially expressed skepticism, but “their eyes were opened, and they changed their minds—about BYU and about the Church,” he says. “This experience really strengthened the relationship.”
As part of the effort to build understanding, the MPA team hosted an evening event and invited the Mongolian officials, Mongolian BYU students, and returned missionaries who had served in Mongolia— one of whom played Mongolian folk music. The group also spent time in the homes of Mongolians living in Utah, many of them church members.
Through experiences like these, the participants from Mongolia came to see that BYU’s interest in Mongolia wasn’t motivated by politics or profit. “They saw that we love Mongolia, but not for strategic reasons,” says Christensen. “We love Mongolia for Mongolia. BYU MPA has had several Mongolian students in its program, and each student has brought a beautiful depth to the program; we love teaching them and learning from them.”
The simple authenticity felt at BYU also made an impression on the group. “Some of them were saying they want to send their children to BYU,” says Bukhchuluun. “They were so impressed.”
The cohort commented on the beauty of the campus, the resources available to students, and the safe environment. “Every morning, I walked around campus exploring beautiful buildings,” says Lkhaasuren. “I just hope more Mongolian students can study here and take what they learn back home to help our society.”
The appreciation went both ways. Second-year BYU MPA student Alexa Franco observed:
I never imagined I’d have the opportunity to work with such an incredible team as the public servants from Mongolia. Every moment was truly rewarding. This experience gave me a unique glimpse into how public service operates in another part of the world. I learned so much from them—far more than I could ever “teach.” Along the way, I also discovered more about Mongolia, built meaningful friendships, and felt genuinely loved. Despite the language barrier, their kindness and warmth made me feel completely at ease. I truly cherished every second of our time together.
Right Place, Right Time
When Sugahara first approached Christensen about helping the Church’s humanitarian efforts in Mongolia, Christensen wasn’t sure if the department had the resources and organizational capacity to pull it off. Nevertheless, he realized “it was the right thing to do, for reasons I can’t explain beyond just inspiration; we just needed to move forward.”
Part of that inspiration involved finding the right people, who all seemed to be placed in the right place at the right time: Sugahara with his background in church employment in the Asia Area; Bukhchuluun, a recent alum from Mongolia; faculty willing to volunteer their time; and student assistants with interest and experience in international relations. One evening, for example, just before the initial trip to Mongolia, Christensen met Molly Meredith, a BYU undergraduate student who became an important coordinator. “Without Molly,” Christensen notes, “we wouldn’t have had the capacity to deliver the intensive two-week experience. Sometimes we have these great ideas, but without the right people and right timing, they don’t take off,” Christensen says. “This was definitely a time when the stars aligned. And I think it did a lot of good.”
That good was on full display on the last day of the program. Teams of Mongolian officials presented their case study work in a mini case competition and received certificates of completion at a luncheon hosted by BYU’s International Vice President’s office.
Collaborating with others to organize the training gave Farley valuable experience for a future career that could involve hosting international guests. “Helping people make the connections they need to solve their problems is super interesting,” she says.
The program, notes Christensen, also served as a pilot effort for future partnerships. There are conversations about ongoing connections with Mongolia and opportunities to provide MPA-level professional development in other nations.
“We’re grateful that the exchange with our Mongolian friends happened and happy that it was successful,” adds Christensen. “It’s in our department’s DNA to ‘Enter to learn; go forth to serve.’”
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This article was originally published in the MPA 2024–25 annual report, pages 4–9.
Photos by BYU Photo