Keough School of Global Affairs alumni are employed in rewarding professional roles in diverse fields. Our graduates work in the public, private, and international or domestic nonprofit organization sectors, demonstrating the versatility of the master of global affairs degree.
Read what some of our alumni have to say about their current work and their time at the Keough School:
Rachel Gagnon MGA ’21 is a Presidential Management Fellow at the US Department of State in Washington, DC. In her work as a program analyst for the US State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, Rachel coordinates foreign assistance to Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
The opportunities and resources that were available to me at the Keough School were extraordinary,” Rachel says. “I was able to take classes that focused on my specific interests including international human rights law, modern Europe, and US public policy, and I was able to hold two research positions.”
As a student, Rachel worked as a research associate with the Notre Dame Reparations Design and Compliance Lab, housed at the Keough School’s Kellogg Institute for International Studies. In this role, she worked with Keough School faculty Diane Desierto and Aníbal Perez-Liñan to create a database that tracks recommendations made by the World Bank.
Hugo Flores Navarro MGA ’21 manages the Clinton Health Access Initiative Malaria Program in Guatemala. A physician from Mexico who has worked for Partners in Health, Hugo manages a team that advises the national government in strategies that range from vector control—controlling mosquito populations and preventing people from getting bitten—to epidemiological surveillance—looking at how data is collected and analyzed—to case management—malaria diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up through recovery.
“Understanding how organizational, political, and economic factors interact with health policy and why it is hard to make policy changes has been crucial,” Hugo says. At the Keough School, I gained essential insights on ways to frame and position a policy change for different audiences. For example, when trying to implement a new project or policy, we need to be able to see the implications that it will have for people’s lives.”
Gulzeyin Khalibaeva MGA ’21 works virtually as a technical associate for the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Program in Justice & Peacebuilding, providing technical support for the program’s peacebuilding and protection operations worldwide. In this role, she ensures that field officers and partner staff members have access to content-rich capacity-building resources online.
As a master of global affairs student with a concentration in international peace studies, Gulzeyin participated in a six-month field experience with CRS. The field experience was virtual because of the pandemic.
“More than half of my studies took place during the pandemic, and I appreciated the support, care, and knowledge shared by Keough School faculty and staff during this time of global crisis,” Gulzeyin says. “My peace studies courses—Peacebuilding Practice; Strategic Peacebuilding; Peace, Violence and Development; helped me form my identity as a peacebuilder and I also gained capacity-building knowledge and skills that I now use at CRS. I learned a lot from the courses that focused on ‘hard skills’, especially Data Visualization. I was able to perfect my technical skills in presenting data and studies in effective ways.”
Abeera Akhtar works at UNICEF as a gender-based violence product manager, a niche that allows her to combine her digital technology expertise with a commitment to improving women’s lives. She leads the development of Virtual Safe Spaces (VSS) and the Referral Pathways Program (eRPW) for four countries: Iraq and Ecuador for the VSS apps, and Zimbabwe and Bangladesh for eRPW. The platforms are designed to ensure that the most vulnerable girls and women have access to high-quality information and services.
Abeera says her work is influenced by two of her Notre Dame experiences in particular: a one-credit course in information and communication technologies for development taught by Tom Marentette, an IT solutions architect for Notre Dame Studios, and her in-country Integration Lab (i-Lab) experience coordinated by i-Lab co-directors Steve Reifenberg and Tracy Kijewski-Correa. For her i-Lab global partner experience, Akhtar developed gender-based violence programs for Oxfam, working across Cambodia and Timor-Leste.
“The i-Lab process leading up to the field experience allowed us to take a deep dive into the human-centered design process and then jump into our projects immediately when we arrived in our respective countries,” Abeera says.
Derek Lee is the program and communications coordinator for the Mennonite Central Committee’s office at United Nations headquarters in New York. In this role, he helps inform Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) staff and partners of UN policies and programs that may affect them, while bringing expertise and experience of MCC partners and personnel to UN diplomats and employees who establish and carry out UN policies.
Lee, who was was introduced to the Mennonite Central Committee’s UN Office director by Keough School Professor Emmanuel Katongole, says participating in the Keough School’s Integration Lab (i-Lab) equipped him with strategic thinking skills he now uses every day on the job.
“As part of the i-Lab you learn design thinking and human-centered design,” Lee says. Nearly all Keough School MGA students participate in the i-Lab Global Partner Experience. In Lee’s case, that experience included field work in Uganda and Bangladesh in large, post-conflict refugee settlement programs operated by Catholic Relief Services.
Seiko Kanda is a junior program coordinator for World Vision International, an international humanitarian aid organization. Based in Tokyo, Seiko coordinates projects in the Middle East that assist Syrian refugees in Jordan and Iraq. Before joining World Vision, Seiko was an officer in the Development Assistance Policy Coordination Division of the International Cooperation Bureau in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.
As a master of global affairs student, Seiko gained valuable insights from International NGO Management, a course taught by Keough School Associate Dean and Teaching Professor Hal Culbertson.
“I learned a great deal about project management, and it was because of this course that project management became a professional interest of mine,” Seiko said.
As an elective, Seiko took Christianity and Islam, a course offered through Notre Dame’s Department of Theology and co-taught by Gabriel Reynolds and Mun’im Sirry, experts in Muslim-Christian Relations and Qur’anic studies.
“It’s helpful in my work to understand the connection between faith and development, especially now that I work for a Christian organization,” Seiko says. “I appreciate that the Keough School offers such a broad range of opportunities for its students.”
Caroline Andridge is the US policy coordinator within USAID’s Office of Food for Peace. In this role she focuses on congressional engagement, policy analysis, and risk management and oversight related to food security programming in humanitarian crises.
“Knowledge of the policy-making and appropriations processes and food security programming, along with the ability to work under pressure and build strong working relationships across the office, has been critical to meeting tight deadlines,” Caroline says.
Caroline learned about global food security through a directed readings course with professor Ray Offenheiser, and her Integration Lab project with Oxfam America exposed her to issues related to food security and global supply chains. From Notre Dame economics professor Kasey Buckles, Caroline learned to interpret econometric models applied to policy, a skill that has been “even more helpful than I imagined,” she says. Finally, a Notre Dame networking opportunity over spring break introduced Caroline to a senior staff member at Food for Peace.
“I experience several direct connections between my current work and the training I received at Notre Dame,” Caroline says. “I’m grateful for the education and encouragement I received at the Keough School.”
Mian Moaz Uddin conducts research on policy issues, regulatory proceedings, and market trends relevant to electric vehicles for his work at the Great Plains Institute, an organization of leaders and experts dedicated to engaging and collaborating with people, organizations, and communities to craft energy solutions that benefit the economy and environment.
Prior to this role, Moaz was a public policy fellow at the International Council on Clean Transportation in Washington, DC. In this role, he assessed the transportation policies proposed by the Democratic candidates for the 2020 US presidential election and also published an analysis of an ambitious new national electric vehicle policy in Pakistan, his home country.
A portfolio of research and policy projects Moaz completed at the Keough School were instrumental in helping him launch his career as a policy analyst, he says.
“I have been able to demonstrate that I can knowledgeably conduct research on transport and energy and synthesize that information into policy recommendations,” Moaz says. “The Keough School equipped me to translate research into an actionable form.”
Steven is a program associate at the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, where he provides programmatic and logistical support for the organization’s U.S.-China Track II Dialogues. These initiatives promote high-level exchange and constructive dialogue on sensitive topics including maritime issues and international law; economic, rule of law and human rights; and digital economy.
As a master of global affairs student, Steven took a directed readings course with Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies Director Michel Hockx.
“The readings provided a vehicle not only for Chinese language practice and acquisition, but also the chance to read primary sources on the same critical topics I focused on in my other global affairs classes,” he says.
The expertise and connections Steven developed while working with Hockx helped him land his current position. Karrie Koesel, a political scientist and concurrent faculty member of the Keough School, provided a pivotal connection to Jan Berris, vice president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.
Jenna Ahn McGuire is a grants management and learning advisor for Catholic Relief Services-Guatemala. Prior to her current role, she managed a USAID-funded COVID-19 response project in Guatemala and also was an international development fellow at Catholic Relief Services in Guatemala City. She has supported CRS programs in food security, education, capacity-building, monitoring and evaluation, and emergency response, and she also received professional training in program implementation, proposal development, operations, and partnership.
“Joining Catholic Relief Services after the Keough School has been a natural fit, since at the heart of both institutions is a commitment to integral human development,” Jenna says. “What helped my transition to CRS was learning from so many experienced development professionals at the Keough School, where I was exposed to everything from proposal writing to monitoring and evaluation.”
