Grad Students Chat with Prominent Professionals at the GWIA Tea
Apr 19th, 2011 by sfs
Georgetown Women in International Affairs (GWIA) held a tea April 18, bringing women in powerful positions together to mingle with graduate students. It’s hoped that the tea will become an annual event for GWIA, which is a signature initiative of SFS Dean Carol Lancaster.
The prestigious guests included Dr. Paula J. Dobriansky, senior vice president and global head of Government and Regulatory Affairs at Thomson Reuters; Ambassador A. Elizabeth Jones, who has extensive international experience in Europe, Eurasia, South Asia and the Middle East and is currently a senior counselor at APCO Worldwide; Nisha Desai Biswal, an assistant administrator for Asia at USAID; Jan Piercy, executive vice president with ShoreBank Corporation; and Sarah Margon, associate director for the Sustainable Security and Peacebuilding Initiative at the Center for American Progress.
Students sat with guests at small tables and got the opportunity to ask a lot of questions. Margon advised one student that “the best way to get a job on the Hill is to intern there” and told her to start with states where she has lived.
Ambassador Jones told her table that she felt that being a woman in foreign service was an advantage in the Middle East because she could speak with both men and women and she was easily recognizable.
While plenty of business cards got passed around, the students got some inside scoop on work-life balance, navigating a strategic career and where to get started after graduate school.
Georgetown Women in International Affairs (GWIA) aims to strengthen the competencies which are the foundation of quality leadership among our graduate students to increase visibility of women in international affairs. Through interactive programming, GWIA connects, empowers, and prepares emerging women leaders.
-Jen Lennon │April 19, 2011
