1. Where are you from, and where are you located now?
I was born in Indianapolis, but I grew up in Carmel, Indiana where I attended high school before beginning my studies at Indiana University Bloomington in 2020.
2. Tell us a little bit about yourself, your studies, interests, and goals!
I didn’t start my IU career at O’Neill, but I’m so happy to have found myself a school and a community at O’Neill that aligns with my educational interests and professional goals. I major in Law and Public Policies and outside O’Neill have completed coursework in Italian, Business, and Russian and East European Studies. I’m very interested in working in international policy, particularly in Eastern/Central European security issues. In my free time I love to read history, cook food from all over the world, and participate in club activities. Here at IU, I’m president of the Alexander Hamilton society – IU’s premier organization for young foreign policy professionals, in addition to being a competitive delegate for the Indiana Model United Nations.
3. Where did you intern/are you interning now? What led you to those organizations?
I’m currently the communications and advocacy intern for MedGlobal which is an organization based in Chicago that deploys medical teams and builds healthcare resiliency in countries all over the world. Since October, I’ve been working for MedGlobal’s Ukraine program which has helped provide millions of dollars of aid and trained tens of thousands of Ukrainian physicians and nurses. I was introduced to MedGlobal through an alumnus of the Alexander Hamilton Society, and I’ve had the opportunity to work in congressional advocacy as part of MedGlobal’s involvement with the American Coalition for Ukraine. I recently returned from Washington D.C. where I helped lead a delegation of Ukrainian Americans from Indiana to speak to Indiana’s representatives and senators about the need for more support for Ukraine.
4. Tell us about your time studying National and Homeland Security in London. How has that experienced shaped you as a young professional?
I greatly enjoyed my time studying in London with O’Neill and our guest faculty from Kings College and South Africa’s University of KwaZulu Natal. The opportunity to live and attend class in a global center like London not only gave me a new perspective for my education, but was also a great time! I enjoyed exploring the diverse culture and history of the UK’s capital and the opportunity to meet world class experts in their field. Our class were invited guests of the counterterrorism center at New Scotland Yard which was an opportunity I never expected when I began my undergraduate studies.
5. What are the most important skills in your current/previous roles?
I’ve had to learn on my feet in my current internship, using new skills in graphic design, grant research, and my policy education to help me in my advocacy work. It was a tremendous opportunity to use my O’Neill education to have informed conversations with members of Congress. As the American Coalition for Ukraine is composed of many different NGOs often started by community activists – I felt that my ability to discuss and analyze public policy gave me a distinct advantage in my interactions with congress people and their staffs.
6. How have your academic and leadership experiences at O’Neill helped prepare you up to this point in your professional career?
The education I’ve received from O’Neill, both in Bloomington and around the world, has given me the confidence in my policy knowledge to have difficult conversations with people as powerful as US senators. Being able to discuss things like the congressional budget process or the legislative process that are opaque for most Americans, allowed me to speak beyond my years in pushing for the policy objectives of my organization. That I was able to, within two years of enrolling in O’Neill, convince an American senator to cosponsor a piece of legislation that would go on to pass both houses of Congress says everything that needs to be said about the extraordinary quality of my O’Neill education.
7. By the time this Spotlight is posted, you will have graduated! Tell us about your career/education plans after graduation.
I’m excited to say that I will be continuing my education at the O’Neill school to complete an MPA as part of the DC accelerator program. I look forward to completing my studies here in Bloomington and returning to work in our nation’s capital!
