As part of its new career webinar series, the Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship and the Future of Diplomacy Project invite current HKS students and alumni to discuss ‘real world’ perspectives on forging careers in diplomacy from a transatlantic perspective, with four HKS alumni.
Students can join the discussion in person at G-06 in the Rubenstein Building, or dial into the conversation via Zoom (call-in details below).
Format: Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook will moderate an interactive session between four HKS alumni for 15-20 minutes, before giving the floor to current HKS degree students for an open discussion.
Dial-In Instructions:
- Topic: FDP/PETR Diplomacy Career Webinar
- Time: Feb 19, 2020 11:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
- Join Zoom meeting here: https://harvard.zoom.us/j/733933785
- Join by telephone here: +1 929 436 2866 US (New York) Meeting ID: 733 933 785; One tap mobile +19294362866,,733933785# US (New York); International numbers available: https://harvard.zoom.us/u/aOMY2LDV
- Join by SIP conference room system here: Meeting ID: 733 933 785 733933785@zoomcrc.com
Panel Participants:
Vanessa Aronson (MPP 2009)
Vanessa Aronson earned a B.A. in political science from the University of Chicago, an M.A. in teaching from the Relay Graduate School of Education, and an M.P.P. in political advocacy and leadership from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. At the time of her 2017 run for city council, Aronson was a math and science teacher in the New York public school system and the cofounder of Aronson Concierge Vacations. Her professional experience also includes work as a foreign service officer with the U.S. Department of State, a vice consul with the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, and a food security officer in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
David Martinez (MPP 2009)
David provides Facebook leadership with global content guidance and coordination during crises and conflicts involving real-world harm on the platform. From 2010-18, he served as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer. His diplomatic assignments included Jerusalem, Baghdad, the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), and the Foreign Service Institute where he led the redesign of the State Department's negotiation training programs. He also served in Bogota as Special Assistant to the Special Envoy for the Colombia Peace Process, supporting successful peace negotiations in Cuba between the Colombian government and FARC guerrillas. David is an Atlantic Council Millennium Leadership Fellow, a State Department ICAP Fellow, and was named one of New America's 30 Latino National Security & Foreign Policy Next Generation Leaders. David is a Council on Foreign Relations Term Member and serves on CFR's Term Member Advisory Council. He previously worked in state government, consulting, and as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bolivia. David holds an MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School and a B.S. in entrepreneurship and management from the University of Arizona.
Lukas Streiff (MPP 2010)
Lukas Streiff is a German diplomat working on Syria policy at the Embassy in Beirut. In previous postings, he served as Deputy Head of Division in the Steering Group for Strategic Communication at the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin and at the East Africa Desk. He joined the German diplomatic service from McKinsey & Company, where he had worked for private and public sector clients since leaving HKS, mainly in the fields of climate and energy as well as digitalization of public services.
Zana Zeqiri Rudi (MPP 2010)
Until September 2019, Zana Rudi was the Ambassador of the Republic of Kosovo to Panama. She was appointed by the President of Kosovo in December 2016, becoming the first Ambassador of Kosovo in the country and in the entire Latin American region. Ambassador Rudi presented Letters of Credence to the President of Panama officially starting her work as Ambassador to Panama on February 9, 2017. During her six years in Panama, serving in the only Diplomatic Mission of Kosovo in the entire Latin America and the Caribbean region, she became Kosovo’s Ambassador to Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Belize, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Guyana becoming Kosovo’s ambassador with the largest number of secondary accreditations and the Ambassador covering the widest region from her residence in Panama City, Panama. Prior to becoming an Ambassador, Zana Rudi served as the Chief of Mission of Kosovo in Panama City, Panama where she began her career in foreign service for the Republic of Kosovo, opening and running the first and only Embassy of Kosovo in Latin America. Zana Rudi returned to Kosovo from the United States in 2011 to join the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Adviser to the Minister. She contributed to Kosovo's foreign policy and institutional efforts to strengthen the country’s recognition, international image and standing. She earned a Masters in Public Policy with a concentration in International and Global Affairs from Harvard Kennedy School. Prior to starting her master's degree, in 2006, at the age of 23, Zana was part of the Ministry of Local Government Administration as the Minister's Chief of Cabinet, where she strengthened her experience and passion for public policy at central and local levels (through her involvement with the working groups on elections, decentralization). The working groups were particularly important as the consensus built and the documents drafted within the groups paved the way for Kosovo to be declared an independent country. Ambassador Rudi's professional experiences also include her two involvements with the multilateral organizations such as UNHCR in New York and the World Bank in Pristina. A mother, a daughter, a wife, and a devoted senior career foreign service officer, Zana has defended the interests of Kosovo abroad with diligence and passion having opened and led the first diplomatic mission in the vast and ever dynamic region of Latin America and the Caribbean where Kosovo strives to receive and maintain a good number of diplomatic recognitions. For her meritorious engagement and contribution to the society Ambassador Rudi was recognized by the University of Graceland and received an Honorary Doctorate by Graceland University in April 2017.
