Students Turn Learning Into Action

Featured in the Spring 2022 Newsletter »

Central to the Belfer Center’s mission is preparing the next generation of leaders in the areas of science and international affairs. These efforts extend outside the seminar or Zoom room to collaborations with student groups that organize major events.

This year as in the past several years, the Belfer Center was a major sponsor of Harvard Kennedy School's Women in Power Conference organized by students and held on April 23-24. See the article in this newsletter about this year’s conference on “The Power Within.”

Here we highlight collaborations from this semester with the Women in Defense, Diplomacy, and Development (W3D), the Africa Caucus, Black Student Union, and the European Club.

W3D (Women in Defense, Diplomacy, and Development)

This spring semester, the Belfer Center and W3D collaborated to bring woman leaders to campus, virtually and in person. W3D Co-Chair Michaela Lee said the group’s programming is informed by its mission of uplifting and highlighting women in the defense, diplomacy, and development spaces, as well as building a community of students and recent alumni.

On Feb. 8, the Honorable Ellen Lord discussed defense acquisition in a competitive era and her experiences transitioning from industry to the U.S. Department of Defense. As a civilian with private sector experience, Lord was able to offer a different perspective about what it was like to get things done as the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment at the DoD, Lee said.

On April 6, Four-Star General Jacqueline Van Ovost shared how she maintained her values over the course of her career. As the 14th Commander of U.S. Transportation Command, Gen. Van Ovost is one of the few female four-star generals and one of the few women who has led a combatant command. Her talk touched on her current work and mentorship.

“One of the things I enjoyed hearing her say was she talked about how her successes have been supported by the people before her, the people beside her, and the people behind her,” Lee said, noting Gen. Van Ovost’s comment that you don’t have to wait to be in a position of seniority to give back – there are always opportunities.

Defense Project Coordinator Natalia Angel said the project values collaborating with W3D in their mission of promoting women in defense.

“This past year, we held multiple joint events spotlighting incredible women who are shaping public policy and our national response to the most pressing national security issues,” she said. “We look forward to joining forces again in the next academic year.”

Africa Caucus

The Center was pleased to join the HKS Africa Caucus on April 26 to co-sponsor a conversation with His Excellency Dr. Martin Kimani, Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the United Nation, who shared his perspective on current global crises. Earlier this year, Ambassador Kimani made headlines for his public rebuke of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during a speech at the UN Security Council, demonstrating the powerful role African countries and leaders can play in global affairs.

Black Student Union

On April 19, the Black Student Union and Belfer Center co-hosted the second in a series of conversations about Haiti. Moderated by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Professor Jacqueline Bhabha, this conversation between University of Virginia Professor Robert Fatton and Miami Herald reporter Jacqueline Charles looked at the evolving ways the U.S. engages with Haiti and Haitians, both on the island and here on U.S. soil.

Earlier in April, the Belfer Center sponsored the 17th Annual Black Policy Conference organized by the Black Student Union. This year’s theme, “The Radical Reconstruction: Reinventing the Table with Black Joy, Community, & Power,” was explored over April 8-9 in panel discussions and keynotes. Keynote speakers included: Noah Harris, a senior at Harvard; activist Nupol Kiazolu; Harvard Kennedy School Professor Cornell William Brooks; author and political strategist Symone D. Sanders; and Bakari Sellers, an attorney, political commentator, and politician who served in South Carolina’s House of Representatives from 2006-2014.

European Club

Held April 14-15, The European Way: European Conference 2022 explored a range of topics, including Europe’s response to the war in Ukraine, human rights in Europe, COVID-19, and careers in public service. Students from Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School, and Tufts University served as moderators. Events were held in person and virtually.

European Club Co-Chairs Khadija Saleh and Anass Mourjane said the conference goal was to highlight and question the specificity of the European model and what it could still offer the world. The event’s theme, the European Way, was chosen before Russia invaded Ukraine.

“The war has only made that theme more pressing,” Saleh and Mourjane said in an email. “In foreign and strategic affairs, it has shifted the world’s strategic focus back to Europe and the Atlantic alliance, with key questions about Europe’s ability to deal with war on the continent and to match its strategic ambitions.”

By timing the conference for between the two rounds of the French presidential election, a key factor in the future of the European Union, Saleh and Mourjane said the event was able to capture the urgency of the topics it explored.

The Belfer Center’s Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship works with the European Club and partners with it on the conference every year, said Erika Manouselis, Project on Europe Research and Administrative Manager.

“Founded almost a decade ago, the annual conference is a great opportunity for students to highlight pressing issues – from regulating the tech sector to the global green transition – that are top of mind for them as the next generation of transatlantic policymakers,” Manouselis said. “This is a critical time for Europe: the war in Ukraine is a watershed moment for European security and underscores the importance of the transatlantic alliance in upholding the international rules-based order.”