 The WFPG's Young Professionals Network is a member-led discussion group open to all WFPG student and young professional members. The Network hosts professional development, mentoring and smaller substantive issues discussions in person in DC, NY, and online--as well as networking happy hours and social events. During our informal virtual and in-person roundtables, mid and senior-level professionals join our Network members for informal discussions about their career paths, current projects, and their experiences in the field. Network members select topics, speakers, and lead the conversations.
Join the YP Network: When you register as a WFPG member, you will have the option to join our networks in NY and DC, as well as our virtual network. Learn more Contact our Co-Chairs: Have questions for the network co-chairs or ideas for speakers or events? Email us at [email protected]. Learn more: Join the WFPG | Professional Development Events | Network Co-Chairs 2022 EVENTS CAREER CHATS
Paving the Way for Women Peacemakers - Permanent Representative of Ireland to the UN Geraldine Byrne Nason and Deputy Permanent Representative of Mexico to the UN Alicia Buenrostro Massieu Career Chat: Foreign Service and Social Justice - Pam Quanrud, Howard University School of Law Diplomat in Training: How to Succeed in the Foreign Service Selection Process - Marti Estell, U.S. Department of State, Former Foreign Service Officer; Katie Conti, Master’s Candidate, London School of Economics and Political Science; Indigo Stegner, Program Coordinator, Meridian International Center Careers in International Development - Ritika Singh, Program Officer, Center for International Private Enterprise; Elizabeth Cohan, Senior Director, APCO Worldwide; Talley Diggs, Grants Manager, RefuSHE; Rosalind Reischer, Associate Director, APCO NETWORKING AND HAPPY HOURS
2021 EVENTS CAREER CHATS
Applying for Grad School: Best Practices - Gradate Students Katie Conti, Aline Guzik, and Katarina O'Regan Skills-Building for Effective Negotiation - Professor Judy Kuriansky and Former Ambassador of Hungary Katalin Bogyay How Can You Make the Most of New Opportunities? - Donna Constantinople, KMA Communications What is the UN's Generation Equality Forum? - Stephanie Oula and Grace Anderson, UN Foundation The Ins and Outs of a Presidential Transition - Samantha Vinograd, CNN National Security Analyst NETWORKING AND HAPPY HOURS
End-of-Summer Happy Hour Making the Most of Your Summer Internship - Elinor Harty, Wilson Center, and Peer Mentors Galentine's Day Happy Hour 2020 EVENTS CAREER CHATS
Being a Foreign Service Officer in a Time of Crisis - Gillian Apfel, Rome-based US Foreign Service Officer Advocating for Yourself in the Workplace - Theresa Loar and Allison Ford, WFPG Board Members Should I Go to Law School? - Megan Bright, Kelly Recker, and Archana Vasa NETWORKING AND HAPPY HOURS
Vice Presidential Debate Discussion Holiday Foreign Policy Trivia Real Talk, Grad School Edition 2019 EVENTS CAREER CHATS
Gretchen Ehle, Atlantic Council Becca Balis, UNICEF Consultant Allison Ford, United Technologies Diana Caley, USAID Office of Food for Peace Simone Peloquin, Impl. Project Suzanne McGuire, US Department of Defense Menaka Nayyar, US Foreign Service NETWORKING AND HAPPY HOURS
Summer Happy Hour: Real Talk, Grad School Edition January Kickoff Happy Hour YP NETWORK CO-CHAIRS
2021 CO-CHAIRS Katie Conti
 Katie Conti is a practitioner of public diplomacy with a passion for the arts and youth empowerment. At Meridian International Center, she coordinates implementation of the Department of State's Pan Africa Youth Leadership Program and supports organization-wide strategic planning and communications initiatives. Previously, she provided support to executives and development teams at Brookings and CSIS; protocol and public affairs as a Youth Ambassador to the USA Pavilion at the 2015 Expo (World's Fair) in Milan; international development program support, M&E, and communications at the Near East Foundation; and social & traditional media monitoring with the Department of State's Africa Regional Media Hub in Johannesburg. Katie holds a BA in International Relations, Public Communication Studies and Geography from Syracuse University and was a Pan Am 103/Lockerbie Remembrance Scholar. She speaks French and Italian, some Spanish, Russian, and Wolof, and recently began studying Arabic. | LinkedInAline Guzik
 Born and raised in Mexico, Aline Guzik recently received her MPA from Columbia University SIPA, specializing in Social Policy and Gender. Her studies focused on the interdependency between the urban and social disciplines by analyzing global policies primarily focused on boosting collective well-being. Her passion for international affairs led her to the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations, where she supports the Children in Armed Conflict, Colombia, and Haiti files within the Security Council. She also assists with matters of cybercrime, and humanitarian situations. Before moving to New York, Aline worked as a public servant at two chief social protection and public housing agencies in Mexico (IMSS and INFONAVIT). She's also a Youth Associate of the Mexican Council of Foreign Relations. She holds a BA in International Relations from Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. | LinkedInRosalind Reischer
 Rosalind Reischer is a senior consultant at APCO’s DC-based Public Affairs Advisory practice. She has a background in China policy and previously worked in government relations and business advisory consulting with the Asia practice at McLarty Associates. She has advised clients from a variety of sectors and on topics ranging from navigating the US-China trade war to the business implications of geopolitical shifts. Previously, Rosalind worked with the Project 2049 Institute, a research organization promoting American security interests in Asia, as well as the Nicobar Group in Shanghai, a consultancy focusing on US-China civil nuclear engagement. She is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins SAIS Center in Nanjing, where she concentrated in energy, resources and the environment, holds a BA from UVA, and she is proficient in Mandarin Chinese. | LinkedIn2020 DC CO-CHAIRS Kristin Bruno
 Kristin Bruno is a Senior Associate in Digital Strategy and Analytics at The Pew Charitable Trusts with 7+ years’ experience in foreign policy, technology, and analytics. Her professional interests include gender empowerment, counterterrorism and countering white-nationalism policy, and international development. Kristin received her MA in International Affairs from Boston University and holds a BA in Political Science. While at Boston University, Kristin was the co-President and co-founder of the graduate women’s organization, Dean’s Ambassador, a board member on the Provost’s Graduate Student Advisory Board and was appointed to a Graduate Research Assistantship. In 2018, Kristin was awarded a research grant for travel to Amman, Jordan to interview UN Women fieldworkers and government officials on the topics of gender, violence, and political movements. | LinkedInKristen Folkerts
 Kristen Folkerts currently works as Coordinator for the US-Africa Business Center at the US Chamber of Commerce, where she focuses on the North and West African regions. Her professional interests include African affairs and expanding policy beyond the development paradigm, international trade, women’s empowerment, and project management. She also has a passion for health, specifically mental health, and previously volunteered as an EMT-Basic. Kristen graduated from the University of Virginia with a BA in International Affairs and French. She spent a semester abroad in Senegal, interning for a women’s economic empowerment organization and studying microeconomics and health. Before working at the US Chamber, she worked for Creative Associates International, a private global development company in the DC area. | LinkedIn2020 NY STEERING COMMITTEE Beatriz Ciordia
 Born and raised in Pamplona, Spain, Beatriz is currently pursuing a Master’s in International Relations at New York University with a Fulbright scholarship. Until recently, Beatriz was part of the International Coordination Team at the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders, a coalition of women’s groups and other civil society organizations aimed at empowering women to become change agents in conflict-affected countries. As a journalist, Beatriz has written stories on migration, human rights, gender equality and free press violations in Latin America, which has become her regional area of interest. She has always been very passionate about global affairs, and has worked with a number of news outlets and firms in Spain, Belgium and the United States in research, consultancy and journalism.Aline Guzik
Born and raised in Mexico, Aline Guzik recently received her MPA from Columbia University SIPA, specializing in Social Policy and Gender. Her studies focused on the interdependency between the urban and social disciplines by analyzing global policies primarily focused on boosting collective well-being. Her passion for international affairs led her to the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations, where she supports the Children in Armed Conflict, Colombia, and Haiti files within the Security Council. She also assists with matters of cybercrime, and humanitarian situations. Before moving to New York, Aline worked as a public servant at two chief social protection and public housing agencies in Mexico (IMSS and INFONAVIT). She's also a Youth Associate of the Mexican Council of Foreign Relations. She holds a BA in International Relations from Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City.Hadia Sheerazi
 Hadia is completing a dual MSc. in Sustainability Management and Conflict Resolution at Columbia University, and is the Program Manager of the Carbon Management Research Initiative (CaMRI) at Columbia’s Center on Global Energy Policy. Her research and advocacy focuses on the intersections of sustainability, climate action, carbon management, DRR, gender, and peace and security. She is the first winner of the UNDP-administered King Hamad Youth Empowerment Award to Achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Hadia has served as a Delegate at UN ECOSOC and World Bank youth forums, and Ambassador for the ONE Campaign and Girl Rising. She was previously a UN SDSN Local Pathways Fellow, Net Impact Climate Fellow, and post-grad Fellow for Columbia’s Women, Peace and Security Initiative.Anna Zhang
 Anna Zhang is a student at New York University’s Stern School of Business, double majoring in Finance and Management, with a minor in French. Before joining the WFPG New York YP Network Steering Committee, she completed a semester abroad in Florence, Italy in the fall of 2019. At NYU Stern, she is the Vice President (Engagement) of the Economic Development Group, which examines the relationship between economic growth and sustainable development. She is particularly interested in the intersection between business and human rights. She was previously an intern to the Chief Commercial Office at Shopee (Singapore), an ecommerce platform based in Southeast Asia. 2019 DC CO-CHAIRS Alice Calder
 Alice recently graduated with an MA in the Department of Economics at George Mason University. She also graduated from the University of Exeter with a BA in philosophy and political economy. Previously, she worked in the operations office of the Institute of Economic Affairs, in the Koch Associate Program as a Development Associate at Mercatus & IHS, as well as the Koch Internship Program at CEI. Alice's research interests include immigration, international trade, and the intersection of economics and culture. | LinkedInKatarina O'Regan
 Katarina recently graduated with an MS in Foreign Service at Georgetown where she focused on human security issues, specifically within the context of migration and displacement. Previously, she worked at the Asian University for Women in Bangladesh, British Embassy in DC, Partners in Health Liberia, and NDI. As a graduate student, she interned with Refugees International, the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, and IOM in Uganda. She was also a teaching assistant to Dr. Madeleine Albright. Katarina previously attended Fordham, where she studied abroad in Tunisia and graduated with a BA in International Studies. | LinkedInNatalie Winston
 A recent graduate from the University of Minnesota, Natalie moved to Washington, DC in January 2018 to begin her career in foreign policy. Previously, she has worked in research, communications, non-profits, and think tanks. She is currently working as a program assistant in the Office of Food for Peace at USAID. Her areas of interest include US foreign policy, European & Eurasian affairs, gender and women's rights, humanitarian assistance, and international development. | LinkedIn |
Announcements
Join our mailing list here!
Not a Member? Learn about our membership options here.
Check out our latest newsletter, read Women in the World, and read our most recent VOICES blog posts!
Upcoming Events
| No events |