Applying to the Department of State: a Workshop

Time: Thu, February 20, 1pm – 1pm

Place: 2407 Marie Mount Hall

Have you noticed that a handful of your peers and colleagues have these sweet internships at the Department of State? And that we have program alumni who have done their internships there or later moved onto State? Have you ever wondered how and why our small (but awesome) program lands so many people in such an awesome, prestigious internship location? Well, for many of those students, it’s because they attended one of our workshops that specifically is geared toward the State Department. You, too, can have a sweet internship at the State Department! Come to our workshop to find out how (no guarantees, of course). Please bring a copy of your current resume.

CEO Wanda Alexander: Self-empowerment, Entrepreneurship, and Life

Time: Thu, February 20, 6pm – 7pm
Location: 2407 Marie Mount Hall

RSVP!

Interested in innovation? In starting your own company or non-profit? In taking ownership of your life?  In how to support U.S. government agencies such as HUD? Come have supper and conversation with Wanda Alexander this Thursday!
(And if you need an event, you can report on this one for credit.)

Wanda Alexandre, a UMD alumna, is the President and CEO of her own company, Horizon Consulting Inc., a minority and woman-owned small business that supports the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and other organizations (including banks). She also creates scholarships for minority women, teaches investment and entrepreneurship to youth, and mentors young people before and after college. She has been named UMD’s 2013 Distinguished Alumna for Undergraduate Studies; a Loudon County 2012 Innovator of the Year; the Women Business Champion of the Year 2007, and one of the Washington Business Journal’s Outstanding Minority Business Leaders. She has also been inducted into the Smart CEO BRAVA Award Hall of Fame.

The Challenge of the Oceans

Time: Wed, February 19, 3pm – 5pm
Location: 6th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center 

  Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center 

  One Woodrow Wilson Plaza 

  1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW 

  Washington, DC 20004-3027

  (directions)

Link: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/the-challenge-the-oceans

The world’s oceans are under direct threat. The 5th Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has noted that as a direct result of increased carbon intake, acidification has increased, which has a direct correlation to the overall health and balance of oceanic ecosystems. Furthermore, sea levels are predicted to rise in 95 percent of ocean area. How then can societies and governments work together to bring clear and lasting policies to shift these trends? On February 19th, a panel will convene to discuss recent oceanic challenges.

The “Managing Our Planet” seminar series is developed jointly by George Mason University, the Brazil Institute and the Environmental Change and Security Program. It is based on the premise that the impacts of humanity on the environment (including natural resources) are at a planetary scale, requiring planetary-scale solutions.

Event Speakers:

Thomas Lovejoy
Biodiversity Chair, H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment

Chris Parsons
Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University

Andreas Merkl
President and CEO, The Ocean Conservancy

Human Rights, Security, and Development in Morocco

Time: Wed, February 19, 12:15pm – 1:20pm
Location: 1207 Van Munching Hall

click image to see full-sized

Global Philanthropy Lecture

Time: Wed, February 12 and/or Thur, February 13, 12:15pm – 1:30pm
Location: 1203 Van Munching Hall


Description: The Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership Program will sponsor a series of global philanthropy lectures at 12:15pm on Feb 3, 4, 12, and 13. (You needn’t attend more than one; each is its own individual lecture).

Here is the information for Wednesday's lecture:

Jennifer N. Brass is an Assistant Professor at Indiana University's School of Public & Environmental Affairs, where she teaches courses on NGO Management, international development, international policy and statebuilding. Brass’s research examines service provision, governance and state development in sub-Saharan Africa. Professor Brass is currently revising a book manuscript, provisionally titled, Allies or Adversaries? NGOs and the State in Development,which examines the role that nongovernmental organizations play in service provision, state-society relations, and state development in Kenya. The dissertation on which the book is based won the inaugural APCG-Lynne Reinner award for the best dissertation on African politics in 2010 as well as the 2012 Award of Merit from the International Society for Third-Sector Research (ISTR). Her articles appear in Governance, World Development, Development and Change,the Journal of Modern African Studies, the Annual Review of Environment & Resources and the Journal of Public Affairs Education. She has conducted extensive field research in Senegal, Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda. Professor Brass holds a PhD and MA in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.

Workshop: Memo Writing

Time: Mon, February 17, 10am – 11am and/or Tue, February 18, 3pm – 4pm

Place: 2407 Marie Mount Hall

At the end of each year here in our office, someone (maybe many people) actually read those 5-page papers you turn in. And we read those supervisor evaluations we collect. This past year, that was my job. And one thing kept coming up over and over again: they need better writers. But not just any writing—memo writing. It was probably  the most oft-mentioned skill for improvement. Well, fortunately, both of the GAs here attend the School of Public Policy where we are specifically trained in writing policy memos. And now we have the chance to pass along that knowledge to you! 

U.S. Policy in South Asia in the Coming Decade

Time: Thu, February 13, 12:15pm – 1:30pm
Location: 1207 Van Munching Hall
Link: https://www.publicpolicy.umd.edu/events/cissm-forum-us-policy-south-asia-coming-decade

Robert D. Lamb is a senior fellow and director of the Program on Crisis, Conflict and Cooperation at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). A former Defense Department strategist, Dr. Lamb studies development, governance, and conflict with an emphasis on complex crises, informal processes, and hybrid political and economic systems. His research has included the effectiveness of civilian assistance, private-sector development, and stabilization programs in complex environments; gang governance, violence, and legitimacy in the stateless slums of Medellín, Colombia; and subnational governance and stability in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He earned a Ph.D. in policy studies from the University of Maryland School of Public Policy in a program combining security, economics, and ethics. He received a B.A. from Gettysburg College, evaluated microdevelopment projects in Nicaragua, then worked for nine years as a business and finance journalist, winning a National Press Club award in 2001, before changing careers after 9/11.