In 2021, I graduated from Lewis & Clark College, where I received a degree in International Relations with a concentration in the Middle East and Northern Africa region. On campus, I served as the co-chair for the 59th Lewis & Clark International Affairs Symposium: “System Shocks: Finding Clarity in a Chaotic World”. I was also an active participant in the French Club, the College Outdoors program, and the Botany club. During my studies, I had several external opportunities to conduct research projects surrounding humanitarian conflict resolution, environmental sustainability and agricultural adaptation, policy implementation and tribal conflicts in Western Africa. Originally from Alaska and a dual citizen of France and the United States, I had the chance to grow up with diverse narratives from the communities surrounding me. This instilled in me an understanding of the power of perspective, cross-cultural collaboration, and the interconnectedness of the issues our systems face today.
Through my academic and professional career, I sought every opportunity to explore the world – to interact with diverse cultures and environments. In 2016, I founded a project to finance and deliver educational supplies of over 150 children in the coastal village of Gomoa Fetteh, Ghana. In the summer of 2017, I researched and collaborated with an advocacy group in Ollantaytambo, Peru to fund the building of a primary school in the remote, mountainous village of Willoc Alto. Through these experiences, I not only continued to grow my passion for global development, but also challenged myself to see how and by what means others interact with the world around them.
After graduating, I followed my interest in conflict analysis and mitigation and began working as a research assistant in Paris, focusing on the concepts of memory, vengeance, and retributive justice in conflict. I then worked as a paralegal for the International Arbitration team at Bird & Bird LLP, focusing on Middle Eastern and North African arbitral cases. Here, I have gained the necessary technical knowledge on international law, and the mechanisms at work behind international negotiations, treaties, and relations.
Throughout my travels and the different places I have lived, I have been able to keep my connection to my hometown of Palmer, Alaska strong through my favorites hobbies: climbing (both on rock and ice), hiking, snowboarding, and backpacking.
Meeting through a mutual friend, I have had the pleasure and privilege to get to know Sherman Teichman, and in turn, this incredible community he has created. Joining the Trebuchet fills me with both a sense of great pride and of greater responsibility; it serves not only as a network of inspiring global actors, but a wholly necessary conduit for multidisciplinary connections and collaborations that ignite innovative projects for a prosperous future.