Nadia Crevecoeur has long been a resident of the DMV area, growing up in Churchville, Maryland and later attending high school in Towson, Maryland. Nadia is now wrapping up her time at the George Washington University where she is completing her bachelor’s degree in International Affairs with a concentration in Conflict Resolution. Nadia, WIIS’ senior program assistant, has been with the organization since January of 2018 and is a key asset to the team.
Nadia on a panel at the Youth, Peace and Security Conference in the UAE.
Nadia has had a connection to international affairs for as long as she can remember. As a first-generation Haitian-American, she witnessed trauma in her family, but as a child never connected the trauma as an effect of foreign policy decisions It wasn’t until high school that she became captivated by U.S. foreign policy (specifically the Iran-Contra Affair) where she thought it was, “like a soap opera” her mother would watch. Nadia finds this process similar to what Nigerian feminist and scholar, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, went through while writing Half of a Yellow Sun. In the same way that Adichie was able to understand and tell her parents’ story about the Nigerian-Biafran war, she found studying international affairs and conflict resolution was a way to understand her family’s history. She finds her family’s experiences compliment her academic texts. From there, her passion only grew and she decided to pursue her interest in international affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University.
Nadia is incredibly busy at GW, balancing rigorous courses,serving as the, president of Delta Phi Epsilon: A Professional Foreign Service Sorority and the Co-founding President of March On the Campus, a grassroots political organization formed to make the Women's March of 2017 moment into a movement. When asked about any standout moments during her four years at GW, Nadia had several come to mind. She credits joining her professional foreign service sorority with surrounding her with supportive women, building her confidence and deepening her passion for international affairs. Other noteworthy experiences include meeting Anderson Cooper, flying to Abu Dhabi with WIIS President Chantal de Jonge Oudraat to speak on a panel regarding Youth, Peace, and Security, and meeting Michelle Obama.
Nadia asking a question about ISIS’ ability to outsource tasks on the darkweb at the EU discussion of their security and defense plan in Brussels, Belgium
Her experiences reach far beyond the DMV area. Nadia has spent time studying and working in both Brussels, Belgium and Geneva, Switzerland. In Brussels, Nadia interned at the Global Governance Institute, where she worked on project with Dr. Joachim Koops on how to measure the success of peacekeeping missions. While in Geneva, Nadia took on a long-term project analyzing single actor terrorism in Western Europe. Reflecting on her time in Geneva, she said this project was the first time she had direct ownership of a project. Nadia credits a great deal of her professional and academic growth to her experience abroad and at WIIS. .
Nadia was originally drawn to the WIIS by a two friends and former Program Assistants, Caitlin McMahon and Mallory Dudra. She was inspired by the opportunity to look at gender through an academic lens. In the office, Nadia is a central fixture. Nadia is busy writing the WIIS History Project, authoring blog posts, engaging in research, coordinating multiple upcoming events and much more. Upon graduating from GW this May, Nadia plans to travel through Southeast Asia before starting at Deloitte in their Government and Public Services as an analyst come August.
Nadia enjoying a bite to eat in Bangkok, Thailand
In Nadia’s free-time, you can catch her binge-watching TV shows-which include Mad Men and Game of Thrones, crocheting, writing black feminist manifestos and working as a photographer (check out http://www.coeursphotography.com for some of her amazing work!).
Thank you for all you do here at WIIS, Nadia!