Our third webinar event entitled Federal Service: Navigating applications and landing your first job will be held on July 16th. There will be a panel from 1:00 - 1:45 PM EDT followed by breakout sessions from 1:45 - 2:15 PM EDT. What does a career in federal international affairs look like and what does the application process entail? Learn about different pathways to government service, how to decipher usajob.gov, and what opportunities exist both in Washington and overseas in a variety of government agencies.
This event is co-sponsored with Women's Foreign Policy Group (WFPG) and the Robertson Foundation for Government. Registration is free for WIIS and WFPG members. WIIS members can access the code for free registration on the member homepage. If you have any questions, please contact info@wiisglobal.org.
Jennifer Hawkins is a Senior Women, Peace, and Security Advisor in USAID's Bureau of Conflict, Prevention, and Stabilization (CPS). She joined USAID in 2014 as a Democracy Fellow. Prior to joining USAID, Jennifer served as a Gender and Policy Advisor at the State Department's Bureau of Conflict Stabilization Operations, where she led the implementation of the Bureau's Gender Policy and the National Plan on Women, Peace, and Security. In 2013, she served as the first US secondee to Justice Rapid Response, an intergovernmental organization in Geneva, where she worked to increase multilateral diplomacy on atrocity prevention and develop a global "rapid response" capacity within Rule of Law and Sexual Gender-Based Violence. During her five years at the State Department, she also served in the Bureau of West African Affairs as Desk Officer for Burkina Faso and Niger, and as the Special Assistant in the Bureau of African Affairs. Jennifer holds a BS from Syracuse and a MSW, with a concentration in children and policy, from Howard, and is currently a Doctoral candidate at the University of Southern California.
Erin McGown joined the Department of Justice in March as a Program Analyst on the Africa team in the Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training (OPDAT). Before joining DoJ, Erin served in the Peace Corps in the Republic of Georgia, where she advised a small NGO focused on local democracy development; authored, implemented, and closed out a Let Girls Learn grant for a Peace Corps-led camp for youth; and designed and implemented trainings related to gender equality. Erin also served as a Communications and Outreach Program Specialist at USAID, which she joined as an intern. She also interned at the Department of State's Office of UN Political Affairs, the German Marshall Fund and the Women's Foreign Policy Group. Prior to moving to DC, she worked for the City of Boise Mayor’s Office and South Sound YMCA in Olympia, Washington. Erin holds a Masters in International Affairs at the George Washington University’s Elliott School and a BA from the University of Idaho in International Studies and German.
Lindsay Rodman is Executive Director of the Leadership Council for Women in National Security (LCWINS). She began her career as an associate at Arnold & Porter LLP. Lindsay then joined the Marine Corps and served as a judge advocate for eight years, including deployment to Afghanistan, serving as Deputy Legal Counsel to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and as a White House Fellow at the National Security Council. After transitioning into the Reserves, Lindsay was a political appointee in the Pentagon, serving first as the Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel & Readiness and then as the Senior Advisor, International Humanitarian Policy in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. Prior to joining LCWINS, Lindsay was a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow in Canada and worked at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Lindsay remains an officer in the Marine Corps Reserve. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School, the Kennedy School, and Duke.
Sharon Swabb is a Career Coach at George Washington University’s Elliott School, where she manages GW's mentorship program with USIP and the Elliott School's graduate-level, cross-cultural exchange program with the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Prior to arriving at GW, Sharon served as an Associate Director in the White House Presidential Personnel Office, where she contributed to the recruitment, placement, and retention of political appointees at national security agencies. Previously, she was a Press Assistant in the Office of Public Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security. Before her work in the Federal Government, she was a research fellow at GovLoop, served as a program assistant for the DC semester programs of the University of Georgia and NYU, was a volunteer staff member for Young Professionals in Foreign Policy. Sharon is a member of the Robertson Foundation for Government. She holds a BA in International Affairs and Spanish from the University of Georgia and a Master’s in Pacific International Affairs from UC San Diego.
Kim Kahnhauser Freeman is the executive director of the Women's Foreign Policy Group, a non-profit organization which promotes women’s leadership and amplifies their voices in international affairs. Since joining the WFPG team in 2006, she has held roles of increasing responsibility supporting the organization’s global issues programs, membership outreach, mentoring initiatives, and strategic development. Previously, Kim was a Fulbright teaching fellow in Tirol, Austria, and researched public housing for the Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching and Service in DC. Kim was a 2011 State Department Young Turkey/Young America Fellow, and holds a BS in International Politics from Georgetown and an Executive Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Georgetown's McCourt School of Public Policy.