Empowering Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

The Student Consortium on Women, Peace, and Security (The Consortium) is a student-led organization that aims to promote awareness of the implications of women and gender in security and foreign policy. Established in 2020, it works in collaboration with the U.S. Civil Society Working Group on WPS (U.S. CSWG). Housed in the Elliott School and advised by Shirley Graham, associate professor of practice in international affairs, it was recently named an official Elliott School Student Organization.

The goal of the organization is to ensure that policymakers around the globe are aware of the importance of gender issues and the urgent need to institutionalize a feminist approach when solving critical issues surrounding peace and security. To that end, the Consortium works closely with the Elliott School’s Gender Equality Initiative in International Affairs (GEIA). 

The Consortium this past year organized events to celebrate International Women’s Day, including a panel discussion consisting of four women who are breaking barriers in the realm of gender and international affairs: Lida Noory, Director of Women, Peace, and Security, Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI), U.S. Department of State; Dr. Jennifer Hawkins, Senior Advisor for Women, Peace, and Security, Bureau of Conflict, Prevention, and Stabilization (CPS) at the U.S. Agency for International Development; Dr. Shirley Graham, Director of the Gender Equality Initiative in International Affairs and Associate Professor of Practice in International Affairs at George Washington University; and Neela Ghoshal, Senior Director of Law, Policy and Research at Outright International. 

Event photos:
(top left) Members of the Student Consortium on WPS tour the United States Institue of Peace
(top right) International Women’s Day group shot of Lida Noory, Dr. Jennifer Hawkins, Megan Corrado*,
Dr. Shirley Graham, Neela Ghoshal *Megan Corrado is the Director of Advocacy & Policy at the Alliance for Peacebuilding, an Executive Committee Member of the U.S. Civil Society Working group on WPS, and adjunct professor at ESIA teaching the undergraduate course Women, Rights, & Gender Equality
(bottom center) Alumni event with Noelle Cohn, founding VP and former President of the Consortium, Program Specialist at USAID’s Bureau of Development, Democracy and Innovation, Bejan Foretia, founding member, Information Officer, Humanitarian Reporting supporting USAID Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance, Nick Zuroski, founding President of the Consortium, Manager for Policy & Advocacy at Alliance for Peacebuilding, Sara Mills, program specialist at the State Department in the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs in the Office of American 

The Consortium has been working to expand outside of the D.C. area, with chapters established at the George Washington University, Georgetown University, American University and now a chapter at Scripps College in California. The Consortium looks forward to growing its membership across more colleges throughout the U.S.

"International affairs is not something I can really critically discuss with my parents or other family, but after reading this book I feel as though I am part of a whole new, much larger family of aunts and cousins and uncles who are all rooting for me,” said Hannah Jackson, B.A. ’23, cofounder of GW’s student organization, Young Black Professionals in International Affairs. “It's the affirming power of being seen and being heard that resonated with me the most.”

The Generations Dialogue Project seeks to further that affirmation [being seen and being heard] by introducing more young people in high school and college to the possibility of a career in foreign policy and international affairs, and offering examples of trailblazers who have succeeded in the field.

While many barriers to entry for historically under-represented groups have been removed, experience and related evidence have confirmed that a large portion of recruited individuals do not stay in foreign service or languish in low-level positions, Brinkerhoff explained. As a result, fewer and fewer younger people can picture themselves in those careers.

Generations Fellows over the past year have hosted a series of Generations Dialogues, youth outreach events featuring candid conversations among peers and advice from professionals and mentors on navigating one’s career and the sometimes unspoken but crucial fears that can inhibit success.

“I am a strong believer in the affirming power of representation,” said Jackson. “Far too often, communities of color, particularly those in the Black community, don’t see enough people who look like them in the careers that they aspire to.”

Generations Dialogue Project this summer also delivered a two-day workshop to faculty and advisors from fourteen Minority-Serving Institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the hopes that faculty and advisors in turn will introduce their students to the international affairs field, and inspire their students.

Brinkerhoff emphasizes that “it's important to spread the message because it ensures we access the best talent available. And our combined diversity is what makes us most effective and creative in addressing every challenge we may confront.”

LATAM@GW, founded by Elliott School students in 2021, is one of the school’s most active collaborators in its mission to create a diverse and welcoming environment where everyone can flourish. Serving as a hub and community space for students interested in Hispanic, Latinx, Caribbean and Latin American issues and culture, LATAM@GW plays a vital role in bridging cultural and academic gaps.

Johanna Cajinas, former co-president of LATAM@GW and a graduate student in the Latin American and Hemispheric Studies Program, emphasized the importance of the community, saying, “LATAM bridged that gap by creating a space for me and other Latinx students at GW, where they can come together and share their knowledge, passions, and experiences relating to political, social, and cultural issues in Latin America and raising awareness within the university about these challenges.” 

LATAM@GW convenes scholars, politicians, and activists to engage in discussions on complex and evolving topics across the Latin American region. The group hosted notable events like "Dissent in Nicaragua: A Conversation with Lesther Alemán," which featured a student activist and former political prisoner, as well as discussions facilitated by the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, and a commemorative event for the 200th anniversary of the U.S.-Mexico relationship that included former ambassadors and the current Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. “Peru in Flames” brought former Peruvian President Francisco Sagasti to the Elliott School for a thoughtful conversation, hosted in collaboration with the Latin American and Hemispheric Studies program.

LATAM@GW’s events gain visibility in the larger foreign policy community, and offer students leadership opportunities as they craft and convene their own discussions. For example, C-Span covered a a LATAM event, “Assessing U.S.-Mexico Security Cooperation,” featuring LATAM member and Elliott School student Isaiah Nelson as moderator.