Two Marxe Students Win Harold W. Rosenthal Fellowships in International Relations
June 19, 2019
Two students from the Master of International Affairs (MIA) program at the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs are the first Baruch College and The City University of New York recipients of a Harold W. Rosenthal Fellowship.
Daisy Flores (’20) and Nadira Ramudit (’20) are among 26 graduate students selected from universities such as Columbia, Harvard, Duke, Syracuse, and Michigan who will spend the summer months working on foreign policy issues in the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government.
Flores will work in the Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs. Ramudit’s fellowship is with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Office of the Chief Economist. They will also participate in roundtable discussions with leading experts in international relations, career planning sessions, and congressional briefings.
This fellowship honors Harold W. Rosenthal, a Senate staff member who, in 1976, while engaged in a successful career in foreign relations, was a victim of international terrorism and killed at the age of 29.
Nadira Ramudit: Giving Back to the Community as a Policy Maker
At the beginning of her academic studies, Nadira Ramudit never envisioned such a prestigious fellowship that would take her to the inner corridors of the nation’s capital. Previously, Ramudit’s studies centered on finance and the private sector. Later she became an MIA student with a concentration in trade policy and global economic governance.
Ramudit was “elated” when she was chosen as a Rosenthal Fellow and expressed excitement to “experience our federal government after being in the private sector.”
She is looking forward to working in an office that focuses on one of today’s hotly debated issues: trade.
“I feel extremely fortunate to be in the place where it is happening,” Ramudit said. “A perennial criticism of the public sector is the bureaucracy, and with all the activity in this space, I’m looking forward to seeing how our federal government operates. In the private sector, I’m accustomed to changes happening overnight.”
In the future, Ramudit believes this fellowship will “solidify and expand” her vision where she intends to work to “create opportunities for as many people as I can, whether that is in the private sector as a manager, mentor and coach, or in the public sector as a policy maker.”
Ramudit added, “I’ve always believed in giving back to the people and communities that took care of us, and I’d like the rest of my career to be focused on doing just that.”
Daisy Flores: Seeking to Advocate for Marginalized Groups
Flores was inspired to apply for the Rosenthal Fellowship after her professors highlighted the “importance of field experience to inform where we would like our careers to go and build expertise in areas of interests.”
During her fellowship, she is looking forward to learning more about how the Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking all collaborate with the Office of Trade and Labor Affairs to strengthen worker’s rights in trade agreements. Additionally, Flores wants to understand how the Department of Labor engages with other federal agencies and foreign governments to accomplish their mission of promoting a fair global playing field for workers.
For Flores, the fellowship will not only provide invaluable experience but also serve as a path towards her career goals.
Looking ahead, Flores seeks to “advocate for the well-being of marginalized groups around the world thorough policy and research to reduce inequality.”
2019 EmpowHER Cohort
Flores is also among 41 women selected for the 2019 EmpowHER initiative, created by the B.A. Women’s Alliance seeking “daring, tenacious, and compassionate” women who have a “passion for change and the drive to go out make it happen.”
“Joining this cohort solidified and facilitated my acceptance to the Rosenthal Fellowship because it made it financially feasible,” Flores said. “I am honored to be part of a group of impressive women who are coming from different parts of the country and backgrounds, who are committed to changing the world.”
About the Harold W. Rosenthal Fellowship
As a tribute to Harold Rosenthal’s memory, service and commitment to the profession of international affairs, each year a number of outstanding scholars are chosen from the leading international affairs educational institutions to become Rosenthal Fellows. Fellows are selected based on their commitment to public service, their education and interest in international relations as well as their experience and dedication to those values and professional standards set by Mr. Rosenthal and the outstanding legacy of Rosenthal Fellowship alumni. The fellowship positions are carefully chosen to ensure that each fellow has an opportunity to perform substantive work in international relations and security policy.
Learn more about the program here.
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