Women’s History Month

March 8, 2024March 8, 2024

The International Women of Elliott Champions Women’s Leadership on Campus and Around the World

Alumni members and students of the International Women of Elliott pose for a group photo.

Formed nearly four years ago, GW’s International Women of Elliott (I/WE) is committed to women’s advancement in international affairs. I/WE Executive Circle members champion Elliott students focused on women’s leadership to ensure those who choose to lead have the resources and tools to do so.

In addition to connecting Elliott alumni and students, I/WE raises funds to provide grants for Elliott students, supporting tuition, research projects, unpaid internships, conference presentations, and other activities. In the last two academic years, I/WE has awarded an impressive $183,000 to 48 students at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

On this International Women’s Day, we spoke with several I/WE Executive Circle members about their participation, what the network means to them, and why women’s leadership matters.

Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, BA ’80; President, Middle East Policy Council, Washington, D.C.

I’m currently running a non-profit that focuses on policy education and bridge-building between Americans and Middle Easterners – crucial in today’s world. As a former Ambassador, I know that ensuring women participate fully in society and in international affairs is essential to a more peaceful world.

Representation is so important. It made a difference to me in forming my goals and my sense of where l belong. Sometimes seeing a woman in leadership was a spur. Sometimes seeing us missing was an even greater one!

Alexandra Garcia, MIPP ’14; Non-Profit Consultant, Washington, D.C.

Helping to create a welcoming, safe, and connected space for younger professional women is very important to me because I don’t think it really existed when I was going through my own educational journey.

I hope and expect that more and more women will come into the decision-making roles that are pivotal in advancing a more just and fair societal order around the world. Women are just as strategic and goal-driven as men, but I believe we are more attuned to and mindful of the impact of our collective actions as a human species on the citizens of the world. “Winning at all costs” has proven over and over to be a failing strategy for world affairs.

Julie Monaco, BA ’85; Managing Director and Global Head, Public Sector Banking, Citi, New York; I/WE Executive Circle Co-Chair

My Elliott School education is why I have succeeded in a career in global banking. My international affairs degree gave me the foundation of understanding and instilled a passion to continue explore and learn about all the political and economic challenges my clients in 150+ countries face every day. Throughout my career, I had fantastic mentors and teachers, both men and women, who helped me grow and contribute in a way that would not be possible without them. I participate in I/WE to provide more young people who share the I/WE mission with the vast opportunities that an Elliott School education will offer them.

Brooke Pearson, MIPP ’16; Lead Program Manager, Google Chrome Trust & Safety, Google, United Kingdom

I used to think that international policy work could only be done from a thinktank, NGO, or in government. However, I learned that there are increasingly more policy-focused roles in the private sector too. I advise young women and students to keep your horizon broad: approach your career with an open mind about where you can make an impact, and where your skills will shine.

Laura Wais, BA ’71; Underwater and Travel Photographer, San Francisco

I/WE is to me a way to connect with former and current students and faculty at the Elliott School. Being invited to join the Executive Circle is a great honor. I owe so much to my education at GW. I feel that I/WE donations help shape the future of Elliott School graduates, who will go into the world as a future generation of leaders.

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and travel several times a year to take images of Africa and the Indo-Pacific regions. I share my images with different environmental nonprofits and companies to highlight what I have seen in foreign countries. This is important to me from a perspective of increasing a world view to those who may not be able to travel as I do.

March 4, 2019April 2, 2020

Elliott School Celebrates International Women’s Day

For more than a century, International Women’s Day has been held worldwide on March 8 to celebrate the achievements of women. The day also serves as a reminder and call-to-action for accelerating gender parity. Here’s how the Elliott School is celebrating the achievements of women in commemoration of International Women’s Day.

International Women’s Day Photo Exhibit

Have you checked out our latest photo exhibition on the second floor atrium of our building at 1957 E Street NW?

The exhibit features women politicians and political activists worldwide who have taken on leadership roles and campaigned on the issues they’re passionate about. Each of these women represent a “first,” having smashed through glass ceilings and striven to have their voice heard and valued, providing a new model of leadership and a vision of how politics can be done.

The exhibit, held in partnership with the Gender Equality Initiative in International Affairs (GEIA), will run until March 29.

Overcoming Violence: A Conversation with the 2019 International Women of Courage

Join us in honoring the 2019 Secretary of State International Women of Courage (IWOC) awardees on International Women’s Day at the Elliott School. The IWOC award recognizes women who have demonstrated exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for peace, justice, human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment — often at great personal risk and sacrifice.

The Friday, March 8, morning panel will comprise three 2019 IWOC awardees in conversation with Elliott School Dean Reuben Brigety, the former ambassador to the African Union.

Register online to hear about these courageous women’s experiences. The event is hosted in partnership with GEIA, the Elliott School’s Institute for Public Diplomacy & Global Communication and the U.S. Department of State.

International Women’s Day 2019: The Year of Women in Politics

On Thursday, March 7, join us for a panel discussion on women in politics and the current and potential impacts of the increasing number of women in Congress. Speakers will include female leaders from around the Washington, D.C., area and nationwide.

The event will take place from 4-9 p.m. in Room 214 at the Elliott School. A reception will follow the panel discussion. Email GEIA to RSVP for the event. More event details are available on our website.

Interview with GEIA Director Shirley Graham

On International Women’s Day, make sure to tune into the Foreign Affairs Inbox podcast for an interview with GEIA Director Shirley Graham.

The episode will feature two new student hosts, Emma Anderson and Taylor Galgano, who talk with Dr. Graham about the history of International Women’s Day, the impact of all-women UN peacekeeping teams and more. Graham’s current research interests includes women, peace and security, women’s empowerment and the prevention of gender-based violence.

March 4, 2019March 4, 2019

Alumna Promotes Women’s Leadership and Public Service

In honor of Women’s History Month, we recently caught up with alumna Kateryna Pyatybratova, ESIA BA ’11, MA/MBA ’16, who has turned her experiences at the Elliott School and GW into a career promoting women’s leadership and public service around the world.

Tell us about what you are doing now and why it matters to you.

I currently serve as the director of marketing and business development at the GW Center for Excellence in Public Leadership. In this role, I am responsible for the Center’s go-to-market strategy and partnership-building efforts with U.S. and international government agencies and executive education partners.

In a place like Washington, if you ask someone to identify the number one reason that makes something succeed or fail, the answer inevitably comes down to “leadership.” Right here at GW, we help leaders achieve personal and professional breakthroughs and make a positive difference in their organizations and in the lives of the people they serve. Seeing the impact that we’re making here in DC, and around the world, is what energizes and inspires me to continue to do more.

March is Women’s History Month. How have you worked to promote women’s leadership and public service?

While at the Elliott School, I’ve been blessed to have a number of amazing mentors and friends (both women and men) who supported me in my own leadership journey. It is important to me personally to do the same for others. I called on my extended GW network time and again when I served as director for the Women’s Information Network Advisory Council, fundraised for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, and when a fellow alumna and I started publishing the Women Inspire Action Magazine, telling authentic stories of women who turned their vision into a reality.

Most recently, my GW colleagues and I launched the Executive Women’s Leadership Program (EWLP)*, designed for high potential leaders who are looking to accelerate their impact, influence and career advancement. Because the program received such rave reviews from women leaders in DC and federal government agencies, we are now working to bring EWLP to international audiences through partnerships with the Elliott School’s Gender Equality Initiative in International Affairs and GW’s Global Women’s Institute. Later in March, we will bring our empowering message to the 6th Annual Power of Collaboration Global Summit at the United Nations.

How did the Elliott School influence your professional choices and successes? Who helped you on your career path?

I wouldn’t be where I am today without my GW family. This university didn’t just give me a world-class education and a fulfilling career, but also life-long friendships and exposure to transformative ideas and experiences.

During my undergraduate years, I had the extraordinary opportunity to do research alongside top foreign policy scholars, such as Dr. Hope Harrison, study abroad at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow and Sciences-Po University in Paris, and volunteer at the Obama White House and AmeriCorps. Thanks to GW’s strategic location in the nation’s capital, by the time I completed my B.A., I had four years of job experience on my resume, having worked at the Peace Corps, the Woodrow Wilson Center, and the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Being a first-generation immigrant, none of this would have been possible for me without the help of a generous alumni scholarship that funded my first two years in college. I will always be grateful for that!

I especially want to recognize fellow alumnus Paul Maeser, MA ’14, who recommended me as a participant to a prestigious seminar in 2018 through the German Marshall Fund, opening a lot of new doors to partnerships in Germany, Brussels, and Ukraine. I also credit my program director, Dr. Peter Rollberg, who heads the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, for his wisdom and invaluable support throughout my four years in the joint M.A./M.B.A. program. Under his guidance, I was able to really tailor my graduate school experience to my specific professional goals and undertake hands-on research projects that added tremendously to my professional portfolio. One of the projects I did in Ukraine, which was sponsored by the William & Helen Petrach Grant, even evolved into a business opportunity!

What would you say to current Elliott School students who want to make a positive difference in the world?

I would reiterate a quote by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the famous 20th-century German theologian and anti-Nazi dissident, whose writings had a profound impact on my own life: “Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.”

*Note: The Executive Women’s Leadership Program is open to alumni, as well as non-GW women active in professional careers. The Spring Cohort will take place April 3-5, and there are still a few spaces available.