Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs — 2025 Annual Report
New Spaces, Enduring Purpose
In May 2024, the Yale Jackson School completed the second phase of its expansion plan with the move into Steinbach Hall, a landmark at the heart of campus. Originally built in 1949 for John Pitkin Norton, professor of agricultural chemistry, the building now houses the International Leadership Center, expanded staff offices, and a welcoming community lounge.
The 2024–25 academic year was one of extraordinary change in the world of global affairs—and one of remarkable growth for the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs.
Conflicts deepened, inequalities widened, and the climate crisis accelerated. These global challenges shaped the conversations we hosted on campus and the work our community carried out around the world. Amid this uncertainty, I continue to find optimism in the energy, curiosity, and determination of the Yale Jackson community. This year, they launched new initiatives, pursued internships across the globe, and helped shape critical discussions in New Haven, Segovia, and Abuja. Their commitment to public service—and to building a more just and sustainable future—remains at the heart of our mission.
In the 2024–25 academic year, Jackson also strengthened its faculty. We welcomed Laura Robson, Elihu Professor of Global Affairs and History, whose scholarship focuses on displacement, migration, and conflict in the modern Middle East, and Alden Young, Associate Professor of History and Global Affairs, who examines economic development and state-building in Africa and the Middle East. In addition, Mayara Felix fully joined the faculty after completing a postdoctoral fellowship in economics at Yale, bringing expertise in labor markets, political economy, and development.
This report highlights these milestones and more: the transition of Yale College’s human rights certificate program to Jackson, the expansion of fellowships at the International Leadership Center, the launch of the Blue Center for Global Strategic Assessment, groundbreaking faculty research and publications, and the global impact of our students and alumni. Together, they show what makes Yale Jackson unique—a community weathering uncertain times and advancing solutions to the world’s hardest problems.
Best wishes,
Professor James Levinsohn
Charles W. Goodyear Professor of Global Affairs Dean, Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs
Year in Review M.P.P. Program Year by the
Numbers
of 2026 countries represented 16
Jackson graduate students come from all over the world, represent a host of different cultural backgrounds, and bring diverse life experiences to their studies at Yale.
class of 2026 total enrollment 34
class of 2023–27 average: 44%
class of 2023–27 average: 38 languages spoken including english 18 median gpa 3.7 class of 2023–27 average: 3.7 median quantitative 163 class of 2023–27 average: 162 average years of work 5 class of 2023–27 average: 5 u.s. students of color 35% class of 2023–27 average: 32% international students 32% class of 2023–27 average: 57% median verbal 165 class of 2023–27 average: 164 male students 65% class of 2023–27 average: 56% average age 27 age range 23–32 female students 35%
During the 2024–25 academic year, the activities of the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs reflected the rapidly changing global landscape. The school hosted leaders who offered insight into today’s geopolitical challenges, including Albin Kurti, prime minister of Kosovo, who spoke about his country’s post-1999 progress and the obstacles it faces in an uncertain international order, and Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch, who shared perspectives from his book Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Abusive Governments
The school convened major conferences on global issues, including a landmark dialogue on Peace and Security on the African Continent that brought together all 15 members of the African Union Peace and Security Council, and the Recipes for Resilience gathering on food security and sustainable food systems. Members of the Jackson community also helped convene leaders overseas. The school cosponsored the Transatlantic Bridge Conference for the third consecutive year — this time in Segovia, Spain — focusing on current threats to and opportunities for the transatlantic alliance. Emma Sky, director of the International Leadership Center, delivered the keynote at the Big Ideas Platform 2025 in Abuja, Nigeria.
In spring 2025, the school became home to Yale College’s new Human Rights certificate programs, succeeding those previously administered by the Schell Center at Yale Law School. The program offers two tracks — one open to all students and another selective, cohort-based option — providing analytical, conceptual, and practical training in human rights.
The school also introduced the Academic Workshop Series, a biweekly forum where advanced students present research and internship projects and receive feedback from faculty and peers.
The International Leadership Center launched its Peace Fellows program in 2024 and hosted its third cohort of Climate Fellows.
The Maurice R. Greenberg World Fellows Program welcomed its 2024 class, including an Indian human rights lawyer, a Ghanaian entrepreneur, and a Chinese AI expert.
Finally, Jackson celebrated a historic moment on December 21, 2024, when Kristrún Frostadóttir MA ’16 became prime minister of Iceland — the first Jackson graduate to lead a nation.
Read on for more highlights from the year.
The Blue Center for Global Strategic Assessment Marks Inaugural Year
of Yale Jackson students, April 4, 2025.
During her tenure as U.K. prime minister, Baroness Theresa May led the country through some of its most consequential democratic moments, including the formal notification of Britain’s intention to leave the European Union. In spring 2025, she joined the Blue Center for Global Strategic Assessment as its inaugural Senior Fellow, teaching a class on the challenges facing modern democracies. “Serving as a Blue Senior Fellow has given me the opportunity to meet a wide range of young people from across Yale,” May said. “I’ve been deeply impressed by the passion and engagement that students bring to their studies and activities.”
The Blue Center was launched in 2024 with a gift from Neal Blue ’57 to support the interdisciplinary study of security and statecraft. In its first year, the Center advanced this mission through a wide range of programming: weekly co-lectures pairing Yale faculty with senior government and industry leaders, research grants for faculty projects on issues from supply chain disruption to naval history, and student travel awards supporting projects in 21 countries. These activities created new opportunities for the Yale community to explore how nations compete and cooperate across defense, diplomacy, intelligence, and international economic relations.
“We are incredibly grateful to Neal for his exceptional generosity,” said Dean Jim Levinsohn. “The Blue Center is quickly becoming a cornerstone of our efforts to prepare students and produce scholarship on the pressing challenges of global affairs.”
Phil Kaplan ’12, J.D.’20, the Center’s executive director, described the first year as laying a foundation for growth. “We want to provide the resources for students and faculty to test their thinking against practitioners who have shaped policy in the real world,” he said. “I’m excited to see Yale students use these opportunities to push their work in new directions.”
Looking ahead, Kaplan highlighted the Center’s new partnership with the Munich Security Conference, which will bring joint events and collaborations in the 2025–26 academic year. “MSC is a unique forum,” he said. “Policymaking occurs in real time at the conference, making it an ideal partner for projecting the work of Yale Jackson scholars into the world.”
For a summary of the Blue Center’s activities in 2024–25, see page 16.
Jake Sullivan speaks with Phil Kaplan at a celebration of the Blue Center’s launch on April 23, 2025. Sullivan, who served as U.S. National Security Advisor from 2021 to 2025, reflected on four years leading the National Security Council, and discussed the war in Ukraine, conflict in the Middle East, tensions with China, and America’s role in the world.
Baroness Theresa May, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and Nancy Pelosi, Speaker Emerita of the United States House of Representatives, meeting with a group
Career Development Office
Equipping Students and Alumni for an Evolving Job Market
Jobs After Jackson 2025
Private Sector (26% 2020–24)
Public Sector/IGO (42% 2020–24)
Nonprofit/NGO (20% 2020–24)
Further Study (5% 2020–24)
Multilateral Organizations (7% 2020–24)
Career Destinations 2025
North America (72% 2020–24)
Asia/Pacific (10% 2020–24)
Central/South America (4% 2020–24)
Europe (11% 2020–24)
Middle East and Africa (3% 2020–24)
Yale Jackson’s Career Development Office (CDO) supports students in their pursuit of careers in global affairs, offering advising, events, and networking opportunities. In 2024–25, the CDO hosted over 140 programs, including annual fall trips to Washington, D.C., and New York City. Prominent organizations that participated in sessions included the Defense Innovation Unit, GeoQuant, More in Common, Palantir, and the World Food Programme.
The 2024–25 academic year presented unique challenges for students and alumni, as shifting policy priorities within the U.S impacted the availability of certain career paths. Some popular opportunities were no longer available in 2025. However, the transferable skills acquired by Jackson students proved invaluable in navigating the job and internship market under these new conditions.
In response to government hiring freezes and budget cuts affecting international development organizations, many students successfully pivoted their career focus toward roles in the private sector, international organizations, as well as state and local governments. The CDO further enhanced its support for alumni, meeting the increased demand for career assistance.
Spring programming was notably expanded to include strategic conversations with Senior Fellows and alumni, focusing on the evolving career landscape, providing vital insights, and aiding in career strategizing.
Graduates in Action: Impact Across the Globe
The May 2025 master’s program graduates are already making an impact in diverse and impressive roles in global locations including Baltimore, Boston, London, Kigali, New Delhi, New York City, Santiago, Sejong City, Taipei, and Washington, D.C. Alumni have secured high-level positions in government, finance, consulting, international development, and the military, with titles such as policy analyst, country economist, senior deputy director, and economist.
The variety of roles, from strategic and developmental finance to entrepreneurial and public service, underscores how the personalized and interdisciplinary nature of the Jackson experience prepares graduates to have impactful careers worldwide.
Expanding Horizons, Gaining Clarity
In summer 2025, Yale Jackson students pursued internships and research projects around the world, from San Francisco and Washington, D.C. to London, Santo Domingo, and Kigali. Supported by Jackson summer funding, they contributed to organizations tackling global challenges in development, climate, technology, and governance—gaining practical experience and clarity about their future careers in global affairs.
Some of what Jackson students experienced, Summer 2025
Sofia Ginard Ramirez conducted a 12-week internship with the United Nations Development Programme’s Nature, Climate, Energy & Disaster Risk Reduction Team in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, thanks to the mentorship of Jackson Senior Fellow Jessica Faieta.
Walid Herzallah completed a 10-week internship with the Global Health & Wellbeing team at San Franciscobased Open Philanthropy, a philanthropic funder that has directed over $4 billion in grants since 2011, where he evaluated two interventions—one in maternal health and another in information and communication technology.
George Ngoh spent his summer with the Special Competitive Studies Project in Washington, D.C., where he used his skills in research, analysis, and writing to draft publications on national security and technology.
Anjalie Thomas was one of four Jackson graduate student interns for the Tony Blair Institute over the summer. She worked in their London, England, office in their Politics and Policies function, where she advanced her career experience in policy development in emerging climate-tech.
“I’m still far from an economist, but I discovered that I loved working in the field—which wouldn’t have been possible without Jackson and Yale.”
Austin Bodetti on his internship with Inclusion Economics Nepal in Kathmandu
My research experience this summer has been a powerful reminder that the policymaking process requires conversation, collaboration, and consideration. I return to New Haven with enthusiasm to put this research to use and embark on my thesis this fall.”
Alexandra Helfgott on her self-directed research project focusing on the Mexican auto industry
Summer Experiences
Building Skills, Making Impact
In summer 2025, Jackson students traveled worldwide to pursue internships and research, supported by school funding that enabled them to take on meaningful opportunities regardless of compensation.
summer
Nonprofit (38% 2021–24)
Multinational (18% 2021–24)
Public Sector (26% 2021–24)
Private Sector (18% 2021–24)
North America (45% 2020–24)
Europe (16% 2020–24)
Asia (14% 2020–24)
Africa (12% 2020–24)
Latin America (8% 2020–24)
Middle East (1% 2020–24)
Remote (4% 2020–24)
Student Fellowships and Prizes
GRADUATE STUDENT FELLOWSHIPS AND PRIZES
The Miguel Ferreyros Memorial Award is awarded to the joint-degree student in Global Affairs with the highest academic achievement.
2025 Recipient
Nicole Wong M.P.P./M.B.A. ’25
Kar Mun Nicole Wong focused her graduate school studies on data science and regenerative economies through technology policy. At Jackson, she combined rigorous analytics with community engagement to pursue participatory policymaking. Before Yale, she advanced social inclusion projects worldwide: with REAP on children’s health and education in rural China; at Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute and the Asia Foundation in Jakarta on protections for marginalized populations; and at Singapore’s Tsao Foundation on aging and community bonds. She also led arts engagement initiatives at Checkpoint Theatre, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Singapore’s Ministry of Culture. Nicole earned her B.A. with distinction from Stanford in international relations and art history.
The Award for Academic Excellence in Global Affairs is given to the master’s student in Global Affairs with the highest academic achievement.
2025 Recipient
Mary Trichka M.P.P ’25
Mary Trichka focused her graduate work on foreign and development policy and conflict resolution in former Soviet states. In the summer of 2024, she interned with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of International Affairs, tracking macroeconomic trends in Latin America and the Caribbean to inform U.S. policy. Before Yale, she was a senior associate at Albright Stonebridge Group, advising clients on geopolitical and economic issues in Europe and Eurasia, including the war in Ukraine and Western sanctions. She also studied abroad in Moscow and served as a Fulbright English teaching assistant in Kutaisi, Georgia. Mary graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude from Middlebury College in political science and Russian.
Graduate students at Yale Jackson School are supported by generous donors who have established funds dedicated to financial aid.
Abel Halpern and Helen Chung-Halpern Endowed Fund
Amanda and Justin Chang ’89 Jackson Graduate Fellow Fund
Anonymous Yale Jackson School Fellowship Fund
Beshar Family Fellowship for Public Service Fund
Blue Center Student Fellowships Fund
Daniel P. and Ruth S. Tomasko Fellowship
David and Karen Sobotka Fellowship Fund
Diana Luv Chen Fellowship Fund
Donald Legarde and Marion McNulty Jackson Memorial Graduate Fellowship Fund
Edward Huang ’97 Fellowship Fund
Elihu Yale Support Fund
Enlight Foundation Yale Emerging Climate Leaders Fellowship Fund
Evren Bilimer ’00 Global Fellowship Fund
Frances M. Rosenbluth Jackson School Fellowship Fund
Friends of Ellis-Lorimer Global Affairs Fellowship Fund
Gager Family Fellowships
Hahn Fellowship Fund
Horgen Family Fund
Hugo de Neufville Graduate Fellowship Fund
Jeffrey Talpins Global Affairs Graduate Fellowship Fund
Joan B. Brady Fellowship Fund
John H. and Terry M. Rixse Global Affairs Fellowship Fund
Judge Jean Fox Fellowship Fund
Lisa Chen Jackson School Fellowship Fund
M Albin ’66 and Nancy T. Jubitz Scholarship Fund
Malcolm and Marion Cromarty Fellowship Fund
Margaret Claire Ryan Fellowship Fund
Michael Scott ’84 Scholarship Fund
Nelson Cunningham ’80 Fellowship Fund
Nevo-Hacohen Fellowship
Okvuran ’94 Fellowship Fund
Peel Fellowship Fund
Peter T. Scardino ’67 Fellowship Fund
Petraeus Recanati Kaplan Fellows Program
Pierre Keller Fellowship
President George H. W. Bush Fellowship Fund
Raina Family Fellowship Fund
Robert “Biff” McKellip, Jr. ’67 Memorial Scholarship
Shavel Family Endowment for the Jackson School
Shushek Harutunian Global Affairs Fellowship Fund
Simon H. Stertzer Fellowship Fund
Starlight Fellowship Fund
Strain Family Jackson School Fellowship Fund
Sunrise Foundation Lecture and Fellowship Fund
Ullmo Family Fellowship Fund
Wisdom Fellowship Fund
Yale Class of 1963 Jackson School Fellowship Fund
Global Affairs Undergraduates
UNDERGRADUATE PRIZES
The Douglas A. Beck Prize is given to undergraduates who have demonstrated a deep interest in and commitment to global affairs, with a preference for students interested in a career supporting national security.
Spring 2025 recipient
Ethan Chiu
A global affairs and history double major recently admitted into Jackson’s five-year B.A.-B.S./M.P.P. program, Ethan Chiu focuses on foreign policy and emerging technologies with a thesis on labor conditions in the semiconductor industry. In the summer of 2025, through the Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy, he traveled to the Netherlands, Philippines, and South Korea to research migrant labor and unions. Chiu has also engaged in AI and technology policy through Jackson’s Schmidt Program, received a Les Aspin ’60 Fellowship to work with legislators in Washington, D.C., and held internships with the Council on Foreign Relations, the Brookings Institution, and the U.S. Department of Defense. Faculty praise him as “the best national security student of his year” and “deeply curious.”
Two Jackson School affiliates awarded 2025
Rhodes Scholarships
Yale College seniors Angelin Mathew and Chriss
Tuyishime, graduates of Yale Jackson’s Global Health Studies program, received 2025 Rhodes scholarships, one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious academic awards for graduate study. The scholarships provide comprehensive funding for two to three years of study at the University of Oxford.
UNDERGRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS
Les Aspin ’60 International Public Service Fellowships support Yale College undergraduates in summer internships related to the study of national security and international affairs, in the public or nonprofit private sector.
Leitner International Research and Internship Fellowships support undergraduate students undertaking a project abroad contributing to an understanding of international affairs.
UNDERGRADUATE CAPSTONE PROJECTS
The Global Affairs major at Yale, administered by the Jackson School, is a selective program that admits students in their sophomore year. In 2024, the school enrolled 91 Global Affairs undergraduates. During their senior year, all majors take part in capstone projects, working in teams of 8 to 10 to complete a public policy project for a real-world client under the supervision of a faculty member.
2024–2025 Capstone projeCts
Smart Scaling of Pathogen Surveillance Systems for Pandemic Preparedness, overseen by Shan Soe-Lin
Fashion and the Future: Challenges at the Intersection of Climate, Conscience, and Commerce, overseen by Mary Davis
Urban Policy and Peace Promotion: Local Government in Israel and the Policies of ‘Shared Living’” Communities, overseen by Lauren Young
Countering PRC Autonomous Power through the Economic Lever of U.S. Power, overseen by John Weigold
Bridging Continents: Advancing Global Accountability for Russia’s War on Ukraine through Malta’s Strategic Intersection, overseen by Fauziya Ali
Environmental Governance for Peace, overseen by Naysan Adlparvar
Reversing Democracy’s Global Decline, overseen by Scott Worden
Aliens at Home: Colombia’s Hidden Migrants and Those Who Will Follow, overseen by David Robinson
AI, Emerging Tech and the Middle East, overseen by Roland McKay
Developing a Security Plan for Haiti, overseen by Emma Sky
Capstone students traveled to Malta with Professor Fauziya Ali in fall 2024.
Jackson Faculty
Professors of Global Affairs, 2024–2025 Academic Year
Professors of Global Affairs are eminent ladder faculty jointly appointed with Jackson and other departments and schools at Yale. These professors are our core faculty who teach in our programs and drive Jackson’s central mission.
Kate Baldwin
Associate Professor of Political Science and Global Affairs
Lauren Bergquist
Assistant Professor of Economics and Global Affairs
Lorenzo Caliendo Won Park Hahn Professor of Global Affairs and Management
David C. Engerman Leitner International Interdisciplinary Professor of History and Global Affairs
Mayara Felix
Assistant Professor of Economics and Global Affairs
Jennifer Gandhi
Howard Wang ’95 Professor of Global Affairs and Political Science; Deputy Dean, Jackson School
Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg, Elihu Professor of Economics, Professor of Global Affairs and Management
Paul Kennedy J. Richardson Dilworth Professor of History and Global Affairs
Amit Khandelwal Dong-Soo Hahn Professor of Global Affairs and Economics
James Levinsohn
Charles W. Goodyear Professor of Global Affairs; Dean, Jackson School
Christopher Neilson Professor of Economics and Global Affairs
Catherine Panter-Brick
Bruce A. and Davi-Ellen Chabner Professor of Anthropology, Health, and Global Affairs
Laura Robson
Elihu Professor of Global Affairs and History
Kenneth Scheve Dean Acheson Professor of Political Science and Global Affairs
Ian Shapiro
Sterling Professor of Political Science and Global Affairs
Timothy Snyder
Richard Levin Professor of History and Global Affairs
Aleh Tsyvinski
Arthur M. Okun Professor of Economics and Global Affairs
Arne Westad Elihu Professor of History and Global Affairs
Alden Young
Associate Professor of History and Global Affairs
Faculty Highlights
Three New Faculty Members Join Jackson
The Jackson School welcomed three new faculty members in 2024–25, further strengthening its expertise across global affairs. Laura Robson, Elihu Professor of Global Affairs and History, brings a focus on displacement, migration, and conflict in the modern Middle East. Alden Young, Associate Professor of History and Global Affairs, studies economic development and statebuilding in Africa and the Middle East. Mayara Felix, who completed a postdoctoral fellowship in economics at Yale, joins as Assistant Professor of Economics and Global Affairs with research spanning labor markets, political economy, and development.
Jennifer Gandhi: New Deputy Dean and Honored Scholar
Appointed deputy dean of the Jackson School in fall 2024, Jennifer Gandhi is focused on strengthening curriculum, admissions, and faculty recruitment. An expert on authoritarian regimes and democratic transitions, she joined Yale in 2022 from Emory University and continues to teach courses on comparative politics and dictatorship while working closely with students, faculty, and staff to shape Jackson’s growth. In a busy 2024–25 academic year, Gandhi was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences— recognition that Academy president Laurie L. Patton described as a “stellar testament to the power of knowledge to broaden our horizons and deepen our understanding”—and was also named the Howard Wang ’95 Professor of Global Affairs and Political Science.
Jackson Faculty Advance New Understanding of Tariffs
At a time when tariff policy is reshaping global trade and political debate, Jackson faculty are leading new research that clarifies both the promises and costs of protectionism.
In a 2025 National Bureau of Economic Research working paper, Lorenzo Caliendo, Won Park Hahn Professor of Global Affairs and Management, with Samuel Kortum and Fernando Parro, introduced a dynamic multi-country trade model to measure the impact of tariff shocks. They found that, as Caliendo explained, “While U.S. tariffs can reduce the U.S. trade deficit, they can come at the cost of reduced real consumption for U.S. consumers due to higher prices.”
Amit Khandelwal, Dong-Soo Hahn Professor of Global Affairs and Economics, has taken a complementary approach, studying the effects of U.S.-China trade frictions and policies such as the “de minimis” exemption. His research shows that while some domestic producers gain, low-income Americans— who depend more heavily on imported goods—bear the greatest costs. He has also demonstrated how lowerincome countries benefited from the U.S.-China trade war by filling gaps in global supply chains. Khandelwal has helped raise public understanding of these issues through commentary in NPR, Time, and The New York Times.
Together, this work confirms Jackson’s role as a hub for advancing the understanding of tariffs and their far-reaching effects on consumers, businesses, and the global economy.
Insights on Micro-level Drivers of Development
Lauren Falcao Bergquist received a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support her research on agricultural supply chains in Uganda and other lower-income countries. She also co-authored an October 2024 Journal of Development Economics study showing that pairing microcredit with access to simple savings tools in Kenya boosted farm investment and household consumption, highlighting the gains from reducing multiple financial frictions together.
Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg co-authored a November 2024 Econometrica study showing that reducing barriers to female entrepreneurship in India would raise women’s labor force participation, expand female-owned firms, and generate broad economic gains.
Christopher Neilson co-authored a 2024 Economics of Education Review study showing that providing parents in Haiti with school-level test score information improved student outcomes and shifted market dynamics, with higherperforming private schools gaining both students and raising fees.
Catherine Panter-Brick co-authored a 2025 Scientific Reports study showing how exposure to war-related violence can leave biological marks across generations. Working with Syrian refugee families, the researchers identified consistent DNA methylation changes linked to trauma in mothers, children, and grandchildren — evidence that the effects of conflict may be transmitted biologically in ways that impact human development.
In 2024–25 Jackson faculty and fellows contributed important new books that shape debates in global affairs. David Engerman’s Apostles of Development: Promoting the Good News of Prosperity explores the rise of development expertise in the twentieth century. Laura Robson, with Joseph Maiolo, coauthored The League of Nations: From 1920 to 1946, a sweeping history of the world’s first intergovernmental organization. Arne Westad’s The Great Transformation: The World in the Time of America offers a masterful account of how the mid-twentieth century reshaped global politics.
Senior Fellow Elliot Ackerman’s Sheepdogs: An American Story of Men, Dogs, and Trust examines moral complexity in the lives of soldiers and first responders. And Michael Brenes, co-director of the Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy, published The Rivalry Peril: How Great-Power Competition Threatens Peace and Weakens Democracy (with Van Jackson), which challenges Cold War thinking in U.S.-China relations.
The Growing Jackson Bookshelf
Jackson Senior Fellows
Global Voices, Real-World Experience
Senior Fellows at the Jackson School embody the intersection of ideas and action. The 26 Senior Fellows in 2024–25 came from fields ranging from national security and diplomacy to technology, media, and humanitarian leadership. They mentored students, led seminars, and deepened conversations on the world’s most pressing challenges.
New Senior Fellows
Sasha Brown, Head of Ethics Foresight at Google DeepMind
Chris Christie, 55th Governor of New Jersey 2010–18
Iván Duque Márquez, President of Colombia 2018–22
Chris George, Executive Director of Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services (IRIS) 2005–23
Dereck J. Hogan, Executive Secretary of U.S. Department of State; U.S. Ambassador to Moldova 2018–21
Elizabeth Knup, Regional Director for China at the Ford Foundation 2013–23
Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 2016–19
Emily Oehlsen, President of Open Philanthropy
Ziad Reslan, writer, attorney and member of the product policy staff at OpenAI
Jim Sciutto, CNN Chief National Security Analyst and anchor of CNN Newsroom with Jim Sciutto
Shoshana Stewart
Sasha Brown and Emily Oehlsen (far right)
Chris Christie Bisa Williams
Returning Senior Fellows
Elliot Ackerman, best-selling author and former U.S. Marine
Susan Biniaz, former Principal Deputy Special Envoy for Climate, U.S. Department of State
Jessica Faieta, former Representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Colombia
Beth Goldberg, Head of Research and Development at Jigsaw, a Google unit that explores threats to open societies
David Leonhardt, Editorial Director of New York Times Opinion
Andrew Makridis, Chief Operating Officer of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) 2018–22
Robert Malley, President/CEO of the International Crisis Group, 2018–21; National Security Council member 2014–17
David Petraeus, the Commander of U.S. Central Command 2008–10
Hanscom Smith, former acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State responsible for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia
Jessica Seddon, co-founder of The Institutional Architecture Lab (TIAL) and Senior Fellow at Artha Global
Paul Simons, U.S. Ambassador to Chile 2007–10; Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the International Energy Agency 2015–20
Shoshana Stewart, President/CEO of Turquoise Mountain
Harry Thomas, U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh 2003–05, Philippines 2010–13, and Zimbabwe 2016–18
Leslie Tsou, U.S. Ambassador to Oman 2020–23
Bisa Williams, U.S. Ambassador to Niger 2010–13
Ernesto Zedillo, President of Mexico 1994–2000
Jackson Events
visited
Jackson on September 30, marking 25 years since his country’s liberation and reflecting on its progress as a fledgling democracy with a growing economy and aspirations to join the European Union and NATO. Hosted by the Blue Center for Global Strategic Assessment, the event highlighted Kosovo as a case study in statecraft and the challenges facing new nations. Kurti traced his path from student activist and political prisoner to head of government, and outlined reforms in education, wages, and social programs, while acknowledging the country’s ongoing geopolitical challenges with Serbia and Russia. “There is a strong need for democracies, both existing and emerging, to stand firmly together,” he said.
Ambassador Bankole Adeoye, Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, joined all 15 members of the African Union Peace and Security Council, along with senior AU officials and Yale faculty, fellows, and students at the Jackson School of Global Affairs on October 16 for a day-long conference on peace and security in Africa. Held in honor of the 20th anniversary of the AU PSC and on the eve of its biannual consultations with the UN Security Council, the event was co-organized by the Blue Center for Global Strategic Assessment, the Peacebuilding Initiative, and the African Union. Featured speakers included Adeoye, Ambassador Mohamed Omar Gad, Permanent Representative Fatima Kyari Mohammed, and Jackson Senior Fellow Bisa Williams, who organized the program. Discussions ranged from coups in the Sahel and ethnic conflict in Sudan to the role of women in peacebuilding and climate change as a security challenge, and concluded with a call for greater collaboration between Yale researchers and the AU Think Tank Network.
The International Leadership Center hosted 16 United Nations resident coordinators for a four-day seminar at Yale, where the diplomats—many serving in the Global South—joined faculty, Senior Fellows, and World Fellows to explore strategies for confronting the “triple planetary crisis” of climate change, air pollution, and biodiversity loss through emissions reduction, partnerships, and sustainable trade.
At the Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy, former U.S. Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland warned that democracy faces a “ring of fire” from autocratic powers, emphasizing the stakes of the war in Ukraine, the risks of appeasement, and the challenges of climate change and AI while expressing hope in the next generation’s commitment to moral governance.
Engel, a New Haven food justice advocate and Yale lecturer, spoke at the Jackson School’s Social Innovation Initiative on November 19 about regenerative agriculture, emphasizing the need to farm in harmony with nature while centering justice, community, and wellness in the global food system.
Tagan
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti
Yale
February 20, 2025 April 2, 2025
Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch, spoke at the Jackson School of Global Affairs on February 20 about his new book, Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Abusive Governments. Reflecting on a career that spanned more than 100 countries, he stressed the importance of collective action, patience, and persistence in advancing human rights, while also underscoring the power of appealing to public morality. Roth shared lessons from campaigns to ban landmines, efforts to establish the International Criminal Court, and diplomacy in Syria, before joining a conversation with Jonathan Fanton, president emeritus of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Jackson School Board of Advisors.
Former UK prime minister and Blue Center Senior Fellow Theresa May delivered a keynote at Yale on April 2, hosted by the Blue Center for Global Strategic Assessment, where she spoke about the pillars of democracy—rule of law, transparency, and open debate—and the need to protect these values amid rising polarization, misinformation, and geopolitical challenges. Reflecting on her career and the inspiration she drew from South Africa’s first democratic election, May urged students to believe in and defend democracy, while cautioning against an erosion of the ability to compromise and the spread of extremist views online. She was later joined in conversation by Rory Stewart, Professor in the Practice of Grand Strategy, who praised her commitment to a principled vision of liberal democracy.
February 10, 2025
and
Marnix Amand, Lorenzo Caliendo, Amit Khandelwal, and Dean Jim Levinsohn joined global leaders and scholars at the Transatlantic Bridge Conference 2025 cohosted by Yale Jackson in Segovia, Spain, to examine the challenges and opportunities of the evolving transatlantic relationship.
Emma Sky, director of the International Leadership Center, delivered the keynote at the Big Ideas Platform 2025 in Abuja on Africa Day, calling for a new generation of leaders to harness Africa’s talent, innovation, and potential to drive prosperity, peace, and well-being across the continent.
Gen. Jay Raymond, the first chief of operations for the U.S. Space Force, emphasized the strategic importance of space to national security at the Schmidt Program’s Outer Space Symposium, hosted by Jackson’s Ted Wittenstein, where discussions explored how advances in space technology
artificial intelligence are reshaping defense strategy and global security.
Centers, Programs and Initiatives at the Jackson School 2024–2025
The Blue Center for Global Strategic Assessment
The study of statecraft requires integrating theory and practice across multiple domains—defense, diplomacy, intelligence, and international economic relations. Launched in 2024, the Blue Center for Global Strategic Assessment advances this interdisciplinary study by supporting research, teaching, and programming at Yale Jackson, while serving as a hub for those interested in how nation states compete and cooperate. Read about the Center’s launch on page 3.
The Center’s signature Co-Lectures in the Theory and Practice of Statecraft form the backbone of its on-campus programming. Nearly every week, a Yale faculty member and a practitioner hold a joint conversation—both asking questions and both offering answers—so that research insights and policy experience can directly inform one another. In the 2024–25 academic year, participants included former government officials Mara Karlin, Julian Gewirtz, Josh Zoffer, and Naz El-Khatib, alongside professors John Gaddis, Paul Kennedy, Tim Snyder, David Engerman, and Oona Hathaway Topics ranged from states’ use of data and industrial policy to the war in Ukraine.
Yale Jackson historian Timothy Snyder and former White House National Security Council official David Shimer discussed Russian disinformation and the human cost of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at an April 3, 2025 event hosted by the Blue Center.
Faculty research initiatives received significant support, with grants awarded to Aleh Tsyvinski for an index tracking critical supply chain disruptions; Mayara Felix for a study of tariff-quota agreements; Alden Young for a book on inequality in the Red Sea region; Paul Kennedy for research on naval and maritime history; Sushant Singh for a monograph on India’s transnational assassination operations; and Amit Khandelwal for an extension of his work on U.S. tariff policy to include the 2025 tariffs.
Students also benefited from the Center’s resources, traveling to 21 countries during the 2024–25 academic year to pursue research for senior essays, doctoral dissertations, and other projects. Topics included ANZUS and the global nuclear regime, the German semiconductor industry, and the role of academics in U.S.-China “track two” diplomacy.
Going forward, the Blue Center will continue to bring to campus exceptional practitioners and leaders in the fields of security and statecraft. Baroness Theresa May, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, joined the Center in spring 2025 as an inaugural Senior Fellow to teach a course on the challenges facing modern democracies. The program will expand in the 2025–26 academic year.
Aleh Tsyvinski, Arthur M. Okun Professor of Economics and Global Affairs, unveiled a new tool to monitor global supply chain disruptions at a Blue Center event on April 23, 2025. Drawing on hundreds of millions of trade, customs, and financial records, the index uses machine learning to deliver near real-time insights into the flow of critical goods.
Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy
Focused on equipping students to think strategically about large-scale global challenges, the BradyJohnson Program in Grand Strategy offers a yearlong course for Yale undergraduates and graduate students that explores the long-term dynamics of statecraft, politics, and social change. The program trains students to think rigorously and historically about setting strategies for concrete and attainable goals, and to apply their learning to major problems in the contemporary world.
The 2024 class conducted summer research in countries across the globe on topics including greatpower competition between the United States and China, climate change in the Maldives, the role of strategic minerals in global politics, the future of migration and refugee crises, democratic backsliding in Europe, and a global grand strategy for LGBTQ rights. During the fall semester, students participated in modules led by practitioners who oversaw briefings on the future of U.S. foreign policy, climate change in the Global South, and U.S. immigration reform. Bonny Lin, Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Kica Matos, and Emma Sky served as practitioners during Fall 2024.
Several members of the 2024 cohort received prestigious scholarships to pursue graduate study, including a Rotary Global Grant Scholarship and a Parker Huang Fellowship. The 22 students selected for the 2025 cohort represent 11 different majors at Yale, including cognitive science, economics, philosophy, and urban studies, as well as the Schools of the Environment, Management, and Public Health.
The class was directed by Arne Westad, Elihu Professor of History; with Rory Stewart serving as Professor in the Practice of Grand Strategy and Michael Brenes as co-director and lecturer in history. In 2024, the program hosted several guest speakers, including former Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, New Yorker journalist Jonathan Blitzer, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner, and Economic Policy Institute President Heidi Shierholz. The program also supported five postdoctoral associates and two predoctoral fellows.
David Beasley, former executive director of the World Food Programme and Nobel Prize recipient, delivered the keynote at a conference April 1–2, 2025 on the future of global food systems, hosted by the Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy.
Deitz Family Initiative on Environment and Global Affairs
2024 was the warmest year on record, with both ocean and land temperatures hitting new highs. It was also the third most expensive year for insured losses and fifth for total losses. Respondents to the 2025 World Economic Forum Global Risk Report ranked extreme weather, shifts in critical Earth systems, natural resource shortages, and biodiversity loss among the most pressing risks.
Against this backdrop of wide-ranging environmental change, the Deitz Family Initiative on Environment and Global Affairs created opportunities for students to build professional skills to navigate— and shape—the interaction between environmental change and global affairs.
If 2024–25 had a theme at the Deitz Initiative, it was environmental data: how we know what we know about change. One core course, Earth System Science for Public Policy, incorporated more discussion of advances in monitoring, modeling, and analytics. The other, Emerging Environmental Governance, featured cases on two leading global knowledge assessments— the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Visiting lecturer Jed Sundwall, executive director of Radiant Earth, taught a new course on planetary-scale data infrastructure.
Former U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy Chief Data Scientist Denice Ross gave a lecture and career talk on building a resilient national data ecosystem.
With support from Yale Planetary Solutions, film director Rishi Chandna visited campus to screen two of his award-winning short films exploring relationships between humans and the water cycle. The screenings were part of Yale Climate Week, which coincided with Climate Week NYC and the United Nations General Assembly in September 2024.
In addition to courses and visiting speakers, Deitz Fellows Prajval Jhunjhunwala (MPP/MBA) and Oznur Ozturk (MPP) organized a new case clinic in which Leslie Maasdorp, CEO of British International Investment and a leading development finance practitioner, led a day-long workshop on blended finance for green transitions.
Yale also became the newest member of the My Climate Risk (MCR) network, with an initiative convened by Deitz director Jessica Seddon to study science—policy interaction at local and regional scales. A Lighthouse Project under the World Climate Research Programme, MCR promotes a “bottom-up” approach to climate risk that begins with the needs of decision-makers. Research and programming will launch in Fall 2025 with support from Bamboo Grove and Yale Planetary Solutions.
Denice W. Ross (center), former deputy U.S. chief technology officer and chief data scientist with Yale Jackson students at a talk about how to build a more resilient national data ecosystem, April 10, 2025.
Jessica Seddon, filmmaker Rishi Chandna, and Arunabha Ghosh at the Deitz-sponsored film screening at Yale Climate Week, New York City, September 26, 2024.
Global Health Studies Program
Addressing the world’s most urgent health challenges requires both intellectual training and practical engagement. At Yale, undergraduates in Global Health Studies build this foundation through interdisciplinary coursework, experiential learning, and close mentorship. Student demand continues to grow, with 99 students enrolled as Global Health Scholars, with a new cohort of 32 sophomores admitted during the 2024–25 Academic Year. Faculty from across the university—including Anthropology, Economics, Law, Nursing, and Medicine—bring their expertise to the program’s core courses, electives, and senior colloquium. These offerings challenge students to think critically, act responsibly, and connect scholarship with the realities of practice and policy. The program also funds research and internships that extend learning into the field. Twelve scholars undertook projects in 2025 on subjects ranging from Alzheimer’s caregiving in India and HIV-related health research in Peru to cancer biology in New York and climate policy at the World Bank in Washington, D.C.
Students engaged directly with health leadership through a policy study tour to Washington, D.C., where they met with experts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), congressional staff, and nonprofit organizations. The experience strengthened their understanding of policy processes while building networks for future careers. In the senior colloquium, scholars worked with faculty and outside partners to analyze pressing concerns in global health. Their findings were published as policy briefs and shared through video interviews, with 2025 topics including sustainable peace, climate advocacy, and mental health for displaced children.
The achievements of Global Health Scholars speak to the program’s impact. Two graduating students were awarded Rhodes Scholarships, among the most prestigious academic honors in the world, while two juniors received Yale’s John C. Schroeder Award for scholarship, leadership, and character. Alumni are quickly moving into roles across government,
nonprofits, and the private sector, carrying their global health perspective into diverse professional paths.
Under the leadership of Professor Catherine PanterBrick and Senior Lecturer Cara Fallon, the program continues to advance Yale’s role in cultivating the next generation of leaders equipped to confront global health priorities with rigor, creativity, and commitment.
(From top) Carla Becerra Sabrera, Global Health Scholar class of 2026, conducting research on social determinants of health among people living with HIV, in collaboration with the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Perú; Global Health Scholars in Washington, D.C., March 2025
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Babra Ontibile Bhebe
Zimbabwe
Anna Biryukova
russia
Roba El Husseini
Lebanon
Soraya Hosni
Tunisia / France
Leticia Jauregui Casanueva m exico
Laura-Kristine Krause
Germany
Leon McCarron
i re L and / u ni T ed Kin G dom
Gonzalo Moratorio
u ru G uay
Tarek Mouganie
Ghana
Nima Namdari
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Sokny Onn
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Priya Pillai
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Gabriel Silva panama
Charlotte Wang
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Fausto Belo Ximenes
Timor-Les T e
Xu Heqian
Taiwan
International Leadership Center
We are living in a time of health and climate emergencies, intractable conflicts, growing authoritarianism, and widening inequalities—and a crisis of leadership. The International Leadership Center (ILC) cultivates leaders dedicated to preventing conflict and building stronger societies.
As both an incubator and a platform, the ILC convenes people from diverse backgrounds, places, and perspectives to learn from one another, share experiences, and strategize on addressing global challenges. During the 2024–25 academic year, the Center managed the long-running World Fellows Program, welcomed the third cohort of Yale Climate Fellows, and launched the inaugural Yale Peace Fellows.
The ILC also runs bespoke leadership programs. In 2025, it hosted 16 United Nations Resident Coordinators—the most senior UN officials in-country—for a weeklong seminar at Yale on how to overcome bottlenecks to progress on the Sustainable Development Goals and climate action. Participants engaged with faculty and World Fellows on strategies for reducing greenhouse emissions, communicating effectively about environmental issues, and forging partnerships to advance systemic change.
The Center continued to expand its international presence. In Nigeria, the ILC led a workshop for graduates of the School of Politics, Policy & Governance, and Director Emma Sky delivered the keynote address at the school’s annual conference. In Senegal, the ILC hosted Africa in Motion: Shaping Global Futures, Catalyzing Strategic Partnerships, bringing together policymakers, creatives, and academics to explore Africa’s role in a fast-changing world.
Yale World Fellows
The 2024 cohort of World Fellows included leaders working on issues such as ethical approaches to mining for green energy, pathways to peaceful resolution of tensions over Taiwan, new models for political and electoral reform, and strategies for scaling social enterprises sustainably. During a semester in residence, they reflected on their journeys as changemakers, tested ideas with Yale faculty and students, and sharpened their leadership capacities. Through seminars, workshops, classroom visits, and public talks, they shared lessons
from their work and developed strategies to tackle twenty-first-century challenges with resilience and integrity.
Yale Climate Fellows
The third class of Yale Climate Fellows included 16 rising leaders drawn from government, industry, and civil society. Fellows represented new countries—Sudan, Colombia, Senegal, Cambodia, and Thailand— and diverse professional paths, from a Nigerian sustainable fashion entrepreneur to a Brazilian government energy advisor. Their program began with a week at Yale and in New York City, where they engaged with scholars and practitioners, followed by virtual sessions and a capstone week in Paris and Brussels. There they presented joint proposals, including a fund for African energy inclusion and a study on the hidden social dimensions of climate change.
Yale Peace Fellows
The Peace Fellowship, launched in 2024–25, brought a new focus on conflict prevention and peacebuilding. In fall 2024, the inaugural fellow, Laurent Saint-Cyr—now chair of Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council—worked with Yale undergraduates on a capstone project supporting Haiti’s transitional leadership in developing a national security plan.
In spring 2025, six new Yale Peace Fellows came to campus to pursue ambitious projects and build a global community of practice. Their work drew on experience in contexts including Sudan, Gaza, Ethiopia, and Mozambique, with projects ranging from designing bottom-up approaches to peace processes and exploring models for postwar reconstruction, to developing practical tools for mediators and examining regional dialogues to address ethnic grievances. Collectively, they advanced innovative thinking on how peacebuilding can move beyond elite bargains to include marginalized voices and create more durable outcomes.
yale c limate Fell OW s
Khalid Ahmed s udan
Omoyemi Akerele n i G eria
Hala Alobaidallah s audi a rabia
Daniel Arenas c o Lombia
Aminata Bocar Ba s ene G a L
Mariana Espécie b ra Z i L
Victor Ezenwoko n i G eria
Tanya Kak i ndia
Edith Kimani
Kenya
Somboon Lertsuwannaroj
Thai L and
Pheakkdey Nguon c ambodia
Kowtham Raj i ndia
Wini Rizkiningayu i ndonesia
Julia Vélez Duque c o Lombia
Yubo Zhai c hina
Shu Zhang c hina
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Jaser Hmaid Abu Mousa
pa L es T ine
Mengistu Assefa Dadi
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Kholood Khair s udan
Elhanan Miller i srae L
Eman Redwan
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Laurent Saint-Cyr h ai T i
Neha Sanghrajka
Kenya
Leitner Program on Effective Democratic Governance
Ian Shapiro, Sterling Professor of Political Science and Global Affairs and Director of the Leitner Program
Exploring how democracy shapes prosperity, the Leitner Program studies the features of political systems, laws, and social structures that foster or hinder longterm growth. In 2024–25, the program examined the political consequences of economic change in advanced democracies. At the 2025 American Political Science Association annual meeting in Vancouver, postdoctoral associate William Kwok presented a paper co-authored with Fernando Bizzarro and Professor Ian Shapiro, “It’s the Politics, Stupid! Sources of Contemporary Populism,” which argues that recent populist surges across the West and Japan stem less from institutions or economic shocks than from mainstream parties’ failure to address the economic disruptions that began in the 1980s.
In spring 2025, Shapiro and Kwok co-organized The Politics and Policies of Inclusive Growth conference at Yale, bringing together leading scholars from Europe and the U.S. Professor Jennifer Gandhi, Jackson’s deputy dean, served as a discussant. With support from a MacMillan Center grant awarded to Shapiro, Kwok, Gandhi, Isabela Mares, and Bizzarro, the team and undergraduate research assistants built a dataset on party systems, polarization, populism, and elections across 45 Western democracies and Japan—laying the foundation for future studies on how democratic systems respond to economic and political pressures from the 1970s to today.
Ong Initiative for the Study of Global Economic Prosperity
Human prosperity depends on the global economy’s capacity to sustain and uplift populations. Launched in summer 2025, the Ong Initiative for the Study of Global Economic Prosperity harnesses the Yale Jackson School’s interdisciplinary strengths to advance research and teaching on global economic development and well-being. Made possible through the generosity of Brian Ong ’06, the initiative reflects Jackson’s mission to bring multiple disciplines together to address the world’s most complex challenges.
Peacebuilding Initiative
Peace is often imagined as the absence of war, but Yale Jackson’s Peacebuilding Initiative approaches it as a state of human relations that must be cultivated, invested in, and built. This idea animates the program’s curricular, research, and events, linking scholars, practitioners, and policymakers in the shared pursuit of lasting peace.
The PBI contributes to the curriculum with graduate and undergraduate courses analyzing the biosocial, ethical, economic, media, and political dimensions of peacebuilding. Students examine the drivers of conflict and conditions for sustainable peace across regions from Africa to Latin America, gaining insight into human security, health and human rights, post-conflict justice, and social inclusion. Opportunities extend beyond the classroom: field practicums overseas allow students to test their learning and prepare for careers in humanitarian work, global health, and policy.
Faculty research under PBI expands the boundaries of peace studies. A global comparative study on everyday peace, for example, uses systems-mapping to analyze “mental maps” of ordinary peace and test assumptions about systemic change. Field sites have included Northern Ireland, Mauritania, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Alongside practitioner perspectives from the UN Development Programme, the Early Childhood Peace Consortium, and the University for Peace in Costa Rica. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Initiative reached a milestone this year with original research and high-profile public engagement that included national television appearances in June and July 2025.
Central to PBI’s mission are its public-facing events that help to position Yale as a hub for innovation in peacebuilding. The annual Colloquium gathers voices from across disciplines to share lessons and strengthen networks. The 2025 gathering, Dynamics of Peace, featured contributions on the local geography of peace, child soldiers, and communitylevel peacebuilding through health initiatives, the United Nations’ Elizabeth Spehar and Paul Seils of the European Institute of Peace delivered keynote lectures.
The PBI is led by Catherine Panter-Brick, Bruce A. and Davi-Ellen Chabner Professor of Anthropology, Health, and Global Affairs and Director of Yale’s Program on Conflict, Resilience and Health; David J. Simon, Assistant Dean for Graduate Education and Senior Lecturer in Global Affairs and Director of Yale’s Genocide Studies Program; Bonnie Weir, Senior Lecturer and founding co-director of Yale’s Program on Peace and Development; and Cara Fallon, Senior Lecturer in Global Health. Also contributing to events and research are Senior Fellows Ambassador (ret.) Bisa Williams, and former UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Jessica Faieta.
Focusing on intergenerational peacebuilding, the Peacebuilding Initiative’s April 8, 2025 colloquium at the Jackson School convened global experts from institutions including the UN, the European Institute of Peace, and The Carter Center.
David Simon discussed the role of youth in peacebuilding and reconciliation with N1 Television, a 24-hour cable news channel and CNN International’s local broadcast partner in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Summer 2025.
Schmidt Program on Artificial Intelligence, Emerging Technologies, and National Power
Technology is reshaping the practice of global politics, raising new and urgent questions of national and international security, governance, and diplomacy. The Schmidt Program has become Yale’s leading hub for scholarship and innovation at the intersection of technology and policy, having expanded significantly in scope and depth in its third year.
New curricular offerings reflect this momentum. Collaborations seeded in the program’s yearlong, signature course have grown into for-credit classes, including a spring 2025 course on the strategic significance of space to U.S. national security and a one-time course on responsible AI in industry, taught on site at Google DeepMind in London.
Engagement beyond the classroom is central to the program. Over the past year, multiple speaker series, government and industry visits, and major conferences gave hundreds of Yale students opportunities to connect with leaders in AI, the space domain, and security. In October 2024, Schmidt students traveled to Washington, D.C., for discussions on AI and policy, meeting with government and industry representatives and joining the Special Competitive Study Project’s AI + Energy Summit. In January 2025, the program sponsored its first student visit to the San Francisco Bay Area, where participants spent a week engaging with frontier AI companies and examining the implications of technological advances for global affairs.
The Schmidt Program also facilitates international dialogue. It hosted a faculty and student delegation from Renmin University of Beijing for one week at the close of the spring 2025 semester, after Schmidt Program students were hosted at Renmin the previous spring. A collaboration with the MacMillan Center and the Johnson Center for the Study of American Diplomacy, the Renmin visit marked the third iteration of the Yale-Renmin Student Dialogue on AI, Emerging Technology, and U.S.-China Relations
Schmidt students are increasingly engaged in key research and policy initiatives. Several designed an overview of the AI regulatory framework and recommendations for Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, and published papers in industry journals, including one co-authored with Schmidt-affiliated professor Brian Scassellati on findings from the inaugural semester of the Yale course AI for Future Presidents.
The Schmidt Program is directed by Ted Wittenstein. In addition to returning Senior Fellows Beth Goldberg, head of Research and Design at Jigsaw, and Andrew Makridis, former COO of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Program welcomed new Senior Fellows Sasha Brown, head of Ethics Foresight at Google DeepMind; Emily Oehlsen, president of Open Philanthropy; and Ziad Reslan, member of the Product Policy Staff at OpenAI.
Schmidt students visit Microsoft offices during a January 2025 trip to the Bay Area.
Schmidt students visit the Millstone Nuclear Power Station in Waterford, CT, November 2024
Social Innovation Initiative
Social innovation means finding novel solutions to complex problems that are more effective, sustainable, or just than existing approaches, disrupt the status quo, and create value at the societal level.
The Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs’ Social Innovation Initiative (SII) convenes students, practitioners, and scholars to explore and advance this work.
SII supported student learning and engagement throughout the year. The initiative funded MPP students’ participation in impact and innovation conferences nationwide, and in 2024–25 Jackson Social Innovation Fellows launched “Social Innovation Stories,” a new series that connects graduate students across Yale to exchange ideas and experiences.
Faculty director Teresa Chahine taught “Social Innovation Starter” in fall 2024, applying her ten-stage framework to guide students through researching challenges, engaging communities, and designing solutions. She also extended her reach globally by hosting community calls with students enrolled in her open online course Creating Change through Social Entrepreneurship on Coursera, newly
made available free on YouTube in partnership with Yale’s Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning.
The initiative created platforms for dialogue both locally and globally. In New Haven, SII hosted “Innovating Locally for Global Challenges,” a speaker series with entrepreneurs working on racial equity, refugee empowerment, and food justice. Students were invited to start locally, learning how these efforts connect to broader global issues.
Internationally, SII organized a webinar with Yale World Fellows who are harnessing technology to democratize and expand civic participation. Innovators from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East shared approaches to digital inclusion, online debate, and social entrepreneurship, engaging participants from Yale and beyond. The initiative also convened a webinar of Jackson alumni pursuing careers in social innovation, offering advice and guidance to current students preparing to graduate.
All SII events were open to the public, underscoring its core objective: to foster a creative, mutually supportive community where students, practitioners, and scholars can connect across disciplines and geographies to advance solutions to pressing global challenges.
Caterina Passoni of Havenly, a New Haven-based social enterprise that builds upon the community power of female refugees and immigrants, speaks to students on October 23, 2024.
