The New School Graduate Program in International Affairs

What are the realities of fieldwork-related careers? Interested in how to get international fieldwork experience? Then this is the event for you. Hear from professionals in the field: Zoe Daniels, Program Officer for the International Rescue Committee; Aitor F. Sanchez Lacomba, International Rescue Committee; Susan Romanski, Director of Disaster Risk Reduction, Mercy Corps; Stacey Flanagan, Deputy Director, Public Health Programs, Public Health Solutions: Bethany Cole, Senior Program Associate at EngenderHealth; and Mark Johnson, GPIA Faculty, formerly of International Rescue Committee, Center for International Rehabilitation, United Nations, and Human Rights Watch.

Panelist Bios:

Zoe Daniels is currently a Program Officer at the International Rescue Committee Headquarters here in New York. She has 9 years overseas program management experience, including line management and budgeting, in both emergency and developmental contexts. Zoe has worked as a Country Director for the Mercy Corps Uganda program and was the head of Nairobi Support Office and a Country Representative for Somalia. She also has experience with Concern Worldwide where she was a Program officer in Afghanistan and a Somalia Liaison Officer.

Aitor S. Lacomba is currently a Program Officer at the International Rescue Committee Headquarters here in New York. He has 7 years overseas program management experience, including line management and budgeting, in both emergency and developmental contexts. Aitor has worked as a Deputy Director for Programs and a Country Director for the International Rescue Committee Indonesia and Liberia programs, and was the Deputy Emergency Coordinator for IRC during the first three months following the December 26 earthquake and Tsunami wave in Aceh. He also has experience working in Macedonia and Kosovo as a Program Manager and Program Coordinator.

Susan Romanski is the Director of Disaster Risk Reduction at Mercy Corps. Susan has dedicated the last thirteen years of her life to the field of international humanitarian relief and development with extensive experience in emergency operations, capacity building, management, and training in emergency preparedness and response. Since joining Mercy Corps in 2002, Susan spearheaded Mercy Corps' response to the famine and HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe, helped roll-out humanitarian relief operations in Iraq, provided humanitarian assistance in Liberia, started operations in Sri Lanka after the tsunami, led efforts in Darfur, and was among the first international aid workers to arrive in Bam, Iran and Pakistan following the devastating earthquakes. Her programmatic work has included economic development, emergency water and sanitation, emergency food distribution, food security, community health, HIV/AIDS and psychosocial programming. Most recently she has been providing technical assistance to Mercy Corps' activities in disaster risk reduction. She has served as a co-chair of InterAction's disaster risk reduction working group in Washington DC, and is currently InterAction's representative on the steering committee of the Global Network of NGOs for disaster risk reduction.

Bethany Cole is a women's health specialist who has also worked as a humanitarian aid worker in Rwanda and in South Darfur, Sudan most recently with the International Rescue Committee. Based in New York, she is currently working as a Senior Program Associate with the international NGO EngenderHealth to build provider and facility capacity in reproductive health services in West and Central Africa. She holds a Master of Public Health from the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.

Stacey Flanagan is the Deputy Director of Public Health Programs at Public Health Solutions, one of NYC's largest nonprofit agencies. In addition, she teaches at The New School's Graduate Program for International Affairs. Stacey has 15 years experience in nonprofit training and technical assistance starting with her Peace Corps experience. Stacey's expertise ranges from anti-hunger and public health to the environment and urban policy. Stacey has worked at several international agencies such as US Peace Corps, Big Brothers Big Sisters, The Drucker Foundation, and Share Our Strength where she led staff in strategic planning, program design, and implementation. Stacey received her Bachelor's in Political Science from Michigan State University, and her Master's in Nonprofit Management from Milano the New School for Urban Policy and Management where she is currently working on her PhD.

Mark Johnson earned his M.I.A. from Columbia University and is an Assistant Professor of International Affairs at The New School. He teaches the skills courses Program Development and Project Management, Program Management in International Humanitarian Crises and supervises the Practicum in International Affairs program. He is also faculty coordinator of the International Field Program, which sends GPIA students overseas for the summer. Mark has worked for the International Rescue Committee, Center for International Rehabilitation, United Nations, and Human Rights Watch.