Middlebury Institute graduates discuss where they are working today, how the Institute helped them get there, and what advice they’d give to current and future MIIS students.
My name is Loren Hall. I’m a graduate of the International Trade and Economic Diplomacy (ITED) degree. I am employed as a trade and logistics officer with the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation, which is composed of three organizations: the International Chamber of Commerce, the World Economic Forum, and—the organization where I sit here in Washington, D.C.—the Center for International Private Enterprise.
The three-semester International Trade and Economic Diplomacy curriculum—two semesters in Monterey, California, and a final semester in Washington, D.C.—allowed Loren Hall to smoothly transition into his current position at D.C.’s Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), where he designs and implements trade facilitation in emerging economies.
My name is Loren Hall, I’m a graduate of the International Trade and Economic Diplomacy degree. Currently employed as a trade and logistics officer with the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation. Which is comprised of three organizations, the International Chamber of Commerce, the World Economic Forum and the third organization which is where I sit here in Washington D.C., is the Center for International Private Enterprise.
The role of the Center for International Private Enterprise within that framework is to design and implement the trade facilitation projects that the alliance does in developing and emerging economies.
[Speaking in Portuguese:] “Do you think we’ll be speaking with SECEX [Brazil’s Secretariat of Foreign Trade] tomorrow?”
In this role I get to actually travel to these developing and emerging economies.
I get to listen to all the different stakeholders in the country. I get to listen to their problems, their issues with trade and I get to work with them to figure out a solution and I’m there from start to end. It really is a great space for me to work that touches on the international development world and it really utilizes trade as a lever for that development.
The job that I’m in now is absolutely what I wanted when I went to MIIS, and what I had in mind when I wanted to go and get that education. The ITED program itself is really unique, they actually offer the first two semesters in Monterey, California, and then you transition to D.C. for the final semester.
And for my role, the professional world is Washington, D.C. So that transition in the final semester was extremely beneficial. The confluence of trade and development has been a passion of mine for quite some time. But I really wanted to take that to the next level and the MIIS education was what allowed me to do that.
The Center for International Private Enterprise designs and implements the trade facilitation projects that the alliance undertakes in developing and emerging economies. In my role, I get to actually travel to these countries and listen to all the different stakeholders. I listen to their problems and their issues with trade, and I work with them to figure out a solution—I’m there from start to end. It is a great space that really utilizes trade as a lever for international development. The job that I’m in now is absolutely what I wanted when I went to the Middlebury Institute, and what I had in mind when I wanted to go and get my graduate education.
The ITED program itself is unique: they offer the first two semesters in Monterey, California, and then you transition to D.C. for the final semester. And for my trade work, the professional world is Washington, D.C., so the transition in the final semester was extremely beneficial. The confluence of trade and development has been a passion of mine for quite some time. But I really wanted to take that to the next level, and the MIIS education was what allowed me to do that.
| by Scott Webb
Want to work in international development? Scott Webb, career and academic advisor for our MA in International Policy and Development, MPA, and MA in International Trade and Economic Diplomacy, discusses how to launch your career.
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| by Eva Gudbergsdottir
The global pandemic has led to greater gender wage disparity, but Middlebury Institute alumna Zara Nanu MPA ’06, founder and CEO of GapSquare, says with the right response the long-term impact could be positive.
Best advice for a MIIS student today? Don’t be passive. Work with professors to design your own immersive learning projects, apply for funding, and get published. If you’re up for it, it’s a great way to do some hands-on learning that is a little more real world than perhaps a structured program.
