Careers in International Security

Michelle Alford

First Job After Graduation: Intelligence Analyst, Global Intelligence Center, eBay (San Jose, California)

Internship: Center for Global Security Research Intern, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (Livermore, California)

Specialization: Financial Crime Management

Institute Advantage: The Institute’s courses—such as Introduction to Terrorism, Apocalyptic Millenarianism, Weapons of Mass Destruction Nonproliferation Policy, and Science and Technology—helped secure my internship with the Center for Global Security Research. My connection to the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management Student Chapter gave me the chance to visit the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for the initial networking opportunity.

Valentina Bianco Hormaechea

Current Employment: Associate External Relations and Reporting Officer, UNHCR (Peru)

Internship: Research and Liaison Unit Intern, United Nations Operations and Crisis Centre (UNOCC)

Institute Advantage: I truly believe that the skills I acquired at MIIS, plus my internship and field experience, contributed to my landing my current job at UNHCR.

Story: How I Got Hired

Lila Green

First Jobs After Graduation: Export Compliance Analyst, Autodesk (San Rafael, California); Consultant, Institute for Inner Economy (Marina, California)

Professional Associations: President, U.S. West Coast Chapter of Women in International Security

Institute Advantage: I was able to build meaningful relationships with professors and colleagues alike, including working as a graduate assistant for my favorite professor. I started my own student organization—the Middlebury Institute chapter of Women in International Security (WIIS)—which led to my work with the Institute for Inner Economy, where I consult on nonproliferation-related issues and security sector vernacular. It also led to me being appointed as the President of WIIS West after I graduated.

Mark Leon-Guerrero

Current Employment: Platform Policy Enforcement Investigator in Developer Operations, Facebook (Sunnyvale, California.)

First Job After Graduation: KYC Compliance Investigator, Mercari (Palo Alto, California)

Institute Advantage: Language studies helped me tremendously, as I ended up working for a Japanese company initially. The Center for Advising and Career Services team, especially Elizabeth Bone and Bryce Craft, helped me with salary negotiation, searching through the alumni database for potential contacts, and so on. The Financial Crime Management specialization also helped me hit the ground running in my new field.

Story: How I Got Hired

Kyle Pilutti

Current Employment: Safeguards Analyst, National Nuclear Security Administration (Washington, D.C.)

First Job After Graduation: Research Assistant, Ploughshares Fund (Washington, D.C.)

Internship: Global Security Intern, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (Livermore, California)

Institute Advantage: The Middlebury Institute network has been very helpful in navigating the nuclear policy space—almost every sector has Institute graduates.

Story: Four Institute Graduates Awarded Fellowships with Nuclear Agency

David T. Zacks

Current Employment: Head of Compliance, Auka, a Norwegian VC-backed technology company that enables retail banks to issue mobile payment products (Oslo, Norway)

First Job After Graduation: Liaison to Mexico, U.S. Department of Treasury, FinCEN (Washington, D.C.)

Institute Advantage: I stayed in contact with Professor Moyara Ruehsen, who introduced me to the field—I have since hired several Institute students as interns and alumni for full-time positions. Good second-language skills are a great asset, and one thing that you can say about Institute graduates is that they can always be trusted to stand on their own feet as professionals from the first day.

Expertise: Payments and compliance

Story: GSIPM Young Alumni Achievement Winner 2018