Alumni Mentor Students as They Prepare to Launch Their Careers
The most daunting hurdle many graduate students face is navigating their transition into their chosen field.
That’s where the Middlebury Institute’s alumni network can help.
Institute students doing a practicum are matched with alumni mentors in their field to help them explore potential career pathways. Landry Dohou Bi MPA/MAIPD ’24 and his practicum partner, Jonathan Phan MAIPD/MPA ’24, were mentored by Shannon Casey MPA/MAITED ’21.
“My experience with Shannon was great—she provided me with valuable insights into nonprofit sustainability, partnership, and collaboration,” says Dohou Bi.
While still enrolled at the Institute, Casey founded Luminary Studio, a web design and development studio that specializes in working with idea-stage and growth-stage entrepreneurs. Dohou Bi and Phan want to create a nonprofit with the goal of supporting low-income ethnic minority students in their postsecondary education journey.
My experience with Shannon was great—she provided me with valuable insights into nonprofit sustainability, partnership, and collaboration.
“We discussed her experience as a nonprofit founder and the challenges of financial sustainability in this sector,” said Dohou Bi. “She emphasized the importance of being financially sustainable without being overly reliant on donors and fundraising. She also had insightful recommendations on the importance of transparency in communications and setting expectations with partner entities.”
“I let Landry lead the conversation, which allowed me to offer more targeted advice,” said Casey, who appreciated that he came in with a great set of questions. “What really stood out was his calm and confident demeanor, as well as his openness.”
The Middlebury Institute has 22,000 alumni worldwide working in a wide range of roles in development, global security, sustainability, language services, education, and more.
“I’ve had several mentors who were pivotal in shaping my path, and I hope to play a similar role for others,” said Casey. “Landry’s aspiration to help others through his nonprofit made mentoring him even more meaningful—I’m glad to be a part of that journey.”
Each student met with their alumni mentor near the end of their practicum project, providing them with support as they completed their project, as well as advice about navigating the transition from graduate school into their future careers. These connections also help students build the professional networks that can be invaluable as they launch their careers.
Currently, students in the Environmental Policy and Management, International Policy and Development, International Trade, MPA in Social Change, and Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies programs are all eligible to be matched with alumni mentors through the program managed by Director of Experiential Learning Carolyn Taylor Meyer.
MIIS sends a big thank you to our alumni mentors from the past academic year. It means so much to the MIIS community that you give back to current students with your expertise and guidance.
2023–24 Alumni Mentors
Summer 2024
Danielle Steer, Tundra Ventures
Elana Lee Solon, Community Foundation Santa Cruz County
Matt Levie, U.S. GAO
Boris Chumak, BHP
Blaine Barkley, Pinkerton
Danielle Doiy Addleman, eBay
Yanliang Pan, CNS
Brett Wertz, Fourdozen, Inc.
Ben Nebo, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
John Acree, USAID Regional Disaster Assistance Program
Scott DiPretoro, IFRC Europe
John Ciarico, Sustainability Professional
Spring 2024
Nico De Golia, Microsoft Cloud
Clesi Bennett, California Natural Resources Agency
Darren Daley, Mekong Evaluators’ Institute
Daniet Moges, USAID
Harrison Gill, CDC
Kirstin van Gend, City of Seaside
Nicole Irigoyen, Monterey County Nonprofit Professional
Liz Silva, Asia Foundation
Christine Carlson, U.S. Department of State
Jenna Dawson-Faber, UNODC Thailand
William Morrison, U.S. Department of State
Ryan Radford, California EPA
Ravi Kurani, Sani Marc
Shannon Casey, World Compass
Fall 2023
Tiffani Jarnigan, Hewlett-Packard
Orlando Cruz, Pinkerton
Kelly Zimmerman, Guidehouse
Keeli Sorensen, Justice in Motion
Chris Puder, Convera
Kit Conklin, U.S. House Select Committee on China
Austen Stranahan, Shortlist Kenya
Himayu Shiotani, UNIDIR
Katherine Treat, Luminos Fund
Jamie Cook, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (formerly with IOM)
Fio Vargas, IOM
Tanilee Eichelberger, Room to Read
Susan Asselin, Peace Corps USG
Molly Lineberger, Oregon State
Danielle Villata, U.S. FDA
Tina Novero, City of San Francisco
Allison Duignan, California Pacific Medical Center Foundation
Tony Osei, Resource Environmental Solutions LLC
Jocelyn Curran, Downtown Streets Team
Andreas Nicolet, Enphase Energy
Jonathan Thames, Square
Adam Rice, ClimateAi
Lara Birkes, EQX Biome