Hye Seung (Esther) Jung is an M.S. candidate in Georgetown’s MSFS program concentrating in International Development. As a first-generation Korean American, Esther's identity significantly shaped her academic and professional experience to pursue foreign service. Raised by incredibly supportive immigrant parents from a post-Korean War era, she was taught knowledge is power. She received her Bachelor of Arts in International Service at American University with honors, specializing in human rights and development. Prior to Georgetown, Esther gained a diverse experience in the private and public sectors at the DC Mayor's Office, United Nations, and a public policy lobbying firm. She also worked at a Kenyan vocational school in Kibera providing practical trade skills to uplift young people out of poverty. Through these experiences, Esther witnessed how access to education empowered individuals to gain agency for more opportunities. At Georgetown, she is developing her expertise to create stronger public-private partnerships to drive innovative and inclusive solutions in the development field. Currently, she is a Public Partnerships Consultant at UNICEF and she is promoting public-private partnerships in East Asia and the Pacific region. In the future, Esther hopes to join the foreign service community and empower women and children through education.

"I chose MSFS because experience is a powerful way to learn and Georgetown’s core value in experiential learning to help me acquire practical qualitative and quantitative skills to apply in my future career in international development. "