Kate Shafer
Kate is a second-year student in the Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) program concentrating in Global Politics and Security. She focuses her studies on human rights and border relations in Latin America and East Asia. She is currently serving as the Professional Development Chair of Georgetown Women in International Affairs. Prior to Georgetown, Kate earned her Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from Elon University. Studying abroad in Costa Rica, Kate explored cultural and environmental issues. She interned with a an organization serving disadvantaged youth with disabilities and conducted research on disability rights in the Dominican Republic and also served as a part of the United Nations MIssion in Italy.
While on campus, she coordinated monthly poverty simulations, led her campus chapter of Amnesty International, and completed an honors thesis on Haitian-Dominican immigration and labor. After graduation, she taught in China as an Ameson Educational Ambassador. Interest in cross-strait relations then led her to Taiwan, where she served as a 2016-2017 Fulbright English Teaching Assistant. Kate then moved to New York to complete a fellowship with the Work First Foundation, where she provided vocational resources and education to individuals on public assistance and conducted research on financial access and literacy.
As a Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellow, Kate will join the U.S. Foreign Service following graduation
"In addition to being a top international relations graduate program, the MSFS program gives me the opportunity to learn from distinguished scholars and experienced practitioners while developing a lasting network in D.C. and beyond. My colleagues in the MSFS program teach, motivate, and support me every day. They are by far one of the program’s greatest strengths.”