Details

Alumni/ae Profile

Jean-Marc Gorelick '02 works in the Africa Bureau at the United States Agency for International Development. His portfolio covers democracy and governance issues in West Africa. Previously, Jean-Marc served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Togo, West Africa. After his tour of service, he worked on democracy and governance issues at the International Republican Institute and Development Alternatives, Inc. He has participated in election observations in Nigeria and Liberia, as well as conducted technical assistance assignments in Burkina Faso, South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Niger, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Several of his articles have appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, the most recent of which, "What Africa's farmers need now: fairness," details his experiences on an agricultural impact assessment he conducted for his master’s thesis at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. Jean-Marc’s interest in international affairs began with the Bard Human Rights Project (HRP) and the internship he pursued at the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) during his junior year. “Working as an intern for the ICTJ was a life-changing experience. Prior to the internship, I attended lectures sponsored by the HRP. I took classes relating to human rights and international development. A group of us students actively debated the theoretical and political issues of the day. All of this was informative and interesting, but working in an actual human rights nongovernmental organization profoundly transformed my career objectives.”