Alumni Spotlights

What are you currently doing and where?

Research Assistant at the United Nations ECLAC Division for Gender Affairs

How do you use what you learned at LSE Gender in your current role?

The transition from my MSc to the UN was smooth and easy- the curriculum of GDG closely aligns to the topics I work with at the UN. At times I have even attended events with some of my former lecturers and professors.

What advice do you have for current and/or prospective LSE Gender students?

Take advantage of the resources LSE provides, use your time to network, keep in touch with professors and classmates

If you want to learn more about Paula's time at LSE Gender or her current work with the United Nations, reach out to her via LinkedIn or by email at paula.aghon@gmail.com.

What are you currently doing and where?

Deputy Head of Global Programmes, World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, based in London and working with 153 countries in delivering life-changing interventions/programes for girls and young people.

How do you use what you learned at LSE Gender in your current role?

My gender expertise comes in handy in developing/updating organisational policies, policy advocacy, resource mobilisation, and strategy development.

What advice do you have for current and/or prospective LSE Gender students?

Expand your network, meet people in your field of interest, and explore possible collaborations.

If you want to learn more about Rio's time at LSE Gender or her current work with World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, reach out to her via LinkedIn.

What are you currently doing and where?

I'm in my 2nd year of a PhD at King's College London in the department of Global Health and Social Medicine. I'm researching the remaking of the self after cancer, with a focus on pleasure, embodiment and creativity. 

How do you use what you learned at LSE Gender in your current role?

My research project is driven by a feminist ethics of care, and a lot of what I learnt during my MSc at LSE underpins my work.

What advice do you have for current and/or prospective LSE Gender students?

Be open to your path being different than you expected! I did not expect to have taken the path I did, but I remained open and changed course several times while at LSE and beyond.

If you want to learn more about Carmel's time at LSE Gender or her current research at KCL, reach out to her via email carmel.cardona@kcl.ac.uk or Twitter (X) @hellocarmel

What are you currently doing and where?

UN Global Goals 2030 Consultant and Founder of The Gender Diplomat

How do you use what you learned at LSE Gender in your current role?

My MSc programme really is the analytical backbone of all my research, projects and activities. I learned so much at LSE. Since then I took that knowledge and experience all the way from London to Lisbon, where the WPS agenda is still overlooked. This has allowed me to reach out to and now work with major political players (ministers, diplomats, ambassadors, politicians...) on advancing equality, peace and international security debates in Portugal.

What advice do you have for current and/or prospective LSE Gender students?

Use your LSE times as the foundation for what's to come. Grow your roots, be present, reach out to organisations and stakeholders, get to know yourself. Taking it easy allows you to stay grounded.

If you want to learn more about Maria's time at LSE Gender or her current work with the United Nations and The Gender Diplomat, reach out to her via LinkedIn.

What are you currently doing and where?

Human Resources Consultant at Deloitte UK

How do you use what you learned at LSE Gender in your current role?

Currently using my degree to do internal work on progressing Black representation in the firm. Also assisting partners and directors in addressing gender disparity within my local team.

What advice do you have for current and/or prospective LSE Gender students?

Try to align your career with your passion, but remember this degree will help you in anything and everything you do because it challenges common ways of thinking and makes you a better person, both personally and professionally.

It was honestly the best year of my life, and if I could go back and learn everything all over again (and more!) I would.

If you want to learn more about Tzeitel's time at LSE Gender or her current work with Deloitte, you can reach her via email tzeiteldegiovanni@gmail.com, tz_degiovanni (Instagram), or on LinkedIn.

What are you currently doing and where?

Research Assistant at UCL for Centre for Gender and Disaster

How do you use what you learned at LSE Gender in your current role?

Never thought I’d be in a “hard” science discipline, the whole point of the department is to apply gender and intersectional thinking to hazard and disaster work (tsunamis, floods, climate change, earthquakes).

What advice do you have for current and/or prospective LSE Gender students?

Don’t be disheartened - keep going. I found finding work really hard. I had no relevant work experience when I left my masters (only part time jobs in unrelated areas to earn money) and I got so many job rejections.

I got this job through emailing the head of the centre and saying how interested I was in their work and asking about voluntary positions (I’m a UK resident so I could apply for unemployment benefit and live with parents). When I was given a voluntary role my benefits officer suggested I asked the workplace to give me travel expenses if I was working for free. When I asked they said they could only do that if they got me on payroll….. so they did! After that role finished they offered me another position, which I’m in now.

If you want to learn more about Jessica's time at LSE Gender or their current work with UCL, you can reach them via email at jessroberts2710@gmail.com.

What are you currently doing and where?

I am currently working in the social impact space, helping to scale innovative solutions that address complex social problems across the Global Majority. In my current role as a Senior Associate at the Global Development Incubator (GDI) South Asia, I work on two initiatives focused on value-based healthcare and the economic empowerment of youth. My role involves building strategies to strengthen on-ground implementation of these two initiatives, project management, fundraising, advocacy, M&E, and stakeholder-focused communications.

How do you use what you learned at LSE Gender in your current role?

Studying at LSE has empowered me to intentionally integrate a gender and intersectional lens into all aspects of my work. Whether crafting a strategy to apply a value-based care initiative in a Low & Middle Income country context or analyzing the aspirations of youth in India, the program has taught me to place the context for which I am designing a solution or strategy at the forefront. This involves understanding the most affected populations, their experiences, and the various social barriers they face.

From a skills perspective, my education has enabled me to effectively apply feminist research values and principles in my work. This includes being mindful of the sources I cite to present different types of data and properly crediting the authors involved. The course has instilled in me numerous skills and values that I endeavor to integrate into my work, with the aim of embedding them into the organizational culture.

What advice do you have for current and/or prospective LSE Gender students?

Trust the process and your professors. You are entering unknown waters, and it may make you uncomfortable. You will definitely also feel lost and confused, but you will emerge from it feeling more empowered, fulfilled, and closer to who you are.

If you want to learn more about Sharanya's time at LSE Gender or her current work with the Global Development Incubator, you can reach her via email at sharanyahariharan02@gmail.com or on LinkedIn.