Meet an Alum sessions are informal opportunities to build your industry knowledge and make connections with General Course alumni.
In this session, you'll have the chance to meet alumni who work in international organisations and NGOs. You can ask the alumni about their day-to-day job, how they got into their role, and for any other career-related advice or tips they’ve picked up from their career journey so far.
This event will be particularly useful if you are:
- thinking about the realities of a career in this area or a related sector
- curious about the sort of work and responsibilities jobs in this area can entail
- interested in finding out how utilising the experience of studying at LSE can be used to get ahead in this area
- keen to build your connections
Meet the Speakers:
Dr. Houng (Vina) Nguyen (LinkedIn). Vina joined LSE from Smith College to study on the General Course in 2007-08. After completing her undergraduate degree in Economics, Vina completed a PhD in International Economics and Finance at Brandeis University. Vina then joined the International Monetary Fund’s Economist Programme in Washington D.C. Since then she has undertaken work on the euro area, Israel, Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Brunei, and Turkmenistan. She has published on a wide range of topics in macroeconomics and development, including on natural interest rate, financial issues, public investments, inequality, and gender equality.
Nicholas Astier-Ibrahim (LinkedIn). Nick joined LSE from the George Washington University to study on the General Course in 2014-15. After completing his undergraduate degree, Nick returned to LSE to complete an MSc in Conflict Studies in the Department of Government. After finishing his Masters, Nick completed a post-graduate degree in Communicative Arabic from SOAS University, before moving back to the United States for an internship at the World Federation of UN Associations (WFUNA) in New York. He was then hired by WFUNA to help advance their work on the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and is currently the SDG 16+ Associate, working with governments, civil society organisations and UN entities to advance peaceful, just and inclusive societies across countries and contexts.
Taina Christiansen (LinkedIn). Taina joined LSE from Mount Holyoke College to study on the General Course in 2003-04. After graduating with a BA in International Relations and Politics, she undertook an MA in International Peace Studies at Universidad para la Paz in Costa Rica. Since then Taina has pursued a career with the United Nations. First interning at UN Headquarters in New York with the Secretariat, and subsequently with UNAIDS in Geneva – followed by numerous positions with five different United Nations agencies, across five countries. These include UNAIDS working on HIV in humanitarian response, ITC on human resources policies, two peacekeeping missions in Mali and Congo in the field of conduct and discipline, and currently with UN-Habitat, first at its headquarters in Nairobi and currently stationed in Beirut, Lebanon – where she leads the Country Office and programme. Taina is Swedish/Danish, but grew up across Africa and has one daughter.
You may like to read LSE Careers' list of information interview questions for ideas of what you can ask the alumni.
LSE holds a wide range of events, covering many of the most controversial issues of the day, and speakers at our events may express views that cause offence. The views expressed by speakers at LSE events do not reflect the position or views of The London School of Economics and Political Science.
From time to time there are changes to event details so we strongly recommend checking back on this listing on the day of the event if you plan to attend.
Please note that all event dates and times are in local UK time (GMT).