MIIS students visiting the World Bank during spring break 2013.

During spring break 2013, the Center for Advising and Career Services organized popular trips to Washington D.C and Silicon Valley, as well as adding their services to a trip to New York planned by Professor Ed Laurance. The focus was on careers, with targeted visits to organizations and companies linked to the career interests of students, and visits with alumni established in their chosen fields.

Thirty people joined career advisors Mary (Maggie) Peters and Jennifer (Jen) Hambleton-Holguin on a weeklong trip to Washington D.C. Maggie and Jen worked hard to schedule visits at the organizations students were most interested in joining and organize meetings with MIIS alumni working there. Among the organizations visited were the World Bank, USAID, OAS, the Carnegie Endowment for Peace, the Pew Charitable Trust and the Pentagon.

The duo also hosted a reception for students and the very active Monterey Institute D.C. Alumni chapter. "It was amazing to see the Monterey Institute community come alive in D.C.,” says Maggie Peters. “The support and enthusiasm provided by our MIIS D.C. alumni and their willingness to open their organization's doors and connections to our current students and recent alumni was almost overwhelming – and such a huge success!" International Environmental Policy student Kelsey Schueler (MAIEP ’14) adds :"This is a much more interesting and effective way to learn about policy organizations than spending six hours looking on their website!"

Also during spring break, 26 students joined four faculty and staff members on a bus tour to Silicon Valley, where they had executive briefings with MIIS alumni working at Cisco Systems and Solar City. The tour culminated with another networking event with enthusiastic alumni, this time in San Francisco. “The trip was a huge success,” shares career advisor Ted Bouras, who hopes to organize a similar trip next spring.

Employers were meeting and greeting Monterey Institute students and alumni all day at Career Fair 2013.

The Monterey Institute Career Fair, organized by the Center for Advising and Career Services, has turned breaking records into a habit. After setting a new record for employer participation last year, the fair this year smashed the record for number of job interviews for students and alumni seeking employment. “The employer response to Career Fair 2013 shows not only the market need, but also the quality and popularity of our students and graduates,” says Career and Academic Advisor Jeff Wood.

Close to 400 students and alumni of the Monterey Institute presented their skills and experience to the over 100 organizations participating in the MIIS Career Fair 2013 on March 8, including Driscoll’s, eBay, Facebook, Kiva, Omprakash and the U.S. State Department. Impressed by resumes and first impressions, the employers scheduled more than 300 follow-up job interviews with candidates from MIIS.

Plans are already underway for Career Fair 2014 to be held on Friday, February 28th.

Employers were meeting and greeting Monterey Institute students and alumni all day at Career Fair 2013.

The Monterey Institute Career Fair, organized by the Center for Advising and Career Services, has turned breaking records into a habit. After setting a new record for employer participation last year, the fair this year smashed the record for number of job interviews for students and alumni seeking employment. “The employer response to Career Fair 2013 shows not only the market need, but also the quality and popularity of our students and graduates,” says Career and Academic Advisor Jeff Wood.

Close to 500 students and alumni of the Monterey Institute presented their skills and experience to the over 100 organizations participating in the MIIS Career Fair 2013 on March 8, including Driscoll’s, eBay, Facebook, Kiva, Omprakash and the U.S. State Department. Impressed by resumes and first impressions, the employers scheduled more than 400 follow-up job interviews with candidates from MIIS.

Plans are already underway for Career Fair 2014 to be held on Friday, February 28th.

A bird's eye view of the action at the 2012 MIIS Career Fair.

For many students at the Monterey Institute, the annual career fair comes at the end of an intense month of workshops and training to prepare for taking the next step on the road to their dream career. Students polish their resumes and practice their “90-second pitch” before meeting with potential employers.

This year, 30 Monterey Institute alumni are returning to Monterey to help their employers—organizations such as the U.S. Department of State, eBay, Kiva, and Facebook—find more great candidates like themselves. Some of the recruiters attending this year actually landed their jobs at the same MIIS Career Fair in previous years!

The Monterey Institute’s Center for Advising and Career Services hosts the annual career fair exclusively for MIIS students and alumni and in recent years the fair has grown steadily both in size and in terms of the variety of organizations sending recruiters to Monterey. For a full schedule of events, visit the MIIS Career Fair page.

Alumna Eva Kaludinyova (MAT '01) recruiting for VMWare at the 2012 MIIS Career Fair

For many students at the Monterey Institute, the annual career fair comes at the end of an intense month of workshops and training to prepare for taking the next step on the road to their dream career. Students polish their resumes and practice their “90-second pitch” before meeting with potential employers.

This year, 30 Monterey Institute alumni are returning to Monterey to help their employers—organizations such as the U.S. Department of State, eBay, Kiva, and Facebook—find more great candidates like themselves. Some of the recruiters attending this year actually landed their jobs at the same MIIS Career Fair in previous years!

The Monterey Institute’s Center for Advising and Career Services hosts the annual career fair exclusively for MIIS students and alumni and in recent years the fair has grown steadily both in size and in terms of the variety of organizations sending recruiters to Monterey. For a full schedule of events, visit the MIIS Career Fair page.

Moslem Shah in Monterey.

Fulbright student Moslem Shah (MAIPS ’13) had his pick of U.S. universities, but chose the Monterey Institute of International Studies because he felt it would fit his long term plans to take on a leading role in rebuilding his native Afghanistan after three decades of war. “My experience here, both personally and professionally, has gone way beyond my expectations,” says Moslem, adding that he loves how the diverse student body has helped him to broaden his perspective.

Moslem is from the ancient city of Herat, Afghanistan’s third largest city in the beautiful and fertile province that bears its name, close to the borders of Iran and Turkmenistan. His mother was a schoolteacher, but she and his sister were banned from schools under the Taliban rule. When he came home from school he would teach his sister what he had learned, and soon she started to invite her friends over to get lessons as well. Before long, the demand for his services led the family to rent out a space to accommodate more girls.

Eventually the Taliban heard of the underground school, and at the age of 15, Moslem was arrested. “I was lucky,” he says modestly, “because my father used all his connections and got me freed my second night in custody.” The school was shut down, but he kept his underground teaching practice—this time even further underground.

When the Taliban left power, Moslem had just finished high school. He was still passionate about girls’ education and founded Youth Development Program (YDP), recruiting university students to volunteer to teach young girls who needed help making up for lost time with their schooling. “We created curriculums that lasted six to 12 months to help girls prepare for official school placement exams,” Moslem says of the program he founded that helped 300 girls further their education. He quietly adds that he is very proud of their accomplishments.

Moslem has high hopes and ambitious plans to improve the quality of education in his beloved Afghanistan. One of his ideas is to replicate the Teach for America model to fit Afghani culture and Islam, and he has already created a business plan and assembled a team to help further this goal. Another idea is to facilitate the creation of a consortium of private universities that would serve as academic advisors to build the capacity of Afghani policy-makers. He wants to start working on both plans this summer after he graduates from the Monterey Institute. We can’t wait to follow his progress.

Moslem Shah in Monterey.

Fulbright student Moslem Shah (MAIPS ’13) had his pick of U.S. universities but chose the Monterey Institute of International Studies because he felt it would fit his long term plans to take on a leading role in rebuilding his native Afghanistan after three decades of war. “My experience here, both personally and professionally has gone way beyond my expectations,” says Moslem, adding that he loves how the diverse student body has helped him to broaden his perspective.

Moslem is from the ancient city of Herat, Afghanistan’s third largest city in the beautiful and fertile province that bears its name, close to the borders of Iran and Turkmenistan. His mother was a schoolteacher, but she and his sister were banned from schools under the Taliban rule. When he came home from school he would teach his sister what he had learned, and soon she started to invite her friends over to get lessons as well. Before long, the demand for his services led the family to rent out a space to accommodate more girls.

Eventually the Taliban heard of the underground school, and at the age of 15, Moslem was arrested. “I was lucky,” he says modestly, “because my father used all his connections and got me freed my second night in custody.” The school was shut down, but he kept his underground teaching practice—this time even further underground.

When the Taliban left power, Moslem had just finished high school. He was still passionate about girls’ education and founded Youth Development Program (YDP), recruiting university students to volunteer to teach young girls who needed help making up for lost time with their schooling. “We created curriculums that lasted six to 12 months to help girls prepare for official school placement exams,” Moslem says of the program he founded that helped 300 girls further their education. He quietly adds that he is very proud of their accomplishments.

Moslem has high hopes and ambitious plans to improve the quality of education in his beloved Afghanistan. One of his ideas is to replicate the Teach for America model to fit Afghani culture and Islam, and he has already created a business plan and assembled a team to help further this goal. Another idea is to facilitate the creation of a consortium of private universities that would serve as academic advisors to build the capacity of Afghani policy-makers. He plans to start working on both plans this summer after he graduates from the Monterey Institute. We can’t wait to follow his progress.

Keeping it sustainable at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

“Achieving zero-waste is no small feat, especially for a multi-day event that takes place on three golf courses and draws thousands of spectators,” said Krista Almanzan, news director at local NPR station KAZU, in a February 14 feature about efforts to divert waste at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament. Leading the way was recent graduate of the International Environmental Policy program at MIIS Abbie Beane (MAIEP ’12), who is now the director of sustainability programs for the Offset Project.

As explained in the KAZU story, even though it is called “Zero-Waste,” 90 percent diversion—or managing to recycle, compost or re-purpose 90 percent of the waste from an event—is considered the gold standard. Last year the Pro-Am diverted 65 percent of its waste, but in her interview, Abbie explains what measures she and her team took to increase the level to their goal of 75 to 80 percent. The Offset Project has achieved 90 percent diversion with other local events, and Abbie is already making plans for next year to meet higher goals. We expect nothing less from our graduates, who have shown time and time again that they are up to the task and ready to take on big challenges in their chosen field from day one.

At center, Elizabeth (Ellie) Wood (MAIEP ’12) with Boeing colleagues.

While Elizabeth (Ellie) Wood (MAIEP ’12) was a student of in the Master of Arts in International Environmental Policy (MAIEP) program at the Monterey Institute, she focused on energy and climate change and also on sustainable business development. She is one of the 96 percent of the MAIEP graduating class of May 2012 to successfully gain employment in their desired field within six months of graduation.

Originally from Seattle (a graduate of Colorado College), Ellie had her sights set on Boeing, where she had “always wanted to work.” She was able design her studies at MIIS to perfectly suit her interests. “I got really interested in nuclear energy and was able to take amazing courses at CNS (the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies). It was wonderful to have that opportunity,” she says.

Ellie plays an integrative role in the Environmental Strategy and Aviation Team at Boeing, where she works as an analyst. “I feel incredibly uniquely qualified for this job, as it combines my interests and academic background in business, policy and energy.” Her team sets the strategy for environmental initiatives related to noise, carbon emissions, biofuel and other issues for Boeing commercial planes. “I would like to stay here and continue to grow and am fortunate that there are many opportunities for vertical growth at Boeing,” says Ellie Wood, one of our very happy statistics at the Monterey Institute.