Dana Clerkin and husband smiling with Sogoo children holding donated items

Trip to Africa Inspires Alumna to Help Build an Orphanage

Dana Pugh-Clerkin, CCAS BA ‘78, grew up knowing she would one day travel to Africa. “I would watch this show called Wild Kingdom that played on Saturday afternoons. Something stuck with me. I knew I would get there.”  Years later, after graduating from GW, raising two children, and working in the fundraising field, she finally […]

Courage in Journalism: Corcoran Alumna Honored for Her Visual Storytelling

Zoeann Murphy, CORC MA ’14, doesn’t shy away from intense situations. In fact, she heads right for them. Over the last 16 years as a photographer and video journalist, she’s traveled across the U.S. and to more than 20 countries capturing images and stories that focus on humanitarian and environmental crises, and, often times, breaking […]

Natalie Fiszer helping children

Alumna Turns Her Passion for Service into Global Development Career

Natalie Fiszer, ESIA BA ’14, was recently selected for the USAID Donald M. Payne International Development Fellowship, which offers financial support for graduate school as well as an opportunity for employment with the USAID Foreign Service upon completion of her studies. GW: Tell us about what you are doing now and why it matters to […]

Alumna Secures Largest Known Civil Single-Plaintiff Human Trafficking Award in American History

In May 2018, a federal judge in Kansas awarded Kendra Ross, a human trafficking survivor, almost $8 million in her lawsuit against a cult and its leader. It is the largest known civil single-plaintiff human trafficking award in American history. Elizabeth “Betsy” Hutson, LAW JD ’13, led a team from McGuireWoods that represented Ross pro […]

Alumna Advocates for the Equal Education of Girls in New Book

An accomplished scholar, advocate, and now published author, Sally Nuamah, CCAS BA ’11, sheds light on the inequitable realities girls face throughout their education in her new book, How Girls Achieve (Harvard University Press). The book rounds out Nuamah’s extensive and meaningful work in Ghana, which started during her time at GW – visiting the […]

Alumna Shines in Women’s Leadership and Public Service

In honor of Women’s History Month, the Elliott School of International Affairs (ESIA) recently caught up with Kateryna Pyatybratova, ESIA BA ’11, MA/MBA ’16, who has turned her experiences at ESIA and GW into a career promoting women’s leadership and public service around the world. GW: Tell us about what you are doing now and […]

Law Alumna Forges New Path in Cancer Education and Advocacy

Nearly 40 percent of Americans will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in their lifetimes (according to the National Cancer Institute), and the emotional and financial impact of a diagnosis on these individuals and their families can be enormous. “Everyone likely has some type of connection to cancer, indirectly or not, or has been […]

Naomi being lowered from a helicopter

Stories of Her Life: Alumna’s Global Journey in Journalism Returns Her to the Familiar Confines of GW

Naomi Spinrad, CCAS BA ’68, ESIA MA ’86, has had a career in journalism that has taken her around the world and provided adventures: dropping out of a helicopter onto an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean, briefly steering an aircraft carrier and spending more time than she can count on military ships. It’s been a life […]