May 20, 2005
Hannah Alexander '05 Is Passionately
Making a Difference
Hannah
Alexander ’05 has spent
her Mount Holyoke career jetting around
the globe, participating in international policy meetings and organizing
conferences while double majoring in international relations and
economics.
Born
in Edinburgh, Scotland, Alexander has lived in England, Germany,
Switzerland, Slovakia, Albania, and New York, where she
maintains
residency. In her junior year of high school, a family friend
invited Alexander to help organize a United Nations symposium
on health and
environment. It was then that she began her work with UN nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) and discovered her passion for international
relations.
Since
2001, when she was 18, Alexander has held the position of United
Nations liaison for an NGO (she declined to
give its
name) with general
consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council
and associative status with the UN Department of Public Information.
This NGO, which
operates in more than 55 countries, focuses primarily on poverty
eradication, economic and social development, and peace and reconciliation.
“Educating
girls and women is the single most important investment in development,” Alexander
said. “[The] education of
girls is fundamental to the health and nutrition of populations,
to overall improvements in the standard of living, to better
agricultural and environmental practices, to greater gender equality
at all levels
of society—to overall greater economic and social development.
“There
can be no significant reduction of poverty until girls receive
the quality basic education they need. Despite improvements
in the education attainment level of girls over the past decade, millions
of girls worldwide still lack access to education. More
collaboration is needed on the multilateral and grassroots levels
to promote
girls’ education,” Alexander
added. “I hope and believe universal primary and
secondary education for all can be achieved during my lifetime.”
During
Alexander’s study abroad at the School of Oriental
and African Studies at the University of London last
year, she worked
for a Swiss investment bank and a WTO-affiliated organization
that focuses on trade issues and competition policy.
In addition, she
worked with NGO leaders, scholars, and a British parliamentarian
to promote interracial understanding and harmony in the
United Kingdom. “Study
abroad enriched my Mount Holyoke experience, and work
with public sector organizations reaffirmed my interest
in pursuing
a career
in the international affairs field,” Alexander
said.
Half
Chinese American and half British, Alexander began to develop
her Chinese identity on a service trip
to
China three
years ago.
She worked on a grassroots development project leading
American and Chinese students to build roads in Hubei
Province. After
talking to her about her multiracial identity as a
bridge between the West
and China, a journalist from China’s leading English– language
newspaper asked Alexander to collaborate with him on
a book about the role of civil society and NGOs in promoting
grassroots development,
intercultural understanding, and peace and conflict resolution.
When
not working for NGOs or promoting economic and social development,
Alexander enjoys theatre (her favorite
musical
is Les Miserables);
art (her favorite gallery is the Wallace Collection
in London); traveling (she would love to visit Australia
and South America—the
only two continents to which she has not yet been);
attending cultural events; and talking about politics,
culture, and religion.
Her
favorite courses at Mount Holyoke were Comparative
Politics with Penny Gill, Seminar in International
Trade with Patricia
Schneider, and International Peace and Security with
Michael Klare. Alexander’s
senior thesis, “Replicating Grameen: Victories
and Cries in Kenya and Bangladesh,” assesses
whether replications of the Grameen Bank (a pioneer
of the microfinance movement) have been
successful in reaching and helping the poor in both
countries.
Following
graduation, she hopes to work for an economic-development consulting
firm before pursuing a postgraduate degree
in economic development or international business.
After that,
she would
like to work in the international economic policy-making
field.
“Hannah
Alexander is unlike any student I have ever taught before,” said
Penny Gill, acting dean of faculty and Mary Lyon
Professor of Humanities and professor of politics. “She
essentially has created for herself a range of projects and responsibilities—all
NGOs—many
with the UN or under its wide umbrella. She has
beautifully integrated her course work with her ‘work in
the world.’ She understands
that she is creating her own life work, at the
same moment she is studying to prepare herself for that work.
She has a global
vision,
is stunningly entrepreneurial, and [is] a wonderful
student.”
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