Students' Corner

Meet Our Second Year Students

First name	Last name	University	Country	Self-description
Holy	Andriamasy	2009, University of Geneva	Madagascar	After graduating and an internship in Geneva which provided me with a first insight of CSR, I had worked in Madagascar for 2 years as a junior finance professional, mainly ensuring financial controls on expenditures of grants receiving funds to fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. This experience has then strengthened my interest in social development issues. Therefore, I would like to combine my economic background with the social aspects of the current global challenges from a more practice-based perspective. From the Master's program, I look forward to learning the fundamental tools for policy making and evaluation, as well as using my economic knowledge and acquiring new skills in conducting research related to sustainable development topics.
Foteini	Arpatzoglou	2014, University of Macedonia	Greece	Having recently obtained my diploma in Economics, my interest in sustainability brought me to Geneva to pursue this Master and live in an international and multicultural environment. During my Bachelor, I studied for one semester at the University of Strasbourg (Erasmus program) while afterwards, I successfully completed an internship as an Administrative Assistant and Public Service Manager at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of my city. Thanks to the Master program, I further explored and became interested in concepts related to CSR, labor regulation and supply chain management. Now, I am looking for a summer internship in order to improve my skills and apply my knowledge.
Bojana	Bajic Tosic	2007, University of Belgrade	Serbia	I have studied Journalism and Communication at the Faculty of Political Science, at the University of Belgrade. I started my career working as a journalist in the field of economy and social affairs. Afterwards I worked for two influential communication agencies in Serbia: Represent Communications and Headline Agency for seven years. I managed various clients ranging from banking and financial sector, to the fast-moving consumer goods industry. I was responsible for the strategic planning of communications, media relations, and CSR platform creation including organizational and marketing communication, and event management. I am motivated to continue my professional development and to acquire knowledge in the field of standardization and sustainability. I am especially interested in CSR, supply chain management, environmental economics and policies for the implementation of sustainable development.
Laura	Barbier	2014, University of Bergen	Norway	I am very interested in humanitarian work, global issues and international politics. I have volunteered in the Red Cross as a refugee guide and in the rescue corps. My experiences led me to write about integration processes in my bachelor which I find very interesting as the world is becoming more multicultural. In my thesis I compared labour market integration policies in Sweden and Denmark and examined their respective outcomes. After this, I had an internship in the United Nation Association Hordaland in Norway. My work was basically to increase awareness about the UN and especially the main issues at the time which concerned global warming and immigration. During this internship I wrote a report about carbon offsets. I chose this master program because I will acquire a deeper understanding of how sustainable development (especially in the labour market) can be achieved. In addition to the courses i took into consideration the organization of the program in which we first accrue theoretical knowledge and then apply it through an internship. Finally, I find it inspiring that we are surrounded by hundreds of international organizations and multinational companies in a french speaking city.
Garam	Bel	2012, University of Aberdeen	England	In 2012, I received a Bachelor’s degree in Geography and Spatial Planning from the University of Aberdeen. After graduation, I worked in waste and resource management at local government level both for Orkney Islands Council and Aberdeen City Council in Scotland. My roles and responsibilities involved supervising the implementation of a waste and recycling service in Orkney, and the negotiation of commercial waste contracts in Aberdeen. Briefly before moving to Geneva to study this Master, I worked for a Scottish social enterprise, providing sustainable living and renewable energy advice to domestic properties. At the same time, I was involved in the implementation of ISO 14001 environmental management system. I decided to study this Master to provide me with an international perspective on sustainable development and to apply my resource management experience to an international context. The program’s combined focus on standardization was also of particular attraction. In addition to the program, Geneva has offered me with excellent opportunities to gain further experience. In the summer of 2016, I will be undertaking an internship with the United Nation’s Environment Programme focussing on electrical waste.
Helen	Curtis	2010, University of Brighton	Switzerland, United States	I graduated from the University of Brighton, United Kingdom, in 2010, and hold a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management with Finance. Since moving to Germany in 2011, I have worked as a personal assistant and office manager with complementary tasks, including translation and editing, corporate communications, event-planning and accounting, in different sectors, namely environmental consultancy, events and media. I am also a CELTA certified English teacher. I am now keen on developing further career prospects. My goal is to acquire the knowledge andskills necessary to work in an area that directly impacts the lives of others, such as standardization and integration of European policies pertaining to education, the environment and in particular migration. I look forward to being back studying in my home town, and to meeting all of you.
Christine Joan	De Castro	2009, University of the Philippines-Manila	Philippines	I graduated from the University of the Philippines in 2009 with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science. Since then, the last couple of years have been a constant journey of learning and discovering things from Asia to Europe and Northern America, having worked for private companies, non-profits and international organizations like IOM and WHO. I specialize in Public-Private Partnerships as well as Advocacy and Partnership Building for human rights issues specifically women, children and refugees. Before leaving the US, I worked as the Donor Relations and Partnerships Coordinator of the Asian Pacific Women’s Center, a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles, California that helps women and children survivors of domestic violence, rebuild their lives. I believe the STAREG programme will allow me to forge my own path into becoming an effective global leader as its interdisciplinary approach produces leaders that exhibit ethical leadership, a greater sense of community and social responsibility. It is my hope that someday, I too, would effectively institute solutions on the challenges (sustainable development in particular) faced by the international community.
Carina	Hotter	2015, University of Innsbruck	Austria	I have obtained my Bachelor in Sociology from the University of Innsbruck in Austria. During my studies I specialized in the field of social change and social policy with focus on the main welfare regimes. My second specialization was in the field of sociology of consumption with special attention to sustainability issues in that area. I am very interested in sustainable development and social policy/regulation in general with a further passion for any issues related to gender, migration and the labour market. Within my Bachelor thesis I tried to combine these areas and therefore focused on the realities of female migrants working in the field of domestic care in Austria. In addition, I tutored migrants and refugees in Austria for about 2 years and my main task was to help them improve their german skills but I also got a lot of insights that helped me to understand the immigration laws and regime of my country better. Furthermore, I worked in HR besides my studies and in Hospitality and Customer Service before my bachelor studies.
Fitim	Hoxha	2015, Rochester Institute of Technology	Kosovo	During my undergraduate studies I have worked at several Non-governmental organizations to help minorities integrate into society through programs, organize green campaigns to raise awareness for the protection of the environment. As well as assist in researching and developing projects for sustainable economic development and write project proposals for the EU grants regarding environmental issues. During my studies I also became the Head of the Student Senate and Editor-in-Chief of the University Newspaper. I graduated in 2015 with a double major in Public Policy & Management and a minor in Legal Studies.
Cindy	Jaquet	2015, University of Neuchatel	Switzerland	I knew I wanted to do a Master's degree right after finishing my Bachelor's in Information and Communication Sciences, Sociology and Management at the University of Neuchâtel. Therefore, I looked at almost all the Master's available in the French part of Switzerland and chose to enroll both in Standardization and Public Management in Geneva. Both were offering courses on public policies and had a social aspect to their syllabus, which I was looking for. Also both had the same kind of opportunities afterwards whether it is in the public or private sector. So in the end, I chose Regulation mainly because it was in English and figured it would benefit me more.
Nicoline	Lavanchy	2015, University of Geneva	Switzerland	Although I just graduated this summer in Economic History, the theme of sustainable development is not unknown and has been a recurent subject along my bachelor degree. Through my dissertation, I came along that issue in a "micro" approach, based on a case study and I want to learn more about it. This Master degree seems the perfect opportunity to do such a thing. Moreover, during my Erasmus in Aberdeen, I followed somes lectures about the social regulation in the scottish society, which gave me a glimpse of the subject and arose my interest. Having a multiapproach of the field of studies appears as a strength for a better and global understanding. It is similar as the way we used to work in economic history and I'm looking forward carrying on using theses tools.
Camila	Macedo Ponte	2013 Deggendorf Institute of Technology	Brazil	I have been working since 2 years in a services company in the fields of energy and environment, where I was involved in projects of implementation of solar photovoltaic; prevention and control of environmental disasters and rural development. I am particularly interested to conduct a research in regional development, focused in Latin America.
Gabriela	Miranda Moscoso	2014, University of Geneva	Bolivia, Switzerland	I graduated lat year from the Faculty of Translation and Interpretation of the University of Geneva. I have a great interest in international development in both its social and economical ascpects. I had the opportunity to do an internship at the headquarters of an international NGO that is dedicated to environmental, social and humanitarian issues and is very active in promoting sustainability. This experience was very inspiring for me and I am really looking forwand to learning more about sustainable development, standardization and social regulation.
Sarah	Nasrallah	2012, California State University Northridge	United States	I graduated from California State University Northridge with a bachelor in political science in 2012.I spent a large time of my college life as an activist working and interning for anti-discrimination NGOs. I spent a summer in London studying sociology which allowed me to connect political issues and the social aspect. Right after, I took on a personal banking position at a large US retail bank. Yet, I knew that my interest was not in the field of banking, so in 2014 I left the bank and traveled to Palestine to teach English. Coming from an immigrant Palestinian family; I wanted to experience life in such a significant region. The economic challenges I have observed allowed me to understand the issues on a deeper level. From there, my interest in sustainable development grew; economic, environmental and social. This program will allow me to understand the complexity of global systems in the framework of sustainability.
Joshua	Olson	2007, University of Wisconsin, Madison	United States	Upon graduating from the University of Wisconsin School of Business, I worked several years in a Chicago-based private investigation firm coordinating investigations of potentially fraudulent insurance claims. Switzerland is the fourth country in which I’ve lived and worked, and along the way I’ve gained valuable experience in the fields of marketing, management and technical writing. I was drawn to the uniqueness of this Master’s program and its emphasis on the interconnectedness of the three thematic pillars. Having majored in marketing for my BBA degree, I am particularly interested in the importance of effective messaging in fostering receptive attitudes toward the idea of sustainability in areas where economic growth often takes great precedent above all else.
Manon	Pétermann	2015, University of Geneva	Switzerland	I graduated recently from the University of Geneva in International Relations. I did an exchange program in Montreal during my 3rd year where I discovered an interest for ethnic and multicultural relationships as well as migrations and integration issues. During my 4th year, I strengthen my concern about these kinds of issues in doing an internship at the EU Delegation within the UN in Geneva in the migration section and in an asylum-seekers center. I also did a Summer School about CSR issues in the University of Geneva, where I realized how business companies have a great role to play in global issues. In general, my line of interest is still broad from all inequalities issues to development issues. I hope that during this master degree I will target further one of theses topics of interest. Thus, I am currently very motivated to continue to build up my knowledge in understanding how works the complex global system and in thinking how standards could help to develop a better world within a sustainable way.
Aparna	Pipersenia	2007, Delhi Univeristy	India	Post my bachelors, I aquired a post graduate diploma Communications Management in 2009. Post that, I have worked in Pharmaceutical companies and advertising agencies as a strategy planner for 4.5 years. Since the last year I have been interning at the Indian Disaster Management department in Assam - assisting with their media and communications wing. I am extremely interested in the Standardization and Sustainability as it enables frameworks to plan and create quality benchmarks that are endurable and lasting in the public sphere as well as the private sector.
Elizabeth	Pipher	2009, University of Arkansas	United States	For the past 5 years I have worked as a program manager for World Relief, serving in the refugee resettlement sector. It was here I developed a further intterest in social programs leading to gainful employment in communities and the power of standards in facilitating change. I am passionate about creating programs within NGO's that empower locals to succeed long after the non-profit leaves. Other interests include sustainable agriculture, collective impact initiatives, corporate social responsibility, and humanitarian aid in complex emergencies.
Anna	Walker	2014, University of St. Gallen	Switzerland	During my time at University, I also coordinated a programme enabling students to travel to developing countries and teach English. This positive glimpse of NGO work made me join a Swiss NGO working on sustainable tourism management in Indonesia for a year. As tourism includes several sectors, I had the chance to get a deeper understanding of service supply chains. Back to Switzerland, I did an internship in sustainable supply chain management, where (voluntary) standards are currently a top priority. I hope the master will further enrich my current knowledge of standards and complement my business background with a strong social twist. Furthermore, I am highly interested in participatory formulations of policies, since the form of participatory work has always seemed most rewarding to me.
Alexandra	Weber	2013, University of Geneva	Switzerland	I finished my Bachelor of Sociology in Geneva 2 years ago and I decided I wanted to travel before deciding which master I wanted to do. After an internship in Montreal in the communcation field that allowed me to travel a lot a bit everywhere in North America, I left for South Africa where I learnt to live in game reserves. I worked for an organisation which tries to rehabilitate cheetahs and other endengered species (such as rhinos).