Schwartz ’08 Named “a Top Foreign Policy Leader under 33”

(Contributed by Gabe Rosenberg ’16)

One of this year’s most influential foreign policy leaders is a Wesleyan alumna, and she’s part of The Diplomatic Courier’s “99 Under 33.”

Stephanie Schwartz ’08 has been named as someone who “mobilizes people in the foreign policy community with bold new ideas,” as part of the publication’s project, together with the nonprofit Young Professionals in Foreign Policy, to name the top 99 leaders under the age of 33.

Schwartz, who holds a B.A. in government from Wesleyan, is the author of Agents of Change: Youth in Post-Conflict Reconstruction. The book examines the role of a young population in Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Kosovo and how domestic policy, NGO programs, international invention and culture play into the reconstruction process.

As a senior program specialist for the U.S. Institute of Peace, Schwartz headed the Youth and Peacebuilding Working Group. She also worked as a consultant to the Sudd Institute, a South Sudanese think thank. Currently a Ph.D. candidate in political science at Columbia University, Schwartz is focusing her research on international mediation and diaspora’s role in civil wars.