Alumni

Daniel Mundeva graduated from the MAIS program in 2016. He is currently an Associate Program Manager at the Mastercard Foundation where he supports initiatives and programs that aim to address youth unemployment in sub-Saharan Africa (Daniel’s motherland). With this role, Daniel travels extensively to different African countries to support organizations that work with the Foundation to improve education and skills training for young, African leaders.   

Daniel credits a few opportunities he accessed during his MAIS studies to helping him get to where he is today. For instance, while he was writing his thesis, he undertook an internship with Vancouver’s Local Economic Development Lab (LEDlab). During this work, Daniel supported grassroots initiatives that promote income-generating activities for marginalized communities in the Downtown Eastside. Within this role, he learned a lot about project management and gained stakeholder engagement knowledge, which are crucial skills that he uses in his current work.

Daniel found the MAIS program to be a great program and stepping stone for individuals who are interested in international work. He also enjoyed the flexibility that the program provided to students. In his case, the program allowed him to develop research skills he needed to explore issues affecting the natural resource sector in his home country of Tanzania. Daniel also has a BA in Environment and Sustainability from the University of British Columbia.

Andrea Ringrose began her MA in International Studies, Complex Emergencies at SFU in 2008. After years of clinical research, travelling to a couple of the world’s sordid corners and beginning a doctorate in another field, Andrea returned to Vancouver to find the right interdisciplinary program and cohort of brilliant, adventurous minds - many of them close friends today. The accelerated program was intense and at times very challenging, but ultimately emboldening. The theoretical foundations, critical analysis training and learning opportunities from internationally recognized scholars helped to guide the next steps of her rewarding professional life.

Andrea's analysis of the ICC’s deterrence effect regarding sexualized violence resulted in her invitations to further train in behavioural threat/risk assessment, human security intelligence, and criminal investigate analysis. Currently, Andrea is Director of Security Intelligence at respected risk management firm LGRMG. In addition, she is a member of UBC Psychiatry’s Translational Psychiatric Genetics Group, a CMHA Certified Psychological Health & Safety Advisor, and a Certified Mental Health First Aid Instructor for the MCC. She has co-authored publications in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, Bipolar Disorders, and the Journal of Genetic Counseling, and presented posters at Jean Piaget Society’s Annual Meeting, the International Conference on Early Psychosis and the Canadian Association of Threat Assessment Professionals Conference. Andrea is privileged to work in interdisciplinary capacities across borders, cultures and sectors as a human security professional. She spends her free time making music, exploring with her young family and hilarious dog Dr. Radio, and running her charity warmemup.org.

Tanner Boisjolie graduated from the MAIS program in 2016 with a concentration in International Development. He considers the program to have been an invaluable experience that allowed him to strengthen his research and analytical skills, develop new interests, and make strong connections with advisors and classmates.

During his time at SFU, Tanner virtually interned with the United States Agency for International Development’s office in Jakarta, Indonesia, where he provided research assistance to the agency’s South-South and Triangular Cooperation program. With the support of a Graduate International Research Travel Award, Tanner was able to complete a thesis on the institutional arrangements supporting Indonesian and South African South-South Cooperation programs.

Following graduation, Tanner worked at the U.S. Consulate in Vancouver’s management section, where he was responsible for project management and logistics.

After passing the 2018 United Nations Young Professionals Programme (YPP) exam in Social Affairs, Tanner was offered a position as an Associate Economic Affairs Officer at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in Beirut, Lebanon. Tanner currently serves in ESCWA’s coordinating cluster on the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals, which provides analytical support to the implementation and follow-up and review of the agenda in the Arab region.  

Tanner also holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of San Diego.

Alexis Carr graduated from the MAIS program in 2014 and currently works in Research, Monitoring and Evaluation for the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), an intergovernmental organisation focusing on learning for sustainable development. With an undergraduate background in English, history and liberal arts Alexis enrolled in the MAIS program after working for three years in rural Mexico as an English instructor and programme developer. A recipient of a Graduate Fellowship, Alexis was also awarded Graduate Research Travel funding to undertake original research in Mexico for her major project, and was subsequently nominated for the SFU Convocation Medal. Currently, Alexis supports the design and implementation M&E systems and action research projects at COL. Significant accomplishments include: the development of an empowerment framework, which has been used in more than five countries; authorship of a ‘Measuring Empowerment Toolkit’ launched by COL and UN Women at the 8^th Pan-Commonwealth Forum in 2016, and co-authorship of numerous papers and presentations which have been presented at major global events and conferences. A lifelong learner, Alexis has gone on to do additional coursework in data analysis, research methods and survey design. She credits the MAIS program with providing a solid grounding in international development theory as well as practical research skills, both of which are essential to her current work.

Kirsten Pontalti graduated from the MAIS in 2010 with a final project that focused on children and youth in conflict-affected ‘fragile’ states. With three young children of her own, she planned to graduate and work for a development organisation. But mid-way through the program, the MAIS director encouraged her to pursue her doctoral studies (DPhil) at the University of Oxford. The DPhil was the beginning of a life-changing experience for her and her family, who accompanied her for a term at Oxford and ten months of fieldwork in Rwanda. In 2017, Kirsten successfully defended her dissertation “Coming of Age and Changing Institutional Pathways Across Generations in Rwanda”.

Following completion, Kirsten returned to Rwanda to share her findings. She is excited to now be working as an Associate at Proteknôn Consulting, a group of senior researchers and practitioners internationally focused on child and youth well-being. She is also pursuing further academic research related to children and youth, social change and conflict.

Kirsten is grateful for the camaraderie and support she enjoyed with her MAIS colleagues and professors as well as Ellen’s perpetually warm welcome! She also really appreciates that the MAIS gave her the practical skills and theoretical grounding she needed to succeed in her DPhil.

Pamela Thindwa was born and raised in Malawi, also known as the “Warm Heart of Africa.” The growth of social media and the globalization of digital entertainment meant that she was exposed to many different perspectives. She became particularly interested in the global North-South divide and she developed a passion to work in international development.

Pamela is currently employed in the International Markets division of the Government of British Columbia’s Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology. Their mandate is to support BC’s economic development with an international platform. This work requires strong writing and analytical skills as well as the ability to work in a fast-paced environment. According to Pamela, she developed such skills and abilities during her time in the MAIS program. Pamela also credits the MAIS with expanding her understandings of international development. Furthermore, she appreciated having the option to complete two extended essays through which she could develop expertise related to two specific issues. The 12-month timeframe of the MAIS suited Pamela because she was eager to move on from the classroom and gain hands-on experience working in her field of interest.

Before the MAIS, Pamela earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics at the University of Nebraska in 2012. At the University of Nebraska, Pamela served as president and vice-president of several student organizations including the Model United Nations and Omicron Delta Epsilon (an Economics Honorary Society). She also interned for developmental influencers such as the Center for Global Health and Diplomacy, for which she worked as an Assistant Editor for their quarterly publication.

Karli Epstein came to SFU after earning her undergraduate degree in Political Science from Northern Arizona University and studying African Politics for one year at the University of Ghana in West Africa. After completing the MAIS at SFU, Karli moved to Lake Tahoe to do an AmeriCorps (domestic Peace Corps) term with a local hunger relief organization. She then went on to work with the National American Red Cross Disaster Services team as a Field Associate, and she served as a disaster preparedness and response expert to 12 states on the eastern seaboard. Karli also worked with Red Cross regional staff on disaster communications and marketing planning as well as on mass care preparations for post-disaster impact. Karli has responded to 10 national disasters, and spent over 4 weeks in New York and New Jersey as a Public Information Officer for the Red Cross after Hurricane Sandy. Currently, Karli is the Executive Director of the Incline Village Community Hospital Foundation, where she is working to ensure that all residents in her rural mountain home in Nevada have quality access to health care services. Karli is also an adjunct professor for the School of Community Health Sciences at the University of Nevada Reno, where she teaches courses on Global Health and International and National Disaster Response.

Karli’s MAIS year at SFU was transformative in many ways. Not only did it inspire her to pursue a career in non-profit work and disaster response, but it also encouraged her to teach at the university level. According to Karli, SFU’s School for International Studies has some of the most brilliant minds in the field and fosters an environment where all opinions are considered worthwhile and productive. She will always be incredibly grateful for her time at SFU, and most importantly the lifelong friendships that she created there.

Mark Norman graduated from the MAIS program in 2009. His MA project critically analyzed the growing global phenomenon of “sport for peace,” which seeks to use sport-based interventions as peacebuilding tools in war-torn or otherwise divided societies. Following this interest in the relationship between sport and social development, Mark undertook a PhD in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education at the University of Toronto. He graduated in 2015, having completed a thesis that examined the sociological significance of sport and physical recreation in the Canadian federal prison system.

For the next two years Mark worked as a project manager at the Centre for Sport Policy Studies at the University of Toronto, and taught at University of Toronto (Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education) and Ryerson University (Department of Sociology). In 2017, Mark began a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship at McMaster University. Based out of the Department of Health, Aging & Society, Mark is undertaking a research project to explore alternative forms of physical recreation and therapeutic interventions in the Canadian corrections system, with a specific focus on animal-assisted interventions and yoga.

Mark has published research in journals including Sociology of Sport Journal and International Review for the Sociology of Sport, and chapters in a number of edited books. Mark received graduate paper awards from the North American Society of the Sociology of Sport and the International Sociology of Sport Association.

Mark currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario, with his wife Melissa and infant son Elliott.