Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service (SFS) celebrated its Centennial this year. As a core research institute within the SFS, we were privileged to kick off the SFS Centennial celebration on November 16 with a tribute to Georgetown women shaping global affairs titled “The Future will be Inclusive.”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi headlined our discussion. “When women succeed, America succeeds,” said Speaker Pelosi.
Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy (MSFS’04), the first Vietnamese-American woman ever elected to Congress, spoke about her decision to run for office following the 2016 nightclub shooting that took 49 lives in her community. “I just felt that if we are to have that brighter future that every American believes in, we have to change the kinds of people we send to Washington,” she said.
Her Royal Highness Ghida Talal (SFS’86, MSFS’86), Princess of Jordan, spoke about her role as Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of The King Hussein Cancer Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides cancer care to the Middle East region.
They were joined by global trailblazers: Shéhérazade Semsar de Boisséson (SFS’90, MSFS’90, P’20, P’23), CEO of POLITICO Europe and GIWPS Advisory Board Member; Uzra Zeya (SFS’89), CEO of The Alliance for Peacebuilding and former Chargé d’Affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Paris; and Karen Courington (MSFS’10), Head of Product Support Operations at Facebook and Major in the Air Force Reserve.
Following the discussion, Amb. Melanne Verveer was honored with the Timothy Healy, S.J. award. The award is conferred upon Georgetown alumni who have exemplary careers dedicated to public service. There are six previous recipients, including Senator Dick Durbin and Senator George Mitchell.