DM in Action

For MS in Development Management students, learning extends far beyond the classroom walls. With a practitioner-focused curriculum, MSDM students participate in meaningful research and projects with local and global communities and learn from guest speakers, faculty, and alumni who are leaders in their fields. The DM community is unique in its close collaboration and cohort, which supports each student’s ambition to tackle the most challenging development issues and make a positive impact on the world.

Quick Links

Global pursuits

Conflict and Chronic Disease in Ethiopia

I traveled to Ethiopia to work as a research assistant for Dr. Lauren Carruth with the goal of understanding the effects of conflict and displacement on food insecurity and diabetes among Somalis in Ethiopia’s Somali Region. Worsening conditions due to conflict and climate change have made management of chronic disease nearly impossible for many Somalis. We designed a survey and questionnaire to collect quantitative and qualitative data among Somalis afflicted by diabetes in communities across the region. Despite the hardships they’ve endured, I heard countless stories of incredible resilience.

Summer in Tel Aviv

I had the opportunity to work in Israel at Glowbal Act Organization, a nonprofit that provides employment rehabilitation and skills training for those who have been exploited by sex industries and trafficking. My work helped the organization strategically move toward a new social enterprise that manufactures up-cycled travel bags and provides people leaving exploitation with long-term employment. My passion for helping exploited survivors has grown since working with Glowbal Act and given me further insight to design a model that works in Central America’s context.

Trees and Bees

I collaborated with a community-based organization, Bubugo Conservation Trust, to promote sustainable conservation and improve livelihoods along the Nile River in Uganda. I facilitated the implementation of a pilot project that combined reforestation with income generation for rural communities through beekeeping. I engaged with local stakeholders to create a forest management plan and helped the participants form a savings group. I closed out my project by leading the group in planting 40 trees on the riverbank. The organization has since adopted the tools I created and installed beehives.

Get Involved

A look at some of the ways you can get involved during your time on campus.

International Development Program Student Association

The mission of the International Development Program Student Association (IDPSA) is to support, inspire, and foster the growth of innovative and progressive future international development practitioners who seek to advance people-centered development by linking critical inquiry with community action. Every graduate student enrolled in the ID and DM programs is a member of the IDPSA and can participate in its activities. It is led by the IDPSA Executive Board who are elected by the IDP student body. Contact the IDPSA at idpsamail@gmail.com.

AU International Development Alumni Association

The AU International Development Program Alumni Board (IDAB) was founded in 2003 to strengthen the IDP community and promote ongoing links among alumni as well as between alumni, students, and faculty. It aims to do this by expanding the alumni network, encouraging professional exchanges, building ties between alumni and current IDP students to promote alumni interaction and enhance graduate study in IDP, and raising funds in support of the program and its students. Following in the IDP tradition, the Alumni Board aims to perpetuate in our community an ethical approach to development work that seeks to understand, defend, and promote the interests of disadvantaged people everywhere.

Graduate Student Council

The SIS Graduate Student Council (GSC) is committed to providing professional development, advocating for graduate students, and building a school-wide community. GSC provides opportunities to graduate students to plan and participate in social and professional development events, serve on school committees, advocate for themselves and their peers, and generally have their voices heard in the SIS administration. With a team of senators representing the various programs at the School of International Service and a dedicated Executive Council, the GSC strives to be a leader both inside and outside American University. Contact the GSC at ausisgsc@gmail.com.