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Meet Kelsey

What does it take to make a passion and idea into something more? Founder and Executive Director, Kelsey Suemnicht, is learning first-hand.  She recently launched a bold initiative, The Foreign Policy Project, to empower and inform girls to pursue paths in international relations and policy.

Kelsey SuemnichtWhen she reached out via social media and explained her work and vision, we connected on our experiences working and interning with the U.S. State Department. In the process of doing an interview for the website, she also outlined the problem she sees with the lack of engagement of women in foreign policy careers, and her long-time desire to address the need and build a network and community to support and foster girls to engage in the space.

Kelsey is a Master of Public Diplomacy graduate of the USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism. She is currently the co-founder of the Young Professionals in Foreign Policy San Francisco hub and has worked for the U.S. State Department, Foreign Policy Magazine, World Affairs Council, the USC Center on Public Diplomacy, ICANN, and The Leadership Program.
She is innovating in a well-established space by finding unique ways to bring new voices to the conversation. Just as any early social innovator, she is building and learning as she goes. It was exciting to discuss both her own path and mission, the need for resources, her vision for the new venture, and how logistically she sees it progressing (i.e. legal structures, growth, etc.).

We caught up before Kelsey’s 3 month trip to Southeast Asia where she hopes to meet and interview thinkers and doers with a background in international relations in addition to exploring and experiencing the region.

Learn More About The Foreign Policy Project

You can find out more at TheForeignPolicy.org and follow Kelsey’s adventures on Twitter .
As much as we love doing interviews and podcasts on Innov8Social, it is always an honor to be interviewed and featured on other great impact platforms across the web.The Foreign Policy Project is starting off with exactly that intention in mind. Founder and Executive Director, Kelsey Suemnicht launched the TheForeignPolicyProject.org with the intent to provide international relations and diplomacy career mentorship for young women.One of the ways she is facilitating this outreach is through interviews with individuals who have some meaningful connection or application to diplomacy, foreign relations, or international service.

Kelsey was interested in my experience as a U.S. State Department intern and subsequent path in entrepreneurship. After she invited me to for an interview, we had a chance to connect and share our experience with diplomacy and our passion for social impact and social media. It was inspiring to see her focus on building her project and platform specifically to create new pathways and opportunities in international relations.

Stay tuned for an interview with Kelsey ahead to learn more about her fascinating journey and the vision she has for her new endeavor.

 

Video Interview on The Foreign Policy Project

Here is the video interview…which can be found on the Mentor Interview page of The Foreign Policy Project.