Sabre Morris (M.A. International Security, 2020) first encountered the world of international affairs in a middle school classroom in her hometown of Aurora, Colorado, where she participated in a hands-on experience called the ‘World Affairs Challenge’ Her social studies teacher noticed the spark, and not long after, her mother handed her a clipped article from Essence magazine featuring a Foreign Service Officer stationed in Costa Rica. “This is something you could do,” she said, and Morris believed her.

That early encouragement stayed with her. Throughout high school, she dove into globally focused extracurriculars like speech and debate and Model United Nations, finding energy and purpose in understanding how different countries and cultures interact. But it was at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies where Morris began to grasp the full range of what a global career could look like. “I went into this thinking the only way to do international work was through the Foreign Service,” she said. “Honestly, I give credit to Korbel. I learned there are so many opportunities in the international affairs space, across both the public and private sectors.” While internships with the Department of State helped clarify career opportunities, it was a combination of classroom learning and insightful peer conversations that expanded her view of the field.

At Korbel, Morris encountered a fast-paced learning environment that mirrored the consulting world she would eventually enter. Real-world simulations, group projects, and rapid-fire discussions pushed her to adapt, think quickly, and communicate with clarity. “At first, I didn’t understand why we were doing so many simulations,” she admitted. But in her early days on the job, it became clear just how much those exercises had prepared her for real-world problem solving. “You're using the same muscle in your brain when you're in the simulation, and then you take those skills out into the real world.”

What began in the classroom grew into a successful career with the help of Korbel’s professional network and resources. “I participated in the Korbel in D.C. program, which gave me a tangible sense of international affairs work. I spent six months in Washington D.C. building connections, networking, meeting other alumni, and learned the in-and outs of the cross-sector [public, private, and nonprofit],” she said. “I didn’t know what government consulting was until I met Korbel alums. They described their roles, projects, and impact they made for their clients in the federal government space, and I thought to myself, is this a possible career path for me?” Those conversations helped her see how her international security background could translate to the private sector. After joining  Deloitte’s Denver office, she helped recruit DU and Korbel students. After a successful run in Denver, she transitioned to Washington, D.C., where she supports defense and security clients.

While her career has taken her on an exciting journey to a new city, the sense of community she found at Korbel remains constant. Many of her closest friendships were formed during group projects and late-night study sessions, and she continues to stay connected with the Korbel network today. In D.C., she enjoys mentoring current students. “I met a recent grad for coffee in Arlington and was immediately impressed,” she said. “The Korbel community is always supportive, welcoming, and eager to connect.”

Sabre Morris’s journey is an inspiring testament to how following your passions can lead to a meaningful career, even if the path is not always linear. “International affairs will always be here,” she says. “Even if things feel uncertain or delayed, there’s still a need for subject matter experts and people on the ground doing this work.”

Now, Morris is excited to support current students through their time at Korbel and beyond, offering encouragement, perspective, and practical advice as an official alumni ambassador. You can connect with her at [email protected].

Former Secretary of State and Korbel Alumnus Condoleezza Rice’s recent message to the Korbel community was clear: Democracy as we know it hangs in the balance—but there is hope in tomorrow’s leaders. “When you’re in the middle of an avalanche, you can’t stop it; you just have to decide how you’re going to dig out,” the former Secretary of State told the audience at DU’s Korbel Honors 2025 celebration. “We’re in a little bit of an avalanche right now.” 

The sentiment hit home at the annual gathering to honor the faculty, staff, and alumni who embody the ideals and values of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies: education, democracy, and service. The uncertainty of global affairs was not lost on the crowd, especially this year on the 60th anniversary of the school’s founding. “We find ourselves at a momentous point in history,” added Dean of the Korbel School Fritz Mayer. “It is a remarkably challenging time, and there’s been no other moment — certainly in my lifetime — where so much was changing.”

“Being in Denver in the Mountain West has always given us that kind of critical distance.... We’ve been able to adapt and respond... because we’re not in the day-to-day fray of the Washington beltway." - Fritz Mayer, Dean of the Korbel School

However, it was not so different for the founder of the Korbel School, the late international relations professor Josef Korbel. The Czechoslovakian native worked as a European diplomat immediately following World War II (during which he fled to London to escape the Nazi invasion), but immigrated with his family to the United States in 1948 to avoid the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia. With a promising diplomatic future in the rearview, Dr. Korbel redirected his energy toward academia, where it became apparent that few international affairs professors at the time possessed his rare blend of real-life diplomatic experience and intellectual curiosity about the principles of democracy—and the need to uphold it. He parlayed that into the debut of DU’s Graduate School of International Studies in1964 and remained at the university until his death in 1977. In 2008, the school was renamed to honor his legacy.

Korbel alumna and keynote speaker Dr. Rice (PhD ’81) is living proof of Korbel’s legacy. With trademark eloquence, she reflected on her journey from would-be music major at DU to mentee of Josef Korbel; to provost and professor of political science at Stanford University; and to her appointment as the 66th U.S. Secretary of State—the second woman to serve as such after the late Madeleine Albright, Dr. Korbel’s daughter. And her vision for democracy is rooted right here in the teachings of her mentor. “I knew I wanted to be somebody who did a lot of the things that Dr. Korbel had done: diplomacy, the study of foreign cultures and languages…He opened the world of the Soviet Union to me…He always said that mentors are people who see things in you that you don’t even see in yourself.” Dr. Korbel did indeed share his gift of diplomatic acumen with both his daughter and Dr. Rice—something he excelled at in part because of his extensive firsthand experience.

“We sometimes want to put a price tag on education: What will it be worth in what I can earn? It’s not a bad thing to think about. But it’s more about expanding your mind and the possibilities of who you might become.” - Former Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Korbel School Alumna

Dr. Rice was the last student that Dr. Korbel taught. She recalled a remark he once made in class that democracy is “the only system where human dignity can be fully realized. So he was fundamentally devoted to the democratic enterprise,” she said. “There are now people in the world and even in our own country who aren’t so sure [they share that view].” Now is not the time, she argued, to sit back and wait for those people to come around. Rather, it’s a time to tackle conflicting values head-on.

In fact, 60 years ago when Dr. Korbel founded the school (currently ranked 12th in the world for international relations graduate programs), world forces as we knew them were shifting then as well. The conflict in Vietnam was escalating, passage of the Voting Rights Act spurred the larger Civil Rights Movement forward, and the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union was gaining momentum. “We were a school founded … by a generation who was grappling with the great issues of that time,” said Dean Fritz Mayer. “How to avoid a third world war, how to address international development, how to tackle human rights—these were the salient issues of that moment.”

For Dean Mayer, these are the most important questions faculty and staff tackle together. “How do we prepare our students for the challenges of today?” he asks. “The challenges they’re likely to face in their career?” Engaging with these pivotal issues still remains at the heart of Korbel’s ethos, even when the weight of uncertainty and drastic change is daunting. Because when the avalanche stops, digging out will require savvy tools, sharp strategy, innovation, and grit. And, as each of the 2025 Korbel award recipients pointed out, our government, institutions, NGOs, and businesses will need the kinds of smart, engaged leaders that the Korbel School matriculates to grab shovels when the slide clears. 

That’s where Korbel students shine, said Beth Ingalls, (B.A. ’96), Division Chief at the U.S. Department of State and recipient of the 2025 Distinguished Alumni Award. “The Korbel School promotes meaningful action through their programs,” she said. “They’re promoting democracy, human rights, and protection of national security. All of these issues will continue to be extremely important regardless of who is in the White House.”

“One of the things the Korbel School instilled in me is the idea of service.” - Beth Ingalls, Korbel Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient

Ingalls’ impressive career in foreign service, national security, and counterterrorism grew from her interest in public service, launched at the Korbel School. Building on her love of travel and interest in the global community, she took an international politics course on a whim. It was the catalyst for a profoundly impactful professional track that has taken her from Egypt to Pakistan to Afghanistan and back to Washington, D.C. “One of the things the Korbel School instilled in me is the idea of service,” Ingalls said. “Getting into the international studies degree program opened up opportunities and made me think about where I could work in the government, which brought me to the State Department.”

No matter where Ingalls’ path has taken her, she’s continued to keep her ties to Korbel strong. Connections and community, she says, are at the heart of the school’s culture and the continuing success of its students in our nation’s capital and beyond. In fact, Ingalls is the executive chair of Korbel’s Alumni Council, and plays an instrumental role in hosting students in Washington, D.C. through Korbel’s D.C. Career Connections program. At Korbel, she said, “You’re not just a number. You’re not lost in thousands of students … The school really punches above their weight in terms of having so many alumni here in the State Department and other places in the federal government. That’s something to be proud of.”

Success beyond the degree is due in no small part to educators like Professor Sachin Desai, winner of Korbel’s 2025 Outstanding Teaching Award. Born in Mumbai, India, Professor Desai completed both his M.S. and M.B.A. at DU, and has been teaching at the Korbel School since 2012. In his graduate quantitative methods courses, Professor Desai helps students apply data and statistics to understand and solve problems—even those students hesitant about the subject matter. “More than half of them take a second or third class with me because they end up finding the skill sets very relevant in the real world,” Professor Desai said. “I have changed the curriculum over time to reflect market realities and what is in demand for students.”

“They are already coming in with some passion about something. In the classroom, you’ve got all these diverse perspectives about where they’ve been and what they’ve done. They are already disciplined, diligent, and focused.” - Professor Sachin Desai, Outstanding Teaching Award Recipient

The mutual respect between Professor Desai and his students is a reflection of a strong relationship between an engaged, invested faculty and the driven, curious students who choose a Korbel education. “They are already coming in with some passion about something,” Professor Desai said. “In the classroom, you’ve got all these diverse perspectives about where they’ve been and what they’ve done. They are already disciplined, diligent, and focused. Their minds are ready to receive. It’s easy for us to give what we have to give.”

And how exactly does one inspire the next generation in times of such glaring uncertainty? It’s about taking the long view, expanding possibilities, and encouraging students to be adaptable in order to stay the course. It’s remembering that no one at Korbel is working in isolation to educate tomorrow’s leaders, he said—that it does indeed “take a village.”

The fact that the Korbel School is a community 1,600 miles away from the political buzz of our nation’s capital, and many agree that this distance is advantageous. “Being in Denver in the Mountain West … has always given us that kind of critical distance,” said Dean Mayer. “We like to say we have a bit of a wider aperture, maybe a longer horizon. We often use the phrase, ‘You can see far from here.’ We’ve been able to adapt and respond perhaps more nimbly in part because we’re not in the day-to-day fray of the Washington beltway.” Put another way, that distance gives students the space to make creative and deliberate choices that help channel their passions. 

That’s where Rae Ann Bories-Easley comes in as the Senior Director of the Korbel Office of Career Development, and the winner of the 2025 Outstanding Staff Award. Not only does Bories-Easley model what service looks like in her work with so many students, but she also plays an instrumental role in shaping their trajectories through fellowships, internships, networking events, job workshops, and more. Even amidst this troubling slide, she pointed out, Korbel students are continuing to step up because they know what drives them—be it climate policy, gender equity, conflict resolution, or human rights—and they have the advantage of that wide-angle perspective, removed from the noise. “Many students are interested in federal service, specifically,” she said, though she noted that this door is a little sticky right now. “So a lot of students are thinking about a pivot: How do I do good in this world in a different way?”

"What’s really important now is the skill of being the human in the room—being able to build relationships, talk to people, read the room, and engage with stakeholders.” - Rae Ann Bories-Easley, Korbel Staff Excellence Award Recipient

As for what the future holds for the Korbel School and the way it shapes tomorrow’s leaders, there’s no doubt that change is already upon us, Bories-Easley said, with artificial intelligence front and center. AI as a tool is critical moving forward, she pointed out, and already omnipresent, “So what’s really important now is the skill of being the human in the room—being able to build relationships, talk to people, read the room, and engage with stakeholders.” 

Perhaps that’s what the Korbel School has done best throughout its history: Provided space for the exploration of new frontiers while simultaneously keeping its students grounded in the human-to-human connection that makes cross-cultural progress successful. Connections, Dr. Rice pointed out, are key to the interdisciplinary nature of the Korbel School’s programs.  After all, you can’t worry about problems like sustainability or national security without building a spectrum of economists, political scientists, environmentalists, and psychologists—and then wielding their tools in tandem with each other. “Problems,” she said, “don’t come with neat disciplinary boundaries.”

Our future leaders will need interdisciplinary attention and resiliency—and Korbel is equipping its students to navigate that journey, which won’t be straightforward. “There’s a balance between clear-eyed realism about what is happening,” said Dean Mayer, “a willingness to speak truth as we see it and be critical—coupled with the underlying belief that these problems are caused by humans, and we can therefore address them with the courage, intellect, and will to tackle even the most daunting of problems.”

Dr. Rice agreed, pointing to the change that one person’s decisions can set in motion. Her grandfather, she shared, was the son of a sharecropper and a freed slave, and he figured out how to put himself through college. Now, there’s not a member of the Rice family who isn’t college-educated. “We sometimes want to put a price tag on education: What will it be worth in what I can earn?” she said. “It’s not a bad thing to think about. But it’s more about expanding your mind and the possibilities of who you might become.”

Learn more about the 60th Year Anniversary of the Korbel School below.

 

Creating a truly inclusive learning environment takes more than good intentions—it takes commitment, creativity, and care. Korbel School Professor Rebecca Galemba embodies these values every day, and to mark this year’s Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), the University of Denver awarded her the GAAD Award for Accessible & Inclusive Classroom Experiences. This distinction highlights her outstanding efforts to ensure every student feels supported and empowered to succeed.

Prof. Galemba’s approach to accessibility is an everyday extension of what GAAD celebrates in higher education: inclusive and accessible teaching practices. One student remarked, “Prof. Galemba has placed such an emphasis on accessibility and making sure that all of her students can learn in the way that best suits them. Her efforts to make her course accessible really encouraged me to engage with her and her course.” This kind of student feedback underscores the powerful ripple effect of Prof. Galemba’s thoughtfully inclusive classroom.

The University of Denver and the broader Korbel community are proud to recognize Prof. Galemba’s unwavering commitment to her students. Her work not only exemplifies the spirit of GAAD but also raises the bar for what inclusive education can and should be. Congratulations to Prof. Galemba on this well-earned honor!

 

The Korbel School’s Scrivner Institute of Public Policy and DU’s Center for Immigration Policy Research (CIPR) recently joined forces to present a Scrivner Policy Roundtable focusing on the DU Courtwatch Project. The Scrivner Policy Roundtable offers a chance for the DU and local policy communities to dive deep into pressing local issues. Designed to spark dialogue and build bridges, the roundtables are more than just discussions—they’re a catalyst for connection and action. The Scrivner Institute organizes the series and convenes the policy community in Denver and on campus, while partner organizations present their work or research and facilitate robust group discussions on the topic at hand.

The Scrivner Policy Roundtable is a fruitful example of leveraging synergies between DU entities and the Denver community to spur partnerships and opportunities to collaborate. The discussions that the roundtable facilitates among students, community organizations, faculty, and staff provide a more intimate, organic, and engaging way for students to network with the community, opening up potential projects, internship, or employment opportunities for students interested in local policy.

The latest Roundtable, “(In)Justice in the Immigration Court System,” was led by CIPR faculty, student research assistants, and community partners, including:

• Rebecca Galemba - Korbel School Professor and CIPR Co-director
• Lisa Martinez - Professor of Sociology and CIPR Co-director
• Liz Jordan - Visiting Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the Immigration Law & Policy Clinic
• Student research assistants - Ella Iveslatt, Kelly Nilan, Jasmine Salgado Simentel, and Kay Shepherd; and
• Community partners - Colorado Asylum Center and the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN)

Panelists presented on the historical influences and current structure of the U.S. immigration court system, while also sharing personal observations of the Denver immigration court system. Their research focuses on two expedited mechanisms: the Dedicated Docket and the Family Expedited Removal Management Program (FERM). Table and group discussions following the presentation emphasized how academic research can advance social and policy change by bolstering transparency and promoting due process in a widely misunderstood and overburdened immigration system. Dr. Galemba noted that much of Denver’s immigration court proceedings are open to the public, saying “it takes an army to look at the immigration system.” The presenters extrapolated important lessons we can apply to the current moment in American immigration, which is seeing an unprecedented erosion of due process and a delegitimization of the internationally recognized right to claim asylum.

This collaborative Roundtable event, brought to life by the combined efforts of the Scrivner Institute and the CIPR, is the most recent example of the ways Korbel faculty and staff are connecting students with the broader Denver community. “It was informative, fascinating, and inspiring to hear the words of faculty, students, and community partners in conversation with each other about their intersecting sets of knowledge and shared commitment to using that knowledge for the collective good," said Dr. Naazneen Barma, Director of the Scrivner Institute of Public Policy and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at the Korbel School of International Studies. Korbel student, sophomore Klaire Cherryhomes, shared “I really valued the research, the empirical aspect of the presentation. Research is an essential way to deliver rights. Providing transparency to these incredibly closed-off systems is powerful."

The Scrivner Policy Roundtable exemplifies the Scrivner Institute’s commitment to its mission to equip students to tackle today’s most crucial policy issues with a local to global perspective and an emphasis on practical solutions. The Institute and Korbel School are dedicated to providing students opportunities to participate in essential, timely policy discussions by collaborating across DU and working alongside essential community partners.

Watch the recording of the event here, and to learn more about the Scrivner Policy Roundtables, visit the Scrivner Institute’s website.

This article was written with support from Scrivner Institute student Program Assistant Katia Diamond-Sagias.

Teaching Assistant Professor Dr. Stefan Chavez-Norgaard’s lifelong interest in public policy began at just six years old. As he took Philadelphia’s SEPTA train from his grandparents’ house to Center City, he was struck by the disparate quality of livelihoods visible from his window. “Even as a young kid,” he said, “I was shocked by the inequalities that the city line could mean in terms of land use, tree cover, and house size.” 

That early awareness of inequity sparked a lifelong passion for public policy and urban planning, one that eventually brought him to the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, where he is now completing his first year as a faculty member. 

“That’s where it all started,” he reflected. “A six-year-old visiting his grandparents with his mom and dad.” 

That moment on the train sparked more than curiosity; it ignited a lifelong commitment to understanding how people with different lived experiences exist alongside one another, and how systems can either support or hinder that possibility. “The throughline across all my research is how can people of different backgrounds — racial, ethnic, gender, and class — live together side by side, as opposed to being separated by walls, segregation, and disparity,” Dr. Chavez-Norgaard explained. 

That guiding question led him to Johannesburg, South Africa, where he returned many times to study the Born Free Generation: the first cohort to come of age without direct memory of apartheid. “This generation represented a really amazing historical moment — a society of explicit racial hierarchy and oppression giving way to a multiracial democracy,” he said. 

Dr. Chavez-Norgaard’s research centers on local democratic governance — bottom-up forms of engagement — and in Johannesburg, he found a powerful case study of a multiracial society striving to transcend its past. “I’ve stayed in touch with many of the original interviewees from my undergraduate thesis. They became interviewees in my PhD dissertation — and now, I would call them friends.” 

The insights gained from this work not only shaped his academic journey but also drew him to Colorado, where he was born and raised, and where the intersection of democratic engagement and urban development offered new opportunities to continue his exploration. So, when the opening for a faculty position at the Korbel School popped up, Dr. Chavez-Norgaard was immediately interested. “There’s a sort of pragmatism about democratic problem solving in Colorado,” he said. “And then there’s the nature and beauty of the region as well as dynamism and growth.” 

Throughout his first year, Dr. Chavez-Norgaard visited neighborhood associations and community organizations, which led to involvement in projects like the East Colfax Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. The effort to bring public transportation to this part of Denver required collaboration among a diverse range of stakeholders, creating a dynamic participatory process at the intersection of democratic principles and urban planning. “Who’s the envisioned rider of such a system?” he asked himself. “What about the displacement of existing residents of Colfax? Is BRT along Colfax even the right answer?” Projects like this, and the complex questions they raise, have affirmed that coming to Colorado was the right decision — a place where his research can take root and make a tangible impact. 

All Dr. Chavez-Norgaard’s efforts networking across the city culminated in making his debut Public Policy Analysis classes possible – one for undergraduates and another for graduate students. “These aren’t your typical lecture-based courses,” he said. “They’re chances for students to dive into real-world policy work, connect with professionals, and explore how cities like Denver interact globally.” Throughout the quarter, students meet with a lineup of inspiring guest speakers, taking an experiential learning approach.  

Some of the guest speakers are former ambassadors, representatives from institutions like the Truman Center, the Pacific Disaster Center, World Denver, and multiple members of the Colorado Consular Corps. Students work directly with the U.S. Department of State and Colorado’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) on client-based projects. 

Much of this is powered by the Korbel alumni network, which plays a big role in opening doors. Former students now working in these agencies are eager to give back, mentoring current students, and bringing their professional world into the classroom. 

Dr. Chavez-Norgaard’s first year at Korbel has been defined by connection to his colleagues, students, and the broader Denver community. By grounding his teaching in hands-on experiences and his research in questions that matter across borders and backgrounds, he’s created a learning environment that is as intellectually rigorous as it is personally meaningful. 

“I’ve felt welcomed and supported by the Korbel faculty from the very beginning, and I’m hoping to grow alongside faculty and staff colleagues at Korbel, whom I hope I can think of as lifelong friends,” he shared. That spirit of collaboration and purpose is shaping not just his own path, but the journeys of the next generation of public policy leaders — students learning to navigate complexity with clarity, empathy, and a drive to make a difference.

Over the past two years, the Scrivner Institute of Public Policy and Korbel School have proudly partnered with the Aspen Institute to offer a Denver Dialogues panel at the Aspen Strategy Group’s annual Aspen Security Forum (ASF), the premier national security and foreign policy conference in the United States. This past July, the Scrivner Institute and Korbel School, in collaboration with the Aspen Strategy Group, convened a special edition panel at ASF entitled “The End of Soft Power?”, exploring the state of soft power in the contemporary global context.

This summer, the Aspen Institute generously extended four complementary passes to Korbel students to join Korbel Dean Fritz Mayer and Scrivner Institute Director Naazneen Barma at the Forum. After applying to receive one of the passes, Korbel students Omar Aittakalla, Micah DenBraber, Norair Hevorkian, and Hans Schaler were selected to attend the 15th annual Aspen Security Forum in Aspen, CO. The students made the most of the wonderful opportunity to engage with experts in international security and diplomacy, learn about the most pressing global issues from domestic and global leaders, and to network with policymakers, diplomats, and scholars.

Student attendee Omar Aittakalla, who is in the International Development graduate program, reflected on his experience: “Attending the Aspen Security Forum has been one of the most enriching experiences of my summer. The opportunity to engage with leaders who have shaped, are shaping, and will shape the future of global security was truly unparalleled. I had the privilege to converse with a diverse array of experts, including seasoned policymakers, influential thought leaders, and rising stars in the field…Topics ranged from the strategic implications of space and cybersecurity to the geopolitical dynamics of great power competition. These discussions not only deepened my understanding of the difficulties we confront on a global scale but also instilled in me a sense of optimism…"

"As I reflect on my time at the Aspen Security Forum, I am left with a renewed sense of purpose and a deeper appreciation for the collaborative efforts required to navigate the complexities our world is facing and will continue to face in the future.”

Micah DenBraber, another student attendee, said: “Attending the 2024 Aspen Security Forum was truly life changing. As an undergraduate international affairs major at Korbel, it was exhilarating to engage in conversations with top policy and business professionals in the national security space. A highlight of the forum was attending the Google AI security breakfast, where the new multi-stakeholder standards initiative, the Coalition for Safe AI (COSAI), was announced. This initiative brings together AI developers, industry leaders, academics, policymakers, and civil society organizations to promote the safe and responsible development, deployment, and governance of AI technologies. One of the most memorable moments for me was approaching a panelist during the AI security dialogue, where my initial nerves gave way to forming a valuable connection with someone who offered to support my BA thesis. As I enter my final undergraduate year, I’m excited to leverage the insights and connections gained at ASF to pursue opportunities in the global governance of artificial intelligence. I’m incredibly grateful to the Scrivner Institute and the Korbel School for facilitating this unmatched exposure to the nation’s leading national security practitioners and granting students such transformative opportunities.”

The Scrivner Institute and Korbel School are proud to partner with the Aspen Strategy Group in offering a transformative experience for our students and connecting a new generation of foreign policy leaders to ASG. We extend our thanks to the Aspen Strategy Group for their generous invitation for Korbel students to attend the Aspen Security Forum this summer and look forward to this mutually beneficial partnership in the years to come.

By: Sylvia Morna Freitas

The Institute for Security Studies African Futures (ISS) has released a new article about how the unprecedented shut-down of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will affect African countries. Using the Pardee Institute’s International Futures forecasting platform (IFs) to model the cut in assistance, the ISS found that 5.7 million more Africans would fall below the US$2.15 extreme poverty income level in the next year should the Trump administration continue with its sweeping aid reduction. 

Author and Founder of the ISS, Jakkie Cilliers, provides detailed context on the reliance of several African countries on U.S. aid and delves into the changing landscape of U.S. foreign aid policy. The U.S. provides 26% of all aid that comes to Africa. The largest component of which is spent in the health sector to combat deadly diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, and more. Outside of the health sector, U.S. aid to African countries supports agricultural productivity and economic growth, bolsters security, promotes democracy, human rights, and governance, and improves access to quality education and social services.  

In January 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid executive order, which led USAID to suspend operations by award recipients. According to the models, the sudden loss of funding to these development sectors will have a considerable impact on the future of Africa. In this assessment, the ISS African Futures modeling platform used IFs to model a scenario in which aid to Africa is reduced by 20%. By 2030, they found that 19 million more Africans would be considered extremely poor as a result of the aid reduction. ISS tested an alternative scenario where Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) was used to replace the loss in aid. They increased FDI to the same volume to see if it could offset the loss but found “no evidence.” For the poorest countries, FDI increased inequality and poverty in the short and medium-term. Further findings include a dramatic decrease in the sub-Saharan economy by $4.6 billion and a rise in mortality and displacement throughout the continent. Cilliers offers alternative solutions that serve both the U.S. desire to reform its aid policy and African leaders as they navigate this geopolitical shift.  

The IFs platform is the only open-source, global model that covers 188 countries and integrates data to forecast a range of interconnected variables across human, social, and natural systems. With a database that goes back to the 1960s in key areas—such as agriculture, economics, governance, health, and more—the IFs is a tool that allows researchers and policymakers to explore the way different policies will shape the future up to the year 2100 and can be used to model the potential consequence of aid loss to several African countries.  

The importance of ISS’s work with Pardee’s International Futures model comes from its ability to forecast how the change in U.S. foreign aid policy will impact Africa. This will allow leaders in African nations and across the world to prepare themselves for the course ahead. It also enables ISS and other researchers to plumb the depths of aid reform and explore how alternative aid policy could better meet the needs of our global future.  

Read the full article here. 

Making career moves while serving in the U.S. military can be tricky. “A lot of people still do it,” says Daniel Doerr, a Veteran and alumnus of the Korbel School, “even though you could be deployed and pulled away from your degree at a moment's notice. But graduate school at Korbel was worth it.”

Military service is something that appealed to Daniel from a young age. There were Veterans and active military personnel in his family, and moments like the September 11th attacks compelled him to join once he was an adult. “It’s always been about protecting people for me,” Daniel says. “That’s been a huge driving force in my life.” He began his military career in Fort Benning in Georgia — now known as Fort Moore. After deployments while on active duty in Afghanistan and again while in the Reserves to the South Pacific, he took a quick pivot to medical sales. After a break from the military, he relocated to Colorado, where he would soon re-enlist and serve at Fort Carson.

Through peers in the Denver area, he heard about the Korbel School and its expertise in security. It was an easy decision to enroll, even though he knew his military service would always come first. Thankfully, circumstances allowed him to pursue his degree uninterrupted.

Daniel graduated with his M.A in International Security in 2022, the same year his military service ended. His career trajectory has been unconventional. He’s stepped away from planned career paths for personal matters and has shifted focus once or twice. When prompted to give advice to others considering graduate school while mid-career, Daniel says to just go for it: “It was a really rewarding experience. I found community at Korbel, but since I was older and already established in Denver, I had community outside of school, too. I was similar in age to a few of my professors and had life experiences they didn’t. My professors felt like peers — peers who taught me a lot along the way.”

As an officer in the military, Daniel spent his time at Korbel side-by-side with students who had served in completely different capacities. “A good example is my peers coming in from the Peace Corps,” he says. “On the surface, the Peace Corps and the Army are diametrically opposed in their approach to foreign affairs. But we approached things with an open mind, and I’m proud of my friends in the Peace Corps and me for creating a space for open and safe dialogue. We ended up having excellent conversations about some difficult subjects, and in the end, I now approach security from a more well-rounded standpoint.”

For Daniel, Veterans Day can be challenging. “It’s a time to reflect on my own combat experiences, both positive and negative,” he says. “It tends to be somber as I think of the friends that I’ve lost, much like Memorial Day. But it’s a day to embrace the feelings and emotions that I carry with me, and also a day to pay homage to all those who’ve served. If I’m honest, it’s also a day to pat myself on the back, thinking how wild of a ride it was and how much I learned through it all.”

Daniel is currently a Physical and Digital Security Advisor for RedBag Inc. He works toward providing safety and security for K-12 school teachers, allowing him to continue protecting others as he did in the military. His security experiences — both in the Army and at Korbel — have given him unique perspectives that help him improve the safety of kids at school.

Dr. Hilary Matfess, Assistant Professor and Director of Korbel’s International Security Degree, never planned to study gender and war. However, a series of unexpected obstacles early in her career forced her to rethink her approach and ignited a passion for uncovering overlooked narratives—one that continues to fuel her work today.

“I love telling my students how I started this work because my entire career is an exercise in serendipity and mistakes,” she said.

From Serendipity to Passion

Dr. Matfess, who has taught at Korbel since 2021 and is an affiliate of the Sié Chéou-Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy, examines how women mobilize for war globally with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa. She looks at what they do in non-state armed groups, “which is a clunky academic term,” she explained, “for any group that’s not ‘official’ state military.” Her work explores why women join these groups, their roles, and their personal experiences within them.

“When I was getting my master's degree, I had the opportunity to work as a research assistant tracking political or social violence in Nigeria,” she said. When she arrived to study Boko Haram, Dr. Matfess found that she couldn’t access the armed men at the heart of the conflict. “I was ambitious enough to think I’d get to the bottom of Boko Haram as a 20-something. Turns out, insurgencies are very good at staying hidden. I was really frustrated that I couldn't sit down with the people that I thought were at the heart of the war, which would be armed young men my age or younger.”

Fortunately for Dr. Matfess, what started as a roadblock became an opportunity that would shape the course of her work for years to come.

“Through other activists, practitioners, and academics, I landed interviews in displacement camps and with people who fled the crisis. Mostly women. Really embarrassingly, I treated them like a consolation prize at first, but they revealed conflict dynamics that I didn't see reflected in any of the narratives around Boko Haram. From then on, I became obsessed with shedding light on this under-explored dynamic of how armed groups function.”

Bringing Women’s Experiences from the Margins into the Light

Much of Dr. Matfess's research feels like assembling a puzzle with missing pieces. Alongside Associate Professor Meredith Loken, who teaches at the University of Amsterdam, she built the Women’s Activities in Armed Rebellion (WAAR) Dataset—tracking women’s roles across more than 350 rebel groups worldwide. The challenge? “Women’s experiences are often tucked away in offhand comments or footnotes, if they’re mentioned at all. It can be hard to track them down.”

Women’s experiences reveal how policymakers need to respond to crises and how counterinsurgency responses should adapt. “Bringing women’s experiences from the margins into the light — that’s the work. It’s essential to understanding not only conflict itself but also how we build more effective policies for peace.”

Celebrating Women’s History Month: Honoring Women's Stories in March and Beyond

For Dr. Matfess, Women’s History Month has been less about grand gestures and more about reaffirming why her work matters daily. “It’s a reminder of the power of global women’s networks, activism, and what’s possible when we center gender in building political movements and communities of care,” she said.

Her perspective is a call to action—one that acknowledges both progress and persistent challenges. As she points out, “We’re living through a backlash moment on gender equality, and it’s exhausting. We need to rebrand more inclusive institutions as meritocracies because that’s what they’ve always been. It’s not about political correctness. The best person for the job only emerges when the playing field is actually level.”

Dr. Matfess brings this same urgency and dedication into the classroom. As degree director for International Security, she prepares her students for careers ranging from defense and intelligence to advocacy and policy analysis, emphasizing that security extends beyond military might to include human security, gender justice, and economic stability.

Her students, in turn, fuel her optimism. “They care so much about the world, and they challenge me every day with fresh questions and new perspectives.” Their passion and curiosity reflect the change Women’s History Month and work like hers seek to inspire—not just in March, but every day. To learn more about Dr. Matfess's work, visit her website here.

Women’s History Month is a moment to reflect not only on women’s achievements but also on the untold stories of women whose experiences are often pushed to the margins—including those in conflict zones. To learn more, visit the official Women’s History Month website, or check out Korbel's initiatives through our Inclusive Global Leadership Initiative (IGLI).

Dear Friends of the Korbel School,

As we reflect on Korbel's fall quarter, it is perhaps good that we have time to catch our breath and find ways to recharge before the New Year. It has been an eventful fall! As always, the school was buzzing with activity, in our classrooms and outside of them as we grappled with all that is happening around the world.

Certainly, though, the US election commanded much of our attention. I recognize that many of you had strong feelings on election night. You care deeply about the issues on which we work: peace and security, human rights, economic opportunity, environmental sustainability, and democratic governance.

A few days ago, a friend sent me a speech that Madeleine Albright gave in Prague shortly after the 2016 election. She said:

Democracy is a messy business that requires patience, hard work, flexibility, and the acceptance of its inherent imperfections. It also asks us to live peacefully as neighbors with people who are different from us and whom we may not even like. What most of us discover, and what I hope we will discover once again, is that we share more in common than we think, and that we are stronger as a people if we overcome our superficial differences and unite around our shared interests and ideals. 

Her words seem to me as wise today as they were eight years ago. Secretary Albright asks that we reflect humbly on the lessons to be learned from elections and that we redouble our efforts to engage with others who do not share our views.

Of course, Madeleine didn’t mean she would stop fighting for the things she believed in. Nor should we.

As we come back together in 2025, we will stand firm for our core values—justice for all, equality of opportunity, respect for all persons, the value of public service, the importance of community, and an unshakeable belief in evidence, expertise, and the value of education—and carry on with our mission to do our part to make the world safer, fairer, greener, and more democratic.

Sincerely,