When Creed Atkinson first joined U of T’s Munk School of Global Affairs, he wanted to build on his background in finance and expand into the field of international relations and security.
As part of the program, he worked on an internship as an adviser in the Ministry of Economic Development’s investment and industry division, creating an industry landscape on the medical marijuana industry in Canada.
Atkinson is part of the Class of 2017, among several students who have completed the Master of Global Affairs (MGA) program at Munk. They’re part of more than 18,000 students who make up the Class of 2017, almost 14,000 graduating in 27 ceremonies running from June 6 to June 22.
Before coming to Munk, Michele Donne, 24, was working at a charity.
She wanted a master’s degree that would help her find employment related to problem-solving and strategy. Through the master’s program, she interned at the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Geneva.
A letter of appreciation to Cheesan Chew, from Idea Couture, who spoke at a Munk Career Week panel, grew into an employment opportunity – she joins the company’s strategy team in July.
Trinh Theresa Do, 26, was a senior writer at CBC News and a reporter at CBC’s parliamentary bureau in Ottawa before she joined Munk. She says she wanted to bridge the gaps in her knowledge about politics and economics. As an intern, she was a junior trade policy officer at Global Affairs Canada where she developed a policy paper on Canada’s new progressive trade agenda.
“I specifically examined bilateral investment treaties,” she says. “The MGA program has given me a lot of confidence outside my abilities to write, or to put together a TV or radio piece.”