SFS-Q Student Attends The World in 2013 Festival

“Amazing.”This is how Haya al Thani, a Qatari student at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service in Qatar, summed up her experience as part of a student delegation to The World in 2013 Festival in New York City this past December.

Focusing on the subjects of innovation, information, and human potential, the event gathered business leaders, scholars, and policymakers, each contributing their unique global perspective on the issues and challenges that would shape the national dialogue in the upcoming year. Newly partnered to bring their aligned mission for innovation and education, The Economist Group and Qatar Foundation sent a select group of twelve QF students to the event, to spend a week of intensive media production training with a team headed by Daniel Franklin, Executive Editor of The Economist.

Responding to QF’s call for applications, Haya, an SFS-Q Senior majoring in International Politics, submitted her CV and a video interview with her prediction for the educational challenges in 2013. Her winning submission was a proposal to leverage the same microfinance platform used to develop entrepreneurship in developing economies in order to create a new paradigm for vocational training.

“At SFS-Q, I took a Women in Development course where I learned how transformative microfinance strategies were on economic opportunities. In the video,I asked-why not make 2013 the year we build on that success to include provisions for semi-skilled workers to pass on their skills to another future wage earner?”

In New York, Haya worked in rotating teams of three to interview, film, or act as technical crew. She cites her contribution to the team as an SFS-Q student as having had a tremendous impact on her experience with the project. “Some had a film background, others knew a lot about the technical equipment. As a Georgetown student, development, education and policy are familiar keywords that worked their way into my interview questions.”

In particular, she notes her interview of Peter Orzag, Vice Chairman of Global Banking at Citigroup. “Here is a prominent business leader and former budget director under President Obama, who has been making headlines regarding the fiscal crisis in U.S. Congress and the future of employees at Citigroup. It was very exciting to use what I’ve learned about finance and labor to interview him on a very relevant current issue-the future of employment in 2013.”

The footage was produced into a five-minute documentary about the event that was aired on the final day of the festival.

“It was a great experience for me, and for all the students involved. I hope this project provides future students at SFS-Q with the same unique opportunity to meet and interact with the people who are making history, today.”