Josie Krieger is from State College, Pennsylvania and graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 2022 with degrees in history and economics. During her time at Penn State, Josie co-founded and co-directed Students Teaching Students, a student-led organization that equips and empowers undergraduates to teach credit-bearing courses. Josie began her work with displaced communities as an AmeriCorps Refugee Case Management VISTA in Kansas City, Kansas in 2021. Josie continued taking development courses as she interned with Management Systems International (MSI) on their Third Party Monitoring in Central Africa project in the spring of 2022 where she worked on the evaluation and monitoring of USAID-funded projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Josie won Penn State’s inaugural Rhea S. Schwartz Fellowship for post-graduation service work and worked at the Utah Refugee Center as a AmeriCorps Community Program Management VISTA during her service year.

Josie enjoys language learning and has studied Turkish with the Critical Language Scholarship in Baku, Azerbaijan (2019) and Ankara, Turkey (2022). Josie was a volunteer tutor for youth at the Decker Lake Detention Center and a 2023 Critical Language Scholarship Alumni Ambassador. Josie interned with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Amman, Jordan during the summer of 2024. Josie currently interns at the World Faiths Development Dialogue where she researches modern slavery and co-authored the IF20 Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery Partnerships for Solutions Policy Brief.

 Josie is a 2023 Donald F. McHenry Global Public Service Fellow and is pursuing a certificate in Refugees, Migration, and Humanitarian Crises. In her free time, Josie enjoys reading, rock climbing, and exploring the outdoors.

Why GHD?

I chose GHD because the faculty are passionate both about student success and student wellbeing. Between the passion of my peers, the care of the faculty, and the vast opportunities (summer internship and DC internship), I knew GHD was the program for me.

Summer Internship

I spent the summer of 2024 working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Amman, Jordan as a Development Unit Intern. During my internship, I focused on enhancing refugee economic resilience and exploring complementary pathway resettlement opportunities. I analyzed healthcare access data, identifying correlations between availability, refugee income, and program funding to inform policy recommendations. Additionally, I worked on establishing strategic partnerships with private organizations, community leaders, and government entities to promote collaborative advocacy and employment-based resettlement initiatives.

This experience allowed me to apply my data analysis skills to real-world humanitarian challenges and gain insights into the complexities of refugee resettlement. A highlight was participating in policy discussions on expanding complementary pathways, which deepened my understanding of the globalrefugee protection regime and the innovative solutions being developed to address displacement.