Kennedy Copeland is from Atlanta, Georgia and holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Alabama A&M University (AAMU). While at AAMU, she became a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, she studied abroad for a semester at Libertas University in Croatia, and she participated in a Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad in Tanzania. After graduating, Kennedy worked as an English teacher in an elementary school in South Korea for three years. She is also very interested in the zero waste movement and sustainability.

Why GHD?

Kennedy chose GHD because of its holistic approach to development. She likes the course requirements, the small cohort size, and the multiple group retreats throughout the program.

Summer Internship

I am a Rangel Fellow which requires me to do an overseas internship at a U.S. Embassy. I worked in the U.S. Embassy to the EU in Brussels. I worked in the Executive office preparing things for the Ambassador and Deputy Chief of Mission. Though I didn't get to apply a lot of what I learned about development in school I still refined my writing and analysis skills that I had been using throughout the school year. USAID was also in Brussels because they do a lot of work in Eastern Europe, so I had coffee chats with them to learn more about their work. It allowed me to see how I can still be involved in development even while working as a Foreign Service Officer (FSO). As a FSO I can work at the World Bank using the skills I have gained in this program.