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Mason Alumni and Student Profiles
Mason Program students hail from diverse backgrounds and over 130 countries—from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe—sharing a dream of making a meaningful difference in the world. Meet some Mason students, current and past, with the profiles below.
Noreen Dunne, Mason MPA 1991 (INDIA)
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Noreen Dunne is the Deputy Director of Hayden Hall, a community development center in Darjeeling, India. “There is no glamour in the grass roots; it’s tough,” Noreen says. “I want to bridge that tremendous gap between the grass roots workers and the policy makers that seems to be getting wider and wider.” |
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Thanh Nguyen, Mason MPA 2006 (VIETNAM)
Jelena Sesar, Mason MPA 2009 (BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA)
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When it comes to her native Bosnia-Herzegovina, Jelena Sesar has her eyes set firmly on the future. “I don’t like looking back,” she says. “For too long, that is what has kept us from moving forward.” One can understand that Sesar wishes not to look back, having witnessed the break-up of Yugoslavia and subsequent war in besieged Sarajevo. |
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Nasir El-Rufai, Mason MPA 2009 (NIGERIA)
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You might call Nasir El-Rufai the accidental public servant. An entrepreneur and businessman for many years, El-Rufai was asked to join Nigeria’s presidential transition team when General Sani Abacha died in office, in June 1998. |
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Iram Tariq, Mason MPA 2009 (PAKISTAN)
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The odds were not in Iram Tariq’s favor when she decided that she wanted to take Pakistan’s notoriously difficult Civil Service exam. A stay at-home mother in that country’s traditionally male-dominated society, she faced two years of intense study and competition against 9,000 other candidates. |
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Joel Cadiz, Mason MPA 2009 (PHILLIPINES)
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“Elections are a matter of life and death in the Philippines,” says Joel Cadiz, Mason MC/MPA 2009. “Those in power will do anything, fair or foul, to retain that power.” Amidst such high stakes, Cadiz says he has high hopes for his country’s next general elections, which will be held in 2010. |
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