During my time in the Peace Corps, I worked on small business development in Zimbabwe. I started my tour in Bulawayo, where I spent nearly eight months before going to Harare. My boss ran a nonprofit created by USAID that assisted state-owned companies to privatize and become public-sector entities. I provided technical assistance to various companies that were making this transition, including those in the dairy and electricity sectors.

While still a Volunteer, I was already thinking about going to graduate school and Fellows/USA seemed like a natural progression in that regard. I found out that Carnegie Mellon was a partner in the Fellows/USA program and is a great school that offers a course of study fitting in with what I wanted to do. I applied and was accepted. I studied a combination of public policy and business administration, with a focus on economic development. It was a perfect fit.

I loved graduate school. It was a great experience and a significant step that kept me going in the career direction I wanted. I had two internships in Pittsburgh during my time as a Peace Corps Fellow, one in public housing and another in redevelopment, including on a Hope IV public housing project. The internships were a little different from what I had done in the Peace Corps, but complementary to what I was studying in graduate school.

Currently, I am deputy director of a redevelopment agency in San Francisco where I manage large-scale development projects. Basically, the work is a culmination of everything I’ve been doing in Peace Corps, Fellows/USA, and since. I do miss the international aspect that the Peace Corps has to offer, and at some point in my career, I hope to go back overseas.