Bio:
Kate Ann (“Kate”) Brace is a 2020 Master’s degree graduate in the Global Policy and United Nations (UNMA) Program at Rutgers University. In her time as a graduate student, Kate refined skills in both research and grant development. In her final semester, she was an intern turned fellow in the City Clerk’s Office for the City of New Brunswick. It was in this position that Kate assisted in the daily responsibilities of the City Clerk’s office including processing business licenses, distributing resolutions, and participating in the organization and processing of the 2019 general election. She also worked part-time for a not-for-profit organization based in Parasia, India that provides residential care and access to education for young children with physical disabilities. Her responsibilities included researching information on grant makers and grant opportunities, writing letters of inquiry, and writing grant applications. Kate’s research experience at Rutgers University was for Dr. Eric Davis on the topic of youth social entrepreneurship and sustainable development. This research included grant opportunities, project infrastructure, discourse on social entrepreneurship, and researching current youth social entrepreneurial endeavors in Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, and Pakistan. Kate also assisted in grant writing for Dr. Davis in order to create a Collaborative Online Course for both Rutgers Honors Students and students in Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, and Pakistan for the topic of social entrepreneurism She also acted as an exam grader for Dr. Christine Cahill for a course called “Lessons from Europe”. Kate was also a member of the Student Ambassador Leadership Program from 2018-2020. She also studied and participated the European Summer Institute in Kassel, Germany at the International Center for Development and Decent Work (ICCD) in the Summer of 2018.
Before commencing her graduate studies at Rutgers University, Kate completed a bachelor’s degree at Rider University in both French and Political Science. At Rider, she participated in the penmanship, data collection, and research under Dr. Michael Brogan called Influence and Information: Estimating Effective Mediated and Personal Communications between State Legislators and Environmental Organizations in NJ and PA. Kate was also a member of both the French Honor Society (Pi Delta Phi), Germany Honor Society (Delta Phi Alpha), and the Academic Honor Society (Phi Theta Kappa). Before attending Rider University, Kate attended Brookdale Community College, where she was a member of the Honors Program, volunteered for 40 hours at the Center for Holocaust Human Rights and Genocide Education (CHHANGE), and presented at an academic symposium after conducting a semester of research entitled Her/Story: Tracing Women's Agency across Disciplines, Texts, and Cultures.
Kate has many diverse interests related to political science, global issues, languages, and more. These interests include development projects and campaigns, environmental issues, public health, democracy campaigns and transitions, political risk analysis, and sustainable development. This diversity extends into her ability to work both independently and collaboratively in research, analyzing problems and policy, and developing solutions to those problems. This has also resulted in Kate’s self-motivated, inquisitive, detail-oriented, and mediatory nature that she plans to extend to her career ambitions in non-governmental organizations and the international arena.
