Secretary Carlos Gutierrez Fellowship

The Honorable Carlos Gutierrez served as Meridian International Center’s Board of Trustees Chairman from 2014 until 2019. He served as the former United States Secretary of Commerce, former Chairman of the Board and CEO of the Kellogg Company. He has been a leader in international business through his public sector accomplishments at the Department of Commerce, promoting the United States as a trade partner around the world. Meridian is proud to announce the creation of the Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez Corporate Diplomacy Fellowship in his honor.

The fellowship is designed to provide graduate students with a deeper understanding of the relationship between business and foreign policy to prepare them for a career in international business or commercial diplomacy. Two fellows a year are selected through a competitive application process for a 6 month-long paid program. Fellows work closely with Meridian’s corporate engagement team on co-authoring reports and communication products, policy research and outreach to corporate and diplomatic stakeholders, as well as help support engagement with the Meridian Corporate Council. Fellows also have the opportunity to grow their network by meeting high-level business government and diplomatic leaders and participating in meetings, roundtable discussions and other events.

One fellow is selected for the Winter/Spring Semester (January – May) and one fellow is selected for the Summer/Fall Semester (June – December). Please check back periodically for fellowship postings.

Testimonials from past fellows

"The Gutierrez Corporate Diplomacy fellowship at Meridian is an unparalleled opportunity for students interested in any of the critical areas where the public and private sectors overlap. Fellows work on projects that matter, and have a seat at the table for dialogues that directly shape how the U.S. engages with the world. My time at Meridian gave me the experience and context necessary to engage professionally in the complex but exciting work where business and geopolitics meet." — Abby Bowman, AT&T, International External & Regulatory Affairs

"Neither business, government, nor diplomacy can operate in a vacuum. This tri-sector approach is even more important as the world navigates addressing the impact of COVID-19. The Corporate Diplomacy Fellowship gave me the unique opportunity to see the nexus of corporate and government policymaking up-close, and deepened my understanding of corporate and diplomatic relations." — Christina Huntzinger, Crisis Response Analyst

"Through the Corporate Diplomacy Fellowship, I gained exposure into what public-private partnerships look like in practice, and directly engaged in dialogues ranging from cutting-edge trade agreements to global infectious disease response. I’m coming away from this experience more confident in my ability to apply the tenets of diplomacy to any sector." — Amanda Kabonero, Graduate Student, Johns Hopkins University, SAIS