Margaret Adomako, a master of global affairs student in the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, has been awarded the Raymond C. Offenheiser Fellowship for Active Citizenship. Adomako, who is from Ghana, is the third individual to receive the award, which was created in honor of Ray Offenheiser, director of the Pulte Institute for Global Development, an integral part of the Keough School.
The Offenheiser Fellowship is one of two fellowships awarded annually by the Keough School, the other being the Hesburgh Global Fellowship. Both are designed to support the professional development of graduating master of global affairs students by subsidizing their employment with organizations that foster human dignity and equality.
As the recipient of the Offenheiser Fellowship, Adomako will join the humanitarian policy and advocacy unit at Oxfam America in Washington, DC. Her work will focus on bolstering US government support for the prevention of and response to humanitarian crises.
“Oxfam’s work in ending poverty is crucial to the peace and security of nations,” said Adomako, who earned a concentration in international peace studies as part of her master of global affairs. “Having the opportunity to work with an organization that fights inequality and poverty as a means of lessening the harms caused by conflict aligns well with my values, expertise, and career aspirations.”
As a master of global affairs student, Adomako interned with the Stimson Center, a Washington, DC-based think tank that aims to enhance international peace and security through analysis and outreach, and also for the Alliance for Peacebuilding, a coalition of organizations in 181 countries focused on ending violent conflict and building sustainable peace. She also served as a research assistant for the Pulte Institute, where she contributed to the USAID Evidence Gap Map Project by coding data on private sector engagement.
Before coming to Notre Dame, Adomako worked at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, where she supported West African peacekeepers. She also has conducted research on post-conflict reconstruction in Côte d’Ivoire and conflict between farmers and herders in Ghana. A former field officer for the Environmental Protection Agency of Ghana, she holds a bachelor’s degree in French and linguistics from the University of Ghana-Legon.
The Offenheiser Fellowship is awarded to eligible Keough School graduate students following the completion of their master of global affairs degree. Recipients work for one year at Oxfam’s offices in Boston or Washington, DC.
Before joining the Pulte Institute, Offenheiser served for 20 years as president of Oxfam America. Under his leadership, the agency grew eightfold and repositioned itself in the United States as an influential voice on international development, human rights and governance, humanitarianism, and foreign assistance. In addition to serving as Pulte Institute director, Offenheiser is a distinguished professor of the practice in the Keough School and interim director of the McKenna Center for Human Development and Global Business.
The Keough School’s Master of Global Affairs program prepares students for skilled, effective leadership and careers in government, nongovernmental and civil society organizations, and the private sector. The program integrates rigorous coursework, close engagement with policymakers, multi-disciplinary faculty and students from around the world, and extended field work around the globe.
This piece was developed from an extended piece originally published by the Keough School of Global Affairs at keough.nd.edu on May 20, 2021.
Originally published by at pulte.nd.edu on May 20, 2021.