Meet our Young Global Professionals

Global Energy Center

Aldrighi recently completed his bachelor’s degree with honors in economics and international relations at New York University. His thesis examined the effect of collateralized Chinese lending in emerging markets and was awarded the Fiona McGillivray Prize for the best thesis in international political economy. Aldrighi’s experience has spanned policy, multilateral organizations, and geopolitical strategy research in organizations such as the Council on Foreign Relations and the United Nations. Most recently, he served as an intern at Eurasia Group’s office of the president. He speaks fluent Portuguese, Spanish, and English, and has lived across eight countries. Some of his interests include critical minerals supply chains and the impacts of energy disruptions on development.

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security—Forward Defense

Balakrishnan recently graduated from Wellesley College, where she double majored in international relations–political science and peace and justice studies. At Wellesley, her research focused on strategic competition and unconventional warfare, and her honors thesis examined US security assistance to foreign non-state armed groups. Balakrishnan also co-founded the Security Studies Lab at Wellesley, a student-directed research group where she led a team analyzing the normative impact of nuclear assistance networks. Balakrishnan previously interned at the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security, the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, and the Political Violence Project at Boston College. She calls Ithaca, New York and New Delhi, India home, and enjoys painting, baking, and learning High Valyrian. She is also proficient in Hindi and Spanish.

GeoEconomics Center—Future of Money

Gallardo Suazo is a recent graduate of Tufts University with a focus on economics and international relations and a minor in entrepreneurship. Originally from Honduras, her research and professional interests center on international trade, geoeconomics, agricultural policy, and economic development in Latin America. She has previously interned at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, and the Central Bank of Honduras. She has also conducted field research in Brazil on the impact of the EU Deforestation Regulation on agrifood exports, and in Mexico on the role of trade agreements and foreign direct investment in the agrifood sector. She speaks Spanish, English, and French. In her free time, she enjoys reading, watching soccer, and a good cup of coffee.

GeoEconomics Center—Future of Capitalism and Trade

Ghadiali recently graduated magna cum laude from American University with a double major in economics and international studies. Her studies focused on foreign policy, national security, and international trade. While studying abroad at Universidad Diego Portales in Santiago, Chile, she examined the country’s political and cultural landscape while gaining firsthand insight into Chile’s migration and development challenges. Previously, Ghadiali interned at Chile’s Defensoría de la Niñez, the Immigration Lab at American University, and the US House of Representatives. She focuses on US–Latin America relations and the intersection of emerging technologies with public policy. Born and raised in Issaquah, Washington, Ghadiali loves to hike, play volleyball, and explore cities around the world.

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security—Forward Defense

Green earned a master’s degree in strategy, cybersecurity, and intelligence from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and bachelor’s degree in integrative biology from Harvard University. During his graduate studies, he focused on military strategy, intelligence analysis, and great-power competition. His capstone project examined how China’s intelligence priorities and capabilities evolved following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Green previously interned at the Office of the United States Trade Representative, where he researched international trade policy. He also worked as a creator partnerships manager at TikTok, where he gained firsthand insight into the commercial and technological dimensions of US–China relations.

Europe Center

Hisherik is in his final year studying political science and international relations at Sciences Po Paris, where he specializes in European security and transatlantic relations. He is currently on exchange at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center, where he is researching the impact of the 2026 midterm elections on US foreign policy. His undergraduate thesis on the environmental consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was awarded with distinction. He has held research and policy roles at the Snake Island Institute, where he analyzed unmanned aerial systems and emerging defense technologies in Russia’s war on Ukraine, and at GLOBSEC, where he supported high-level policy forums on European industrial and defense strategy. He has also conducted grant-funded field research in Morocco on Morocco-Israel relations. Hisherik joins the Europe Center from London.

Europe Center

Hoerr is a second-year master’s student in European studies at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. He graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree from the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, where he concentrated on security policy. He spent some of his studies abroad in Vienna, Austria, where he immersed himself in the history and politics of Central Europe. He previously interned with the Center for European Policy Analysis, where he focused on technology policy, transatlantic cooperation, and economic security. He has also worked with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and the Office of US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. In his free time, he enjoys going to concerts, playing electric guitar, and reading.

Atlantic Council Turkey Program

Macneill earned her bachelor’s degree in political science with minors in international studies and history from Boston College in 2025. Her undergraduate thesis examined Islam, democracy, and foreign policy in contemporary Turkey. As a recipient of a Fulbright Student Research Award from the US Department of State, Macneill studied the evolution of US–Turkish cooperation along NATO’s southeastern flank. She conducted her research in collaboration with faculty at Koç University in Istanbul from September 2025 to June 2026. Macneill previously interned with the Brookings Institution’s Anti-Corruption, Democracy, and Security team, where she researched democratic resilience across Europe and Eurasia. She also interned at the Biden-Harris White House in the summer of 2024. She is passionate about strengthening transatlantic relations and promoting constructive US engagement with Turkey and the Middle East.

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security—Forward Defense

Pankaj is a second-year graduate student in Georgetown University’s Security Studies Program. She previously interned at Business Executives for National Security, where she researched the role of private capital in revitalizing the defense industrial base and strengthening supply chains, and the Center for European Policy Analysis, where she focused on transatlantic industrial cooperation and the geopolitical implications of novel technologies. Pankaj holds a bachelor’s from the University of Washington in Seattle, where she double majored in international studies and law, societies, and justice. Her interests include diplomacy, defense policy, emerging and dual-use technologies, and transatlantic security. She is proficient in Hindi and is learning French.

Global Energy Center

Putzulu earned her master’s degree in Latin American Studies from Georgetown University, where she concentrated in political economy and development. Her capstone project examined lithium governance and trade cooperation in Argentina and Chile and was developed in collaboration with mining and trade experts at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, DC, and Buenos Aires. While completing her graduate studies, she served as a graduate fellow in the Energy and Critical Minerals Practice at McLarty Associates in Washington, DC, where she conducted research and analysis on critical mineral supply chains and global energy policy. Previously, Putzulu conducted field research on community solar energy projects in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, in partnership with Casa Pueblo, an environment- and energy-focused community-based organization. She earned her bachelor’s in government from Georgetown University in 2025, with a concentration in international relations and a minor in Latin American studies.

GeoEconomics Center—Economic Statecraft Initiative

Rutter recently earned his master’s degree in security policy studies from the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, where he concentrated on transnational security. His studies largely focused on transnational organized crime, counter terrorist financing, and cyber issues. He also served as managing editor of the International Affairs Review, the school’s graduate student-run publication. Rutter previously worked as an intern and program administrator at the Center for a New American Security’s Energy, Economics, and Security Program, where his research spanned US sanctions and export controls policy, trade policy, and US-China geoeconomic competition. He also previously interned at the US Department of State’s Office of China Coordination. Rutter earned his bachelor’s in international affairs and economics from Florida State University.

Europe Center

Scuriatti recently graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder with a bachelor’s in international affairs and a certificate in peace, conflict, and security studies. During his undergraduate years, he co-led programming for the university’s annual Conference on World Affairs, a week-long event featuring over one hundred speakers and sixty events. His professional experience includes supporting Guatemalan democratic governance initiatives in the US Congress and peacebuilding efforts in the Horn of Africa through the European Parliament. His current research interests include EU critical minerals supply chain security and advancing EU–US relations. A proud Washington, DC native, Scuriatti is also a former semi-professional cyclist and national champion who competed throughout the United States and Europe.

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security—Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense

Sowells is a first-year graduate student in the Biohazardous Threat Agents and Emerging Infectious Diseases Program at Georgetown University, where she focuses on biosecurity and emerging technology. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Miami with a double-major in biology and political science. Alongside her studies, she serves as an intelligence sergeant in the US Army Reserve with the 352nd Civil Affairs Command in Fort Meade, Maryland. Originally from Bethesda, Maryland, she enjoys scuba diving, traveling, attending concerts, and playing miniature golf.