Berkley Center

In fall 2025 the International Association of Jesuit Universities (IAJU) Global Citizenship Curriculum Project launched the Alumni Ambassadors program—a new opportunity for alumni of the IAJU Global Citizenship Fellows Program. Through this program, students stay connected with the global citizenship curriculum as they transition from fellows to program leaders, taking on active roles in facilitating the project’s Global Student Dialogues alongside Nick Scrimenti, director of student programs, and Jane Fitzpatrick, project manager.

Berkley Center Director Thomas Banchoff underscored the value of investing in student leadership:

It’s important that we support the students across our Jesuit university network who are passionate about global citizenship. They are the future leaders of our world.

The inaugural cohort of alumni ambassadors brings together fellows from the 2023-2024 and the 2024-2025 academic years. The group has been integrated into the IAJU Global Citizenship Curriculum Project hosted by the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University.

Unique Paths in Global Citizenship

Students begin their engagement with global citizenship programs through the curriculum project. A select group then advances into the fellows program, and those who wish to remain involved can carry their work forward as alumni ambassadors.

The curriculum project integrates an academic module into a variety of courses taught across the international Jesuit university network. Students participate in Global Student Dialogues—interactive spaces where they connect with global peers to examine pressing transnational issues and consider how collaborative action could drive change. The fellows program then offers a small group of those students the opportunity to continue their conversations via workshops and during the program’s annual study tour, which often coincides with the International IAJU Assembly. In previous years, cohorts have visited Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Rome, Italy; and Bogotá, Colombia. After the culmination of their fellowship, several participants have stayed connected by stepping into leadership roles as alumni ambassadors. 

One alumni ambassador, Ruth Noll (C’27), engaged with the curriculum project during the fall 2023 semester through Introduction to Religion and Ethics in International Affairs at Georgetown University with Professor and Senior Fellow for the Berkley Center Rev. David Hollenbach, S.J. She then was selected to become a member of the 2023-2024 fellows cohort. Noll shared her personal growth through the programs:

I enjoy participating in the global citizenship programs because I leave every conversation having learned something new or considered a new perspective. 

In fall 2025 Noll worked alongside her fellow alumni ambassadors: Phoebe De Leon from Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines; Sonali Devi from Loyola College in Chennai, India; Saw Bwe Lu Kwe from Saengtham College Xavier Campus in Chiang Rai, Thailand; Durga Valentina Linares Herrera from Universidad Antonio Ruiz de Montoya in Lima, Peru; Paola Murillo Jiménez from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador; Maeva Razafinjato from Magis University Bevalala in Madagascar; Bhargavi Wasti from Saint Xavier’s College in Kathmandu, Nepal; and Katie Wojda from Loyola University Chicago in the United States.

Each alumni ambassador experienced a unique path through the global citizenship programs driven by their distinct goals and backgrounds.

Putting Dialogue Skills into Practice

The aim of the IAJU Global Citizenship Curriculum Project and the IAJU Global Citizenship Fellows Program is to connect students from Jesuit schools around the world to learn about global issues. The project has hosted thousands of students from 65 institutions in 28 countries through its Global Student Dialogues, while the fellows program has supported 56 student fellows from 27 schools in 22 countries.

Following the foundation of the curriculum project, the fellows program builds leadership skills, focusing on dialogue facilitation tools taught through workshops and performances influenced by the methods of Resetting the Table and the In Your Shoes project, hosted by the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University.

Alumni Ambassador Maeva Razafinjato noted that her progress through the curriculum project, the 2024-2025 fellows program, and the alumni ambassador program gave her the space to both learn and practice dialogue regularly.

Serving as an alumni ambassador was an enjoyable experience. I got the chance to put into application the skills I learned during my time as a fellow. Also, facilitating a dialogue with students from multiple backgrounds taught me to be flexible and to adapt to each group.

Student Leadership

Phoebe De Leon and Paola Murillo Jiménez also shared what inspired their deeper involvement in the global citizenship programs and how they hope to continue learning about and contributing to the Jesuit university network.

Reflecting on her decision to become an alumni ambassador, Murillo Jiménez noted:

I believe that many more students across the network deserve the opportunity to become a part of this fantastic project and benefit from it. Staying involved with the program is my way to help a little for that to keep happening.

Drawing on their experiences through the curriculum project and the fellows program, De Leon, Murillo Jiménez, and their fellow alumni ambassadors supported program leadership in facilitating 28 Global Student Dialogues in fall 2025. As students who had already completed the programs, the alumni ambassadors led meaningful conversations by giving current students the guidance and support to explore global citizenship together as peers. They also offered personal insight about their involvement in the fellows program and encouraged deeper commitment to the IAJU network from the student perspective.

“I am grateful to our very first alumni ambassadors for demonstrating leadership and commitment to our work,” said Banchoff. “They bring valuable insight to our programs.”

Learn more about the Global Citizenship Alumni Ambassadors.