MARIA VELANDIA

• Co-authored report on Haitian Gangs "Gangs of Haiti: Expansion, power, and an escalating crisis" and articles on organized crime groups in Africa
• Expanded the Organization's engagement with the United Nations in cybercrime, crime development, counterterrorism, international affairs, and multilateralism
• Demonstrated experience in planning more than 5 events for the Organization in collaboration with the UK Government. Managed databases, expanded the network with 10+ organizations, Missions to the United Nations, Governments, and think-tanks

• Refined the methodology of analysis of the team in European, Russian, and US media for report-making about geopolitical dynamics between Russia, NATO, the US, Europe, and the European Union

Project Leader- Armenian Conflict

• Engineered a new team from scratch with 5 analysts in the midst of the breakout of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War
  Managed the team that produced 15+ reports for USAID and Accenture Federal Services on power dynamics within the Armenian Government and its impact on US national interests
• Spearheaded suggestions through reports to US diplomats about policy changes in US foreign policy

• Authored 4 risk reports about Latin American security involving actors such as Hezbollah, Iran, Turkey, and Qatar to impact foreign investment.
• Formulated knowledgeable forecasts for the business, industry, and overall economic conditions based on available financial information.

• The 21st Century Scholarship Recipient
• 3.6 GPA
• Extracurricular Activities: Cyber 9/12 Competition by the Atlantic Council
• Capstone Project: Underground Stories: The analysis of misinformation, disinformation, and fake news in Europe during COVID

• Scholarship Recipient
• 3.8 GPA
• Thesis: Strategic Competition of NATO and Russia; Presented at the William J. Perry Center

• University's Model United Nations Member
• Thesis: "Obama in the Middle East: A clash of policies affected by the Islamic State" (Spanish)