Vineeta Chauhan ’21 Represents Kenyon at UN Career Dinner

By Matt Mandel ’19

Last month, Vineeta Chauhan ’21 represented Kenyon at one of the United Nations Association-National Capital Area (UNA-NCA) Fall 2018 Young Professionals’ Career Dinners in Washington D.C. The UNA-NCA hosted its signature event for young people to discuss global career paths and network with experienced professionals in their fields of interest, according to their website. Every fall and spring, the UNA-NCA holds dinners like the one Chauhan attended to allow students to engage with professionals working in the international field.

Chauhan, a psychology major with a minor in history and an asian studies concentration, heard about the opportunity at Kenyon’s biannual Alumni of Color Mentoring Weekend. Her alumna mentor, Nicolyn Woodcock ’12 who is a Ph.D. Candidate and Graduate Instructor at Miami University, put her in touch with Tselmegtsetseg Tsetsendelger ’15 who is an analyst at Abt Associates Inc. and the Communications Director of the Young Professionals Board of the UNA-NCA because of Chauhan’s interest in refugee and immigrant work. As a nonprofit, the UNA-NCA collaborates with foreign policy and political decision makers, schools, and organizations to increase awareness about the “United Nations, its specialized agencies, and its relationship with the United States.” Kenyon’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was able to cover Chauhan’s travel and registration expenses through the Student Support Funds. 

The UN Young Professionals’ Career Dinner was broken into three parts: First, attendees had the opportunity to network with other young professionals. This was followed by a keynote featuring the Director of the International Labour Organization. Finally, the participants attended a topic-focused dinner of their choice. The young professionals could dine with representatives from the UN High Commission for Refugees, the UN Environment Programme, the UN Development Programme, UN Women, or the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Chauhan attended the dinner on Careers in the UN High Commission for Refugees.

In addition to gathering data about possible career trajectories, the event was a phenomenal opportunity to network and gain first-hand information from experts in the field. “I got to meet people who work in D.C., professors from Georgetown, and the president of the United Nations Association … It gave me a lot more information about the UN and how to get involved,” Chauhan said. She also encourages other students who are interested in global issues covered by the UN to attend in the future. Registration to the career dinners is open to anyone, and their newsletter is available online.

Though it may still be a ways off, Chauhan wants to do humanitarian work and can see herself working or partnering with the UN or UNICEF in the years ahead. “Going to that dinner helped me realize what kind of organizations I should be involved in if I want to really help out with the UN,” Chauhan said.

The UNA-NCA’s event also helped her see how undergraduate students can get a jump start on their careers now. “There’s more that I can do early on than I realized … You have a lot of options to get involved,” she said. Chauhan, who wants to eventually go to graduate school for linguistics, now understands how she can get experience with the UN or a humanitarian organization. The dinner also provided her with contacts she can follow up with to do informational interviews and learn more about individual’s specific work or about the field more broadly.  She credits her Kenyon alumna mentor for making her aware of this opportunity. Chuahan is looking to pay the favor forward in the future, as she hopes to become a member of Kenyon’s Alumni of Color Mentoring Initiative after she graduates.

“Having a strong network of alumni is the reason I could experience something I didn’t even know was possible at this point in my career. They’re an incredibly great resource and are so eager to help you find opportunities,” Chauhan said.