About This Author
Pierina Anton Lopez (she/her) is a Global Campaign for Education-US Fellow and a Master’s candidate in Global Human Development at the Georgetown Walsh School of Foreign Service, where she is a 2021 USAID Donald M. Payne Fellow. Prior to pursuing her graduate studies, Pierina worked with the United States Institute of Peace to help support the Institute’s peacebuilding initiatives in the Donbas region of Ukraine. She also interned with USAID’s Bureau for Africa, in the Education and Youth Division, and supported the agency’s work in education in crisis and conflict, social and emotional learning, and countering school-related gender-based violence in Sub-Saharan Africa. While completing her Bachelor’s degree in International Relations at Florida International University, Pierina served as a Youth Casework Aide with the International Rescue Committee in Miami, Florida. There, she connected unaccompanied youth migrants to essential social services, including healthcare, education, and pro-bono legal assistance. Her interest in international education development led her to Siem Reap, Cambodia, where she taught English at a local teacher training college and developed a report on the challenges facing the Cambodian education sector after interviewing staff from UNICEF Siem Reap.
