In a world in constant motion, where known challenges are evolving and new ones are emerging, tomorrow’s leaders must be prepared to think deeply, argue persuasively, and lead effectively. They must be exposed to diverse perspectives and real-time policy challenges, and equipped with the tools to not only understand change but to help shape it.
The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) equips its students with the intellectual foundation to engage today’s most pressing challenges. With three campuses on three continents (Washington, D.C., Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China), SAIS has a distinctive global reach, and is committed to fostering critical thinking and practical engagement, ensuring that its graduates emerge as informed leaders ready to tackle the complexities of international relations.
In the stories that follow, you’ll meet SAIS students whose journeys reflect what it means to take to heart the core SAIS ethos: academic rigour, policy relevance, and global impact.
From frontline journalism to policy change
Source: Johns Hopkins University/Krithiga Narayanan
For several years, Krithiga Narayanan reported the world’s most urgent stories — from international politics and business to gender and climate change — as a journalist with DW, BBC, and regional outlets across India. Her lens was sharpest when focused on the intersection of gender and the environment: telling the stories of women in coastal communities facing rising sea levels as a CNN–Rockefeller Foundation Global South Climate Reporting Fellow.
But witnessing the real-world impact of policy on the people she covered sparked a shift. “I wanted to take a more active role in public policy,” she explains. After fellowships with the UN, IMF, and Earth Journalism Network, and advanced studies in London and Oxford, Krithiga turned to Johns Hopkins SAIS.
True enough, her experience has been nothing short of enriching. From learning international environmental law under leading scholars, to thriving as a SAIS social media ambassador, to being part of a truly global student community, Krithiga has found her voice amplified in new ways. “We are not just learning from the faculty, but also one another,” she says.
Now an SAIS Public Service Fellow, Krithiga is preparing to channel her storytelling into shaping policy. She has already inspired young women worldwide through her work with Women in Foreign Policy — interviewing leaders like Salome Zourabichvili, the President of Georgia — and through her participation in the Indira Gandhi Political Fellowship, which promotes women’s political participation in India.
From exploring global maps to spearheading global impact
Source: Johns Hopkins University/Daniel Weinstein
For Daniel Weinstein, a lifelong fascination with the world began in high school — hours spent exploring Google Maps grew into a passion for international relations. That curiosity carried him from Tufts University to La Sorbonne, then back home to the United States, where he sought to better understand domestic challenges. As a Govern for America fellow in Louisiana, he used data to help the state confront the opioid crisis, later expanding his work nationally with the NGO, Shatterproof.
These experiences across government, NGOs, and academia prepared Daniel for Johns Hopkins SAIS, where he found the diversity and depth he was seeking. His MAIR journey has been uniquely global: a year in Bologna, a summer internship in Argentina — even attending a conference where Argentine President Javier Milei spoke — and a final year in Washington, DC. Each stop revealed new ways to see how countries interact.
Study trips made the biggest mark. In Bosnia & Herzegovina, Daniel listened to perspectives from the World Bank, the U.S. Embassy, and the Constitutional Court while confronting the legacy of Srebrenica. In Tunisia, he co-led a trek on migration, coordinating meetings with local organisations and alumni to understand the complexities of movements across borders. “These trips gave me invaluable insights into how practitioners tackle the challenges we study in the classroom,” he reflects.
Bringing voices from the sidelines to the global stage
Source: Johns Hopkins University/Aisha Kimbrough
For Aisha Kimbrough, leadership has always been personal. Growing up in a migrant-working community in rural Minnesota, she witnessed firsthand how political, socioeconomic, and health disparities create cycles of poverty and insecurity. Those early experiences gave her a clear purpose: to bring the voices of marginalised communities to the forefront of global decision-making.
Aisha’s path to Johns Hopkins SAIS reflects that commitment. After earning a politics degree at Whitman College, she taught English in Spain and Brazil — the latter as a Fulbright Scholar. She later returned to the U.S. to work in the nonprofit sector, leading programmes for vulnerable populations, including undocumented migrants and low-income families. Each experience sharpened her resolve to pursue an education that could equip her with the tools, networks, and knowledge to create lasting change.
At SAIS, Aisha has found that foundation. Her favourite tradition — the International Dinner — reflects what she values most: the diversity of the SAIS community and the stories that fuel it. “At this event, I was able to build connections with other SAISers and learn about their personal stories,” she recalls.
Looking ahead, Kimbrough envisions a career focused on sustainable and equitable development strategies, whether through climate finance, infrastructure, entrepreneurship, or digitalisation. Whatever the field, her goal is clear: to ensure that the communities too often left behind are included in the decisions that shape their futures.
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