Marc Masson '17

Cornell International Affairs Society (CIAS)

I joined CIAS my first year to continue competing in Model UN conferences at the collegiate level and to work with other students interested in international affairs. I helped staff the CIAS for four editions of the Cornell Model UN Conference that attracted nearly one thousand high school students every year, as well as three Cornell International Affairs Conferences for college students. During my senior year, I was given the opportunity for a fully-funded trip to China as one of the director for CIAS’s first international high school MUN conference in Chengdu. The event allowed students from Sichuan province a chance to practice their debate skills in a committee simulating global brands and unions coming together to address workplace safety in the aftermath of the 2013 Rana Plaza Factory Collapse.

High Road Fellowship Program

The summer after my freshman year, ILR offered me a paid fellowship to perform policy research for a non-profit in Buffalo, NY called Open Buffalo. In addition to the the free activities the Program provides that let our cohort interact with leaders and stakeholders throughout the community, I was able to write policy briefs on education and economic development issues. This was my first real work experience in the realm of policy research. I spent the summer with a great group of ILR students who worked in a variety of organizations, from arts foundations to community-focused businesses.

Life After ILR

I delayed full-time employment after graduating to intern abroad with the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center in Rabat, Morocco for two months. While there, I conducted interviews and focus groups with migrant workers and human trafficking victims, primarily from sub-Saharan Africa and the Philippines, to report on the dangers they face working in Morocco. This experience was made possible by the Hatfield Award for the Study of Ethics in Business, an award from Cornell’s Program on Ethics and Public Life that complimented my intern stipend.

After returning to the U.S., I began working at IMPAQ International, a government contractor that specializes in evaluating and enhancing policies and programs. In this role, I supported the Labor, Health and International Development divisions of the company by preparing and analyzing survey data, coordinating proposals to win new contracts, and helping organizations become certified through a government program administered by our firm.