Alina Urbanic - America
What inspired you to dedicate your life to public service?
“Before coming to Bocconi, I worked for two years in Morocco as a Youth and Community Development Volunteer with the United States Peace Corps. I was struck by the lack of educational and career opportunities that girls and women were facing, even in a rapidly developing country. I worked closely with young women in leadership camps who wanted to be teachers, doctors, journalists, translators, and lawyers, but who didn’t have the means to move away from home to study in the nearest city, much less at a foreign institution. I met women who didn’t have support - financial or moral - from their own families to study or pursue career aspirations, but studied despite societal pressure, lack of support, or being told they couldn’t succeed because they were women. After each week of these camps concluded, I saw young women walk out a little taller, a little more confident, and a little more determined to achieve their aspirations.”