The School of Business and the World Bank Group announced a new partnership last week, aiming to expand students’ access to career opportunities in global development.
The program seeks to connect GWSB students with professionals from the World Bank Group to engage in experiential learning opportunities like research, guest lectures, site visits and mentorship, according to a University release. The partnership — which the parties formalized on April 8 during a signing ceremony at the World Bank Group headquarters — will give students real-world experience to better prepare them for their careers and formalizes a relationship between GWSB and the World Bank that had mostly been one-off engagements.
“This partnership opens the door for our students to engage with some of the most important global challenges in real time,” GWSB Dean Sevin Yeltekin said in a release. “It creates meaningful opportunities to connect what they are learning in the classroom with the work of leaders shaping international development, finance and policy.”
Danny Leipziger, a professor of international business and international affairs, said in an email he would expect the World Bank and GWSB to find “focal points” to plan joint seminars, visits and short-term internships to enrich student learning.
Leipziger, a former vice president at the World Bank, said he credits the program’s implementation to the University’s close proximity and connections to the World Bank Group.
“There are many possible avenues that can help our students and also be of value to the World Bank Group,” Leipziger said. “In the past, we have had ad hoc agreements, but this formalizes things under an umbrella agreement, which is great.”
The World Bank Group has previously collaborated with GWSB on speaker events focused on topics like artificial intelligence and sustainability.
Rudy Perecin Mareño, a global program lead in talent discovery at the World Bank, said in an email that colleagues at the World Bank and GW formed the partnership after they discussed how to move beyond one-off engagements toward a more structured model.
“Those early conversations focused on a simple question: how do we give students earlier, more practical exposure to how global development actually works?” Mareño said.
Mareño said the World Bank is “working closely” with GW to ensure the initiative can be University-wide, not just limited to GWSB. He said opportunities will be shared through GW’s “central communications” and school-level channels, Handshake and through faculty engagement.
“The goal is to reach students across disciplines — because global development work spans economics, business, engineering, public policy and more,” Mareño said.
Stevan Jackson, senior external relations officer at the World Bank Group, said the partnership aims to make the path to global development careers more accessible to students, especially those unsure how to enter the field. He said the partnership offers the breadth of experience students need to be competitive applicants for programs, such as the organization’s Pioneers Internship, by developing their skills and giving them real-world experience.
“Partnerships like this help students prepare, build skills, gain exposure and understand what the work actually requires,” Jackson said.
Jackson said the World Bank Group is building relationships with several universities in addition to GW to “build the pipeline” of students interested in global development.
“I think the key that I’m learning from my vantage point is that students need experience to really land their first job, and this is going to be a good opportunity for them to get hands-on experience,” Jackson said.
