It’s hard to believe that the Mroz Global Leadership Institute has been around for 5+ years. During this time, we’ve established a strong reputation on campus and in the Charleston community. We’ve been bringing distinguished guests to campus to discuss important global challenges. Our speakers are current and former diplomats, civil and foreign servants, foreign policy experts, academics, and practitioners. Our professional development programs prepare students to pursue competitive opportunities, leading to placements in the Peace Corps, Fulbright programs, Critical Language Scholarships, and graduate programs.
In 2025–26, we continued helping our students develop skills of global fluency and promoting diplomatic literacy on campus by organizing public talks and multi-day summits, small-group discussions, and class visits with guest speakers. Our goal is to help our students have a better understanding of diplomacy, interconnected global challenges, and the role of languages and cultures in fostering international cooperation and cross-cultural understanding.
In the World Affairs Colloquium Series, our speaker, Dr. Ryan Berg, focused on Latin America and the redirection of the US foreign policy towards the Western Hemisphere. The Portuguese Ambassador to the US discussed multilateral cooperation and its importance for Portugal and the challenges facing the NATO alliance. Ambassador Lopes gave our students important advice about lifelong education and curiosity: “When you graduate, you are not finishing studying. Instead, you obtain a license to study further.”
Our 5th Summit on Diplomacy and International Development was held in conjunction with the 20th Anniversary celebration of the School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs (LCWA), in partnership with the College of Charleston Libraries. The summit brought together foreign policy and diplomacy practitioners to examine the intersection of security and development, soft power and foreign assistance, democracy and civil society, and the role of international development in advancing the US’s foreign policy.
Our speakers at the summit were NGO leaders and career foreign service officers who have worked at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Department of State. Dr. Rajiv Shah, the President of the Rockefeller Foundation, gave a keynote address highlighting the profound changes in the rules-based world order. In this world, Dr. Shah noted, US moral leadership matters as much as ever, as the world faces global health challenges, energy crises, and food insecurity.
The students in the Global Ambassadors Program spent a year learning about the challenges and opportunities of foreign service careers. They also worked on practical skills needed to succeed in any foreign policy environment, such as memo writing, policy analysis and briefings. The program culminated in a week-long trip to Washington DC for visits to the Embassy of Ireland, Embassy of Portugal, EU Delegation to the US, National Endowment for Democracy, Pyxera Global, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Meridian International Center, and the Rockefeller Foundation. Through these visits, students heard directly from foreign policy practitioners about the skills, experiences, and professional pathways that contribute to success in the field.
Since we launched the Mroz Institute, the Steering Committee has played a vital role in supporting its vision, goals, and programs. I appreciate the support from the Steering Committee members: Aimee Arias, Vincent Fraley, Larry Gillespie, Theo Groh, Beatriz Maldonado, Malte Pehl, Hilton Smith, and Mitch Sonkin.
Thank you all for your continued support of the Mroz Institute and our programs and your commitment to preparing the next generation of informed, interested, and globally minded leaders.
Enjoy this 2025-2026 Annual Report with an overview of the Mroz Institute’s programs. Visit the Mroz Institute YouTube Channel for recordings of previous talks, summits, and convenings at www.youtube.com/@MrozInstitute and check our schedule of upcoming events.
