A year ago, as I left the historic surroundings of Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. to join the Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy (MIP) at Stanford, one of my many objectives was to diversify my professional toolkit and improve my leadership skills. I have come to understand that the nature of many challenges today, particularly in the field of technology amid growing rates of global interconnection, innovation, and digitalization, requires much richer, diverse, and coordinated approaches. The leaders of today must strive to find fortitude in diversity and cooperation. 

In pursuing this objective, over the summer I interned for the Security and Intelligence Team at Duco Experts, a technology start-up headquartered in San Francisco. After five years of public service work, this represented a unique opportunity to learn the intricacies of entrepreneurship from the inside. 

Led by its inspiring CEO, Sidney Olinyk, and an elite team of young professionals, Duco works across the topics of artificial intelligence (AI), trust and safety, cybersecurity, elections, and geopolitical risk. Through its innovative advisory services, Duco supports a considerable pool of Fortune 100 companies, including some of the largest U.S. technology companies. 

The breadth of activities I carried out during my internship gave me exposure to the intersection of security and technology policy, as well as a deeper understanding of the complex decisions faced by corporate executives at major U.S. technology companies. 

In retrospect, there are three main lessons I learned during my time at Duco:

Finding Fortitude in Diversity and Cooperation

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One of the first experiences I had at Duco was supporting an event with different allies and stakeholders from the technology community in San Francisco and D.C. to showcase the launch of the report, Scaling Trust on the Web. Duco Experts contributed to the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) Task Force for a Trustworthy Future Web and this event allowed me to interact with experts in the field of Trust and Safety, connect with former MIP students now working in industry, and experience first-hand how coordinated and collaborative approaches can result in innovative solutions to issues as complex as the ones faced in the cyber domain. 

The report summarizes the task force's recommendations for specific, actionable interventions that could catalyze safer, more trustworthy online spaces. And most importantly, the report reinvigorates the rationale of cooperation in cyberspace, as it highlights, for example, the role of academia, media, and civil society to help build better online spaces. I am convinced that these recommendations will have a long-lasting effect and will serve as a guide for many actors globally. 

Mapping Technological Risk Worldwide

In my role supporting the Manager for Security and Intelligence at Duco, I had the opportunity to conduct research and produce alerts relevant to major U.S. technology companies. I analyzed the implications for such companies of China's revised Counter Espionage Law, mapped the data and privacy risks posed by fake web browser extensions and the shortcomings of automatic vetting processes, detailed the risks of internet censorship and restrictions in Russia, and investigated how marketing scammers target children online. Furthermore, I gained valuable insights into timely debates in the field of generative AI technologies and challenges faced by content moderation teams when tackling CSAM online. 

During my time on the Security and Intelligence Team, I had the opportunity to work in their cybersecurity portfolio, understand the logic of business development and vertical markets, and support the delivery of high quality projects for clients, a novel experience for me. The last project I supported allowed me to widen my knowledge of cybersecurity research centers worldwide and interact with consultants, academics, and former industry experts to address clients' needs. 

Thinking Like a CEO

One of the biggest lessons I learned during my internship, a mantra I will carry with me wherever I go, came from Duco's CEO herself, Sidney Olinyk, who constantly reminded us during team meetings to: "be adaptable, be comfortable with rejection, and always think like a CEO."

My time at Duco Experts showed me the importance of flexibility and adaptability, particularly when attempting to tackle challenges related to emerging technologies. From generative AI to developments in quantum computing, the ever-evolving innovation landscape requires professionals who can lead with flexibility, humanity, and who are not afraid to redirect efforts when necessary. 

As I seek to make my way into the field of technology policy and I continue my efforts to bring unrepresented voices to the forefront of technology-related debates across the Americas, my summer experience at Duco Experts has equipped me with a valuable understanding of the start-up ecosystem in San Francisco, as well as some of the most pressing areas of opportunity in the field of cybersecurity and emerging technologies. 

My sincere gratitude to Sidney Olinyk, Neema Basri, Lauren LaBrique, Sofia Arimany and all the members of the Duco Experts team for sharing their knowledge and for leading with such humane and passionate effectiveness. 

I’ve been given a lot of unique opportunities in my life, and I’m delighted that coming to Stanford to study cyber policy is the next step in my journey.

My work with cyber has already taken me through the U.S. Army as an intelligence analyst and into tech companies like StubHub and eBay, where I was a financial crime investigator, and Meta, where I worked on investigative teams looking into issues surrounding the 2020 U.S. election, the military coup in Myanmar, Ethiopia's civil war, and the evacuation of Afghanistan.

It’s surreal in the best way to be working with scholars and advisors like Renée DiResta and Alex Stamos whom I’ve read so much research from over the years. Because Stanford is so connected to Silicon Valley, it’s a prime place to look at policy impacts in the private sector. I’ve already had a chance to see public policy close-up, and I want to look more closely at how we can better engage the private sector to bring about societal changes.

One of the places where I think we need to rethink our approach is digital security. I’ve worked a lot on fraud and online crime cases during my career, and we tend to treat those issues very adversarially: reducing either entire nation-states or groups and movements of thousands and millions of people to amorphous, shadowy, dark, evil bad actors lurking in the ether is not a sustainable way to grow as a community and species. There are definitely really bad people out there, and without question there are people who have been exploited, but thinking about the issue in pure diametrics can be very dehumanizing. For every dark web mob boss targeting the innocent, there are a lot of undereducated, marginalized people targeting each other in a basic effort to get by.

I think we need to start asking harder questions about the incentives and root causes that drive people towards these crimes in the first place. Is it a lack of education? A lack of opportunity? The need for more resources? How do we as a society want to deal with those issues? Instead of just playing the whack-a-mole game that digital security currently is, I think the braver approach has to come from understanding the societal factors that create bad actors in the first place. We have to change those paradigms and take on the work of rehabilitating people rather than simply demonizing and dehumanizing them.
 

While I was an undergrad studying in Australia, I did volunteer and fundraising work with other Indonesian students. Throughout the semester, we’d collect funds, and then there would be a trip where we would go back to Indonesia and visit the children at the foster house we’d been collecting funds for. Sometimes these kids would go on to go to school or get a job, but their situation always seemed so precarious. If the economy changed or the money stopped, they’d be right back where they started. There wasn’t a good safety net to catch people, and donations were never going to be enough to change the situation for the long-term.

Seeing this made me start thinking about the public sector and how to improve public services that can act as a robust safety net for people in difficult times. Earlier in my career, I was very focused on empirical-based recommendations. I felt that as long as the data was convincing, that would be enough to create change. What I’ve realized is that good policy advice isn’t enough — you also need political will to implement the policy, driven by a well-informed public who can hold their elected policymakers accountable to deliver the changes they wish to see .

However, currently people find it difficult to understand the stances politicians take on certain issues and to keep track of whether they're delivering on their promises during their term in office. There’s not a very well-developed culture of people participating in policy making. I want to find ways of closing that gap between the people and their policy makers. 

That’s a massive challenge to tackle, but I know that learning more about governance and political frameworks with my MIP cohort will help me develop skills I can take back to Indonesia. There’s a big emphasis in this program on hands-on learning and experience outside of the classroom. It’s very focused on designing a solution, then testing it in the real world, then going back to redesign and test, redesign and test, until you get something that can actually make a difference. I’m confident that my time here is going to be invaluable for building public participation in Indonesia’s democratic and policymaking process.
 

My journey towards climate adaptation and mitigation is deeply personal, shaped by my lived experiences in the coastal cities of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Mombasa, Kenya, where I grew up. My mission is to treat climate change as a sustainable development issue and implement policies that holistically alleviate its impacts on vulnerable populations in Sub-Saharan Africa and the world. At Stanford, I hope to explore how science, technology, business, and society can work together to make this possible.

I’ve had the privilege of contributing to the development of renewable energy, water, and land conservation projects at different scales while working for a global non-profit (The Nature Conservancy), a multinational company (Schneider Electric), and an intergovernmental organization (The United Nations). Additionally, I had opportunities to engage in projects that address local problems of environmental and economic insecurity in various towns and villages in Tanzania (Zanzibar and Tanga), Cameroon (Bamenda), and the United States. These opportunities enabled me to collaborate with a wide variety of stakeholders in business, government, and civil society, thereby helping me hone technical and interpersonal skills relevant to the environmental field. 

As I continue my studies at Stanford, focusing on international policy, my goal is to channel my experiences, skills, and commitment to creating meaningful change. One of the exciting things about MIP is being amongst a nexus of people with tremendous talent. Tapping into this rich and vibrant community will help transform me as an aspiring leader in the climate space.
 

Since I was a little kid, I’ve been interested in what’s going on around me, and why things are the way they are. I come from Peru, and in an emerging economy like that it can be more obvious when public services don’t work. Everyone has stories from friends or family or firsthand experience of the difficulties they’ve had in accessing public services. I think that instilled a desire to solve issues of poverty and inequality very early on in my life. I’ve been asking those sorts of questions – What is this system? Why is it this way? How can we make it better? – for a long time.

I’m trained as an economist, but I believe we’ll only be able to find solutions to the major issues facing the world if we take an interdisciplinary approach. Yes, we need economic tools, but we have to combine those with frameworks from political science, international relations, law, education, public health, etc. We have to understand how the institutions who administer these frameworks function, and what we can do to change them when they’re not serving their purpose effectively.

And we also need to be open to learning from each other and making sure many different voices and perspectives are part of these discussions. We especially need young voices and youth participation in public policy. One generation may be in a position to make the policy, but it's the younger generations who will live with them. If we’re not helping them learn now, how can they be effective policy makers later?

I’m looking forward to my time in the MIP program as an opportunity to expand my knowledge and my network and make the kinds of multidisciplinary connections that will make me a more effective leader and mentor. The people here come from so many different backgrounds, and talking with them and learning from them is going to give me even more tools for how to approach these problems. 
 

My work experience is at the intersection of dual-use startups, venture capital, and the federal government. I most recently worked for Booz Allen Ventures, which is the corporate venture capital fund of Booz Allen Hamilton - focused on defense tech startups that can support national security missions. I supported the deal process end-to-end, from sourcing defense tech startups to developing business cases and facilitating value creation for portfolio companies. Prior to that, I supported several Department of Defense (DoD) teams, scouting dual-use startups based on certain use cases and technical requirements. I also conducted research on foreign investment in the U.S. startup ecosystem, assessing foreign influence within specific technology sectors.

My work experience has provided me with a deep understanding of and familiarity with the defense tech sector – both startups with dual-use applications and associated government needs and priorities – and how critical commercial technology is to supporting DoD efforts and ensuring national security.  

With rising geopolitical tensions in the world and China positioning as a great power competitor to the U.S., it feels like a great opportunity to be at Stanford and study international security and policy. At Stanford, my research interests revolve around venture capital and dual-use startups that support national security, opportunities/mechanisms to bridge the "valley of death" in the U.S. government, and adversarial capital/foreign investment in the U.S. I was drawn to the MIP program at Stanford because there are so many opportunities to research these areas and study them in depth from leading experts.

The MIP program also has a mission-oriented structure and mindset that really resonates with me. There are programs like the Gordian Knot Center at CISAC and classes like Hacking for Defense that are working in this same space: identifying private sector solutions for public sector needs. I’ve seen how good venture capital investments can accelerate startups that strengthen the DoD, and how good innovation, technology, and defense policy supports national security. I’m excited to continue working on these areas through my time at Stanford.
 

As an active duty Army officer and Downing Scholar, I intentionally pursued the MIP program at FSI because of the opportunity for personal growth, among the other unique aspects of studying at Stanford. A decade of military service taught me the simple truth that one will experience the most growth in the challenging territories outside of one’s comfort zone. Today, while passionate about International Security or Government & Development (two of the specializations offered by the MIP program), the Cyber Policy and Security track resides the furthest outside of my comfort zone and, therefore, offers me the greatest opportunity for personal growth.

In the military, the geometry of warfighting is divided into domains as a way of organizing and analyzing them. Admittedly, the cyber domain is the one I’m currently least familiar with, but the area that I feel is going to have the biggest effect on my ability to make and influence military decisions in the future. I’ve already witnessed how exponential growth within the cyber domain can expand the array of options for policy makers but, conversely, also create a new front of domestic vulnerability that U.S. national security and democracy is far from immune to. As I continue in my service, I want to be able to provide the best possible recommendations and make the most informed decisions possible. So, I’m here at Stanford to grow, discover and cover my blind spots.

More broadly, I understand this opportunity to reflect on my first decade of service while studying at Stanford is rare and well-timed. Today, I'm at a career-juncture where I’m now expected to understand the policy and strategic purpose behind the operational and tactical tasks at hand. That comes with a lot of responsibility. I’m more frequently in situations where I’m either directly making the decision or being asked, “What do you think about this?” by senior leaders. As a leader at any level, I want to be able to provide the best military advice possible, and I want to have a clear understanding of where my own decisions are coming from. Am I being objective or subjective? Do we have a clear end-state? Are we walking into a familiar and avoidable trap? I know the roots of many of these questions reside in policy. Therefore, I seek to build more of a mental foundation in the development of effective policy through a hands-on educational experience.

Today’s world offers no shortage of international policy problem-sets. One of the reasons the MIP program at FSI was so appealing to me was the environment it creates for hands-on learning opportunities to grapple with some of these problems. Dr. Fukuyama’s Policy Problem-Solving Framework and the MIP’s culminating capstone project offer tangible and solution-based opportunities to hone the skills I’ll take back to the Army. Lastly, Stanford houses a potent mix of people who have been policy practitioners, who have worked in government either here in the U.S. or abroad, and who are leading scholars in their field. Additionally, in this small and talented cohort of 28, another highlight to the MIP is our ability to frequently and directly interact with the faculty leadership and grow together. I’m excited by the opportunity for growth this all creates for me to not only share what I’ve learned in my career so far, but also to have that directly challenged and get feedback from my peers and professors. This experience will undoubtedly be invaluable when the time comes to step back into military service. 

The Stanford Center at Peking University is excited to announce our full re-opening for the 2023-24 academic year and beyond. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, SCPKU programs were suspended and in-person events were put on hold indefinitely. Following the end of the zero-COVID policy in China, the center re-opened on a limited basis to welcome eight Stanford students for this year's Summer Seminar, Chinese Corporations: A Case Study Workshop, led by Professor Andrew Walder. As the academic year approaches, the center plans to re-activate several other programs.

Please note that faculty and students, graduate and undergraduate, from all Stanford schools are welcome to reserve office space at SCPKU at any time. Faculty seeking only office space or students seeking only carrel space can contact SCPKU Program Coordinator Owen Raymond (oraymond@stanford.edu) to reserve desk space. For those seeking financial assistance, limited fellowship opportunities are available. Please see below for timeline information regarding our funded programs:

Summer Seminars:
Sept 18, 2023: Applications are now open for faculty seminar proposals.
January 5, 2024: Faculty proposal application deadline
February 2024: Seminar selections and their dates will be announced, applications open for seminar students
March 15, 2024: Student application deadline
April 2024: Decisions announced

Pre-Doctoral Fellowships, Faculty Fellowships, and Team Innovation Faculty Fellowships:

Cycle 1:
September 18, 2023: Applications are now open for SCPKU fellowship programs.
January 5, 2024: Application deadline
February 2024: Decisions announced
March-September, 2024: Fellowship term, at minimum 1 month and at maximum 3 months. Based on space and funding availability, SCPKU may provide extensions up to one academic year.

Cycle 2:
July 1, 2024: Application deadline
August 2024: Decisions announced
September 2024-March 2025: Fellowship term, at minimum 1 month and at maximum 3 months. Based on space and funding availability, SCPKU may provide extensions up to one academic year.
 

Thank you for your interest in our programs! We are so excited to welcome the Stanford community back to SCPKU. For more information, please contact SCPKU Program Coordinator Owen Raymond (oraymond@stanford.edu).