Michael Pizziferri '15 makes the right connections

After graduation he’ll be the director of operations and global education programs at WorldBoston

Photo/Mike Lovett

Michael Pizziferri '15

Michael Pizziferri ’15 has a resume that includes stops at a state representative's office, a top political strategy firm in Boston and the government of the province of Québec.

Not bad for a 21-year-old.

And all the career building during his undergraduate years is already starting to pay off – after graduation, he will be the director of operations and global education programs at WorldBoston, an international affairs-focused non-profit based in the Boston seaport that's a part of the American World Affairs Council.

Starting with an internship in the office of Quincy State Representative Tackey Chan ‘95 that was set up through Hiatt Career Center, Pizziferri has learned the importance of developing relationships and impressing with his work.

“It's amazing when you start to realize how much these things matter,” he said. “It's something Hiatt prepares you for, but you really have to take that leap yourself and make those connections.”

After spending the summer working for Chan, the state representative put him in touch with Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications for an internship, where he’s continued to work on a part-time basis. The connections there led him to his most recent internship in the Québec Government Office in Boston, where he helped coordinate visits of Québec officials to New England and provincial government-sponsored events in the area.

Pizziferri, a politics and international and global studies double major, also spent a semester studying abroad in Paris and speaks fluent French and Italian. During his time at the Québec Government Office in Boston, he opened a dialogue between the French and Francophone Studies Program at Brandeis and the office for a possible future partnership.

“We're hoping this relationship will help us create some interesting new areas of study for our students,” said Michael Randall, professor of French and Comparative Literature and chair of the Romantic Studies Department. “Michael was very important in bringing the delegation and Brandeis together.”

Pizziferri’s internships and experiences were geared toward what he hoped would be a future career in international politics. He’s quickly found an opportunity for that in WorldBoston, an organization whose mission is to “foster engagement in international affairs and cooperation with peoples of all nations.”

“It's a privilege to have found a position so closely related to my field of study and I’m really looking forward to promoting WorldBoston’s mission of connecting the world to Boston, and Boston to the world," he said. "This position aligns perfectly with my interests and I feel ready to take on the challenge of the role thanks to my past experiences.”

Categories: Alumni, International Affairs, Student Life

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