Meghan Purkis is a current graduate student at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, pursuing her master’s degree in International Public Policy. Before attending the Balsillie School of International Affairs, Meghan graduated with distinction from Wilfrid Laurier University, earning an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, as well as a Minor in Criminology.

In the final year of her undergraduate program, Meghan had the opportunity to be a Teaching Assistant at Laurier for the first-year course ‘Politics Beyond Borders,’ where she taught an in-class tutorial and helped with the grading of students reports.

Outside of academia, Meghan gained further experience in community building and sponsorship initiatives as the Sponsorship Director of motionball Laurier, in collaboration with Special Olympics Canada. Through this she developed and implemented successful sponsorship strategies to increase revenue and managed budgets for sponsored projects and initiatives for motionball Canada.

Meghan also gained skills in public speaking and advocacy as the Peer Support Executive for Laurier Moot Court, where she created submissions and competed in multiple Mooting Competitions for Laurier during her undergraduate degree such as the Osgoode Hall Cup, the Western Moot Cup, and the Guelph Gryphon’s Cup.

During the MIPP program, Meghan hopes to deepen her understanding of public policy and explore how it can be used to identify gaps in the current international framework, particularly in areas such as human security, migration, economic relations, and environmental policy. She is looking forward to advancing her knowledge in topics of interest such as international peace processes, decolonization and sustainability, and civil society mobilization through an intersectional feminist approach.