Natalie Suzor is a graduate student in the Master of Arts in Global Governance program at the Balsillie School of International Affairs. In 2021, Natalie graduated with distinction from the University of Windsor with an Honours Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Development Studies, with Specializations in French Language and International Exchange.
During her undergraduate degree, Natalie studied abroad for a year in Lyon, France at Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3. There, she took courses in European Union law, political science, geography, and French language. Studying European Union law sparked an interest in international institutions, which led Natalie to choose Brexit as the topic of her undergraduate thesis project the following year. Her thesis project consisted of a comparative study between the post-Brexit Irish border and the Swedish-Norwegian border while examining cross-border cooperation, trade, and customs agreements.
Outside of the classroom, Natalie explored various volunteer and employment experiences. She held different teaching assistantships, worked as a summer student at Service Canada, and currently works as Passport Officer at Passport Canada. She undertook different mentorship roles on campus with the University of Windsor’s Head Start program, Welcome Week, and Mentorship and Learning program. She served as a tutor for the United Way Windsor-Essex and as the Assistant to the Executive Director of ACFO-WECK, a local non-profit devoted to engagement in the French community. In 2017, Natalie joined The Liberty Project: a social enterprise that hires women who have overcome human trafficking, addiction, and trauma to produce reusable menstrual pads that are distributed to women in developing countries who do not have access to sanitary products. She went on to hold different roles within the team and served as Project Manager during the 2020-2021 year. She was awarded Enactus Canada’s 2021 HSBC Women Entrepreneurial Leader of the Year Award for her work as Project Manager in leading the team and transitioning operations to run remotely due to COVID-19.
The combination of her volunteer and academic experiences during her undergraduate degree have led to her current research interests. Natalie is passionate about gender and social equality in a global context. While studying at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, Natalie hopes to focus her research on global policy issues such as the role of international institutions in development and environment policy, with a specific interest in how these institutions and policies affect women in the Global South.