Keita Nakano is an International Development Studies Master’s Student specializing in conflict and development. He has worked with Accept International, a Japan-based International Peacebuilding NGO taking action in deradicalizing and reintegrating former violent extremists in areas such as Somalia, Kenya, and Yemen. During his 3 years there, Keita gained experience in designing Monitoring & Evaluation activities (e.g., focus group discussions, baseline and endline surveys, etc.), writing grant proposals, and assisting the overall implementation of projects. He also gained on-the-ground work experience in Turkana, Kenya, where he conducted various tasks, such as interviews and meetings to key stakeholders and beneficiaries for a climate change resilience build-up project towards pastoralist communities. During his studies at the Elliott School, Keita took various courses such as Project Management, Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods, Negotiation and Conflict Management, and Cross-Cultural Communication.
What path led you to apply to graduate school? Why did you pick the Elliott School?
During my years as an undergraduate student in Japan, I was doing an internship at a Japanese peacebuilding NGO called Accept International, that was taking action in deradicalizing and reintegrating former violent extremists in various countries (e.g., Somalia, Yemen, Indonesia, and Kenya). Through such an experience, I gained a passion to become a practitioner in the field of conflict resolution and countering/preventing violent extremism. As an undergraduate (and a student from Japan with no full-time working experience), I realized that I need to gain more practical skills and knowledge in becoming such a practitioner. In addition, I wanted to gain further connections with various peacebuilding NGOs and international organizations. The International Development Studies program at the Elliott School, as well as its location in Washington D.C., provided me such needs – not to mention the possibility to obtain more knowledge in the conflict and peacebuilding field at the same time.
What has been your favorite course at the Elliott School so far and why?
There’s too many! As a first, I loved all of the 1-credit professional skills courses that I took, which were Cross-cultural Communications, Gender Advisor Roles and Skills, and Mediation. Even though the courses were held in the weekends (for one or two full-days), they were very interactive and fun. Most importantly, they were very useful throughout all of my working experience, as it enabled me to think about how to interact and work in an international setting, which my career trajectory most likely will be.
Regarding the field of conflict and peacebuilding, I really liked Dr. Corinne Graff’s Conflict Prevention class. It enabled me to think about the importance and challenges of conflict prevention, which I feel is gaining traction in the conflict and peacebuilding sphere. Rather than being reactionary to conflict, if conflicts can be prevented by building states to be more resilient towards conflict (just like a vaccine), all of the money towards trying to solve conflicts can be used more efficiently! I feel that what I learned through this course enabled me to gain a better understanding of what kind of career path I want to pursue in being a practitioner in the field of conflict and peacebuilding. I was more narrow-minded on aiming to be a practitioner in preventing/countering violent extremism, but now I have become more interested in how to strengthen states to be less prone to conflicts!
Where do you currently work, intern or volunteer, and how does it fit in with your career goals?
I am currently doing an internship at Search for Common Ground as a project implementation intern for the Asia Regional team. This internship fits very well with my career goal to be a practitioner in the conflict and peacebuilding field, as I believe such responsibilities have enabled me to use both the skills and knowledge I gained through my coursework and internships (e.g., project design, project management, monitoring and evaluation, etc.). To give some context, my responsibilities there are: 1) copy-editing and drafting reports and success stories to donors on various projects across Asia (e.g., Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, etc.); 2) supporting project management through reviewing and consolidating reports developed by local partners into one that is more accessible; 3) updating databases and tools for grants management in various systems; and 4) researching and developing project management and team development tools. Being able to foster practical skills (e.g., project management, donor reporting, budgeting, etc.) while gaining further knowledge of how projects are being implemented on the ground has enabled me to be prepared to be a practitioner in the field of conflict and peacebuilding.
Think of where you were when you applied to the Elliott School. What advice would you give yourself knowing what you know now, as a student?
My first advice would be to be prepared for course registration, and make it as consistent as possible for what kind of career you would like to pursue. One of the good things about the IDS program, is that there are a lot of courses you can choose from, including courses from other schools and universities! But as much as that was a big benefit for me, I learned that I need to be more prepared towards registering courses from other universities. In my case, I was looking to register for a course offered outside of GWU, but come registration period, this was very difficult since I had to reach out to the professors offering the course first. Thus, I would advise myself back then to start reaching out to professors and better understand how course registration outside of GWU works beforehand. Another piece of advice is to not be scared about dropping courses. After taking a certain course for one or two weeks, I had a feeling that it may not fit well with my interest, nonetheless, I was a little lazy and did not change it. This came to haunt me later, since as time went by, my energy and passion towards that course dwindled. So, if you do get a sense that it may not fit your interest, I would recommend to change it!
What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned so far at the Elliott School?
The most valuable thing I learned at Elliott, is that reaching out to anyone is key! All of the faculty members, friends, the connection you develop at events, are very friendly and communicating with them often leads to something! I was able to gain valuable information regarding career development through attending various events hosted by the Elliott School, getting advice from academic advisors and career coaches, and reaching out to professors (who often are also practitioners in development) enabled me to gain further understanding of the field and even more connections. As such, I would highly recommend to go to events (they often have free snacks, food, and drinks) and network, even though they do consume energy. Granted, sometimes, the connections you built will not lead to anything – but the benefits surpass the cost by a lot, and you won’t know what would happen in the future!
What is your favorite city that you’ve visited and why?
My favorite city would be Solola, a city near Lake Atitilan in Guatemala. I visited there during my 2.5-week solo travel during winter break, and I had the best food and met the nicest people there! All of the food I ate in the local market was great (especially the Hilacha, a type of beef stew that is a common Guatemalan dish) and when I asked people in the market about anything, they responded to me in a very friendly manner – perhaps the friendliest among the six or seven cities I visited during my trip. The numerous types of Mayan clothing people were wearing in the bustling market was also something to see. Even though I only stayed there for half a day, the general atmosphere, the food, and the people make me want to go back again!
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The #WeAreElliott profile series is managed by the Elliott School Office of Graduate Admissions and highlights current students to answer common questions posed by prospective, incoming, and current students. For more information on this series or to submit questions, e-mail the Office of Graduate Admissions at esiagrad@gwu.edu.
The views expressed by students profiled do not necessarily represent those of organizations they work for, are affiliated with, or the Elliott School of International Affairs.
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