Meet the Team: Laura Mediavilla Redondo, Partnerships Intern

My name is Laura Mediavilla Redondo and I am a Partnerships Intern at FAO North America. I was born in Madrid, Spain, and have lived in Spain, France, and the United States. I have been living in the United States for the last four years getting my bachelor’s in International Affairs from the George Washington University (GW) in Washington, DC.

I always knew that I wanted to study outside of my country and the United States was a big contender on my list! The first time I heard of GW was during the summer before my senior year when my local radio in Spain (Cadena SER Oriente Asturias, for those Spaniards out there) was talking about GW experts and the number of alumni who are now professionals in governments all around the world and at the biggest multilateral institutions. I was very interested in diplomacy and politics, and the idea of studying that in the heart of government was extremely appealing to me. I wanted to experience first-hand the place where decisions are made and where so much history has been written to influence world history.

I went into university with the idea that my dream job would be working for the United Nations in the long term. I also thought that I would be happy if I got to do an internship somewhere and then went directly into my masters or the Spanish foreign service but as I had many varied experiences that idea for my future changed. At some point, I even considered completely changing my major to civil engineering with a focus on environmental regulation, but my interest in diplomacy eventually prevailed and I ended up continuing on a path to work in the public sector. I have tried to get at least some experience in both the public and the multilateral side of policymaking. This desire took me to intern for places like the Embassy of Spain, the US House of Representatives, the World Bank, the Organization of American States (OAS), and finally, the United Nations.

The UN came into the picture during my senior year of university when I thought that I did not want to intern anywhere, and I would just focus on an engineering fellowship I was in for the year. However, when the opportunity presented itself, I just could not say no to interning at the UN. It had always been my dream and it was the first step in the door for me to get to work there a couple of years ahead of my calendar. This is how I ended up transitioning to FAO as an intern the summer after I graduated and where I am today! I am extremely excited to learn more about food and agricultural issues and cannot wait to see what the future awaits. There is a phrase from Kofi Annan that defines very well my state of mind: “To live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to get there.” This is what I am currently working on. I am working hard to know where I want to go, what I want to do, and who I want to be and in the meant time grow as much as possible as both a person and a professional.

Laura Mediavilla Redondo is currently a Partnerships Intern at the FAO Liaison Office for North America.