Gina grew up in a small college town in Wisconsin, harboring big dreams of seeing the world, empowering women and creating positive change. With a love for travel and exploring new cultures, she credits her natural interest in experiencing different ways of thinking and living—and not being afraid to fail—as some of her biggest strengths. With endless curiosity, unlimited vision and an intense drive to impact the world around her, it’s no wonder she became an Eisenhower Global Scholar at IE University.

Before making the move to Madrid, Gina served in the Peace Corps in Senegal, where she became fluent in Malinke, and held a variety of leadership roles as a liaison between staff and volunteers, a leadership camp director, an emergency troubleshooter and more. Touching down in Spain, it didn’t take Gina long to discover more opportunities to lead. At IE University, along with her classmate Rossella Leali, she represents the Master in International Relations student body as a class representative. Gina isn’t afraid to go after what she wants and what she deems important, making her the perfect candidate for a scholarship program that builds natural world leaders.

Her experience at IE University has been nothing short of eye-opening. Gina has enhanced her already diverse mindset by learning alongside classmates from all across the globe, from Liberia to Costa Rica and Saudi Arabia. It’s been one of the biggest highlights of the program, she says, along with learning from professors with varied career and life experiences.

Coming up with a project proposal to qualify for the scholarship was a daunting task for Gina; one that required her to pull from her two years of experience in Senegal, as well as from her big vision of a world she wants to work in. She proposed a unique project that involved building a resource toolkit for immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers, containing topics like cultural norms, employment assistance and affordable housing options.

Her professors, her peers and her unique education as an Eisenhower Global Scholar are sure to open the door to a world of possibilities for Gina.

Curious, adventurous and hardworking are just three words Gina uses to describe herself. Given her vast and worldly experience, it’s likely people close to her—or anyone who’s watched her navigate her professional and educational career—would agree.

The late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Gina says, has inspired her passion for building up and empowering women. “Women belong in all places where decisions are being made,” the former US Supreme Court Justice once said. It’s a quote that informs everything Gina does—putting herself in positions where she can show the world what she’s made of, and empower other women, from Wisconsin to Senegal, to make the same informed decisions for themselves.