Summer Geopolitics Academy for High School Students
Training the Foreign Policy Leaders of Tomorrow
The world’s biggest problems don’t respect borders. Tomorrow’s leaders must understand how regional events ripple across continents, economic decisions in major capitals affect communities everywhere, and local action creates global change. The Summer Geopolitics Academy identifies and develops exceptional high school students from underrepresented backgrounds and helps them imagine and prepare for careers in international affairs through an intensive and inspiring educational program.
Why It Matters
The gap between who shapes foreign policy and whom foreign policy affects has never been more important to bridge. Yet the pathways into these careers remain frustratingly narrow, often invisible and inaccessible to students without elite networks or financial resources. This disconnect between the type of leaders U.S. foreign policy needs and those who actually get access to these careers undermines America’s ability to engage effectively with the world.
At the same time, America’s foreign policy establishment is experiencing its deepest institutional crisis in decades. Career diplomats are leaving in record numbers and funding for diplomacy and development programs further dwindle. This disruption — while destabilizing — creates space for innovative approaches to international affairs education and career development, allowing programs like ours to expand the pool of people who set and participate in foreign policy conversations.
What We Do
Breaking Down Barriers to Global Leadership
Our academy actively seeks students whose perspectives and experiences are typically absent from international affairs discussions—precisely the voices American foreign policy needs.
The Institute for Global Affairs believes that geopolitical literacy is fundamental to both citizenship and leadership in our interconnected world. When foreign policy making becomes more representative of the population at large, it transforms institutions that have historically been “Yale, pale, and male.” In doing so, it becomes more grounded in diverse experiences, less susceptible to conspiracy theories and extreme ideologies, and ensures the country’s interests are prioritized over those of well-connected individuals and interest groups.
Our Approach
We blend academic rigor with real-world learning, pairing UN visits and policy simulations with lasting mentorship. We invest in potential wherever we find it, and students leave our academy with clarity, confidence, and community.
More Than Academic Excellence
Our participants demonstrate intellectual curiosity, leadership capacity, and commitment to their communities, and our program combines rigorous academic content with practical skill-building, peer collaboration, and sustained mentorship that continues long after the summer bootcamp ends.
Real-World Learning in a Global Capital
New York City is our host location and our classroom. Students engage directly with the institutions and individuals who shape international affairs, and arrange their visits to the United Nations, meetings with diplomats and geopolitical analysts, and participation in conversations influencing foreign policy decisions.
Our week-long bootcamp experience immerses students in real-world environments while building the analytical skills, communication abilities, and professional networks they’ll need to succeed in competitive colleges. The program kicks off with a crash course in global affairs delivered by top-tier experts from government, academia, and the private sector. Throughout the week, students engage in interactive workshops, small-group mentoring, and site visits to global institutions, working in teams to develop solutions to current global challenges through policy proposals, diplomatic simulations, or media campaigns.
Building Networks That Last
Traditional enrichment programs often treat summer experiences as isolated events, but access to opportunity requires ongoing relationships and support. Our network and mentorship platform maintains connections among participants, creates mentorship opportunities with program alumni, and provides continued learning resources.
Students become part of a growing network committed to bringing global insight to every field, not just geopolitics and global affairs. Whether they pursue diplomacy, national security, journalism, business, law, or professional politics, they will learn how global dynamics and local possibilities shape each other, while building a diverse network of support for their educational and professional opportunities.
Measuring What Matters
Short-term impact focuses on immediate educational and network outcomes. We track college application success rates, scholarship acquisitions, and international affairs course enrollment among program alumni. Our team documents continued engagement with global issues through student leadership, community advocacy, and academic achievement in international subjects.
Long-term impact measures career development and field diversification. We monitor alumni progression into international affairs careers, track diversity improvements in foreign policy institutions where our alumni work and assess how program graduates influence international affairs education and advocacy in their communities.
Our tracking methodology combines educational metrics (standardized test improvements, college acceptances, academic performance) with engagement measures (continued global affairs involvement, community leadership, peer mentorship) and career progression data (internship placements, graduate school acceptances, professional advancement in international fields).
We measure impact by monitoring how our alumni contribute to foreign policy debates, influence international affairs education in their communities, and create pathways for other underrepresented students to engage with global issues.
Who should apply?
Are you a high school junior who asks big questions about the world—and wants to help shape it? We’re launching a nationwide search to identify exceptional students from underrepresented communities for our inaugural cohort. We seek students who demonstrate intellectual curiosity, leadership potential, and commitment to their communities, regardless of their current access to international affairs education.
You might be a student government leader, debate team member, volunteer coordinator, or simply someone who asks thoughtful questions about world events and wants to understand the connections between global trends and local experiences. Most importantly, you’re ready to think beyond traditional boundaries and imagine yourself as an active participant in reshaping American foreign policy conversations.
Our rigorous selection process partners with community organizations, public schools, and youth development programs to identify talented students who might not otherwise encounter these opportunities. We develop selection criteria that recognize potential rather than privilege, ensuring our program reaches students whose voices are essential to American foreign policy but too often excluded.
More information on how to apply will be available before November 1st. Please note that the 2026 cohort will be fully remote.
Partner With Us
Investing in geopolitical literacy means investing in informed citizenship and engaged communities during a critical period for American foreign policy. Traditional approaches to international affairs education often reinforce existing hierarchies rather than expanding participation. Our academy actively works to diversify the next generation of foreign policy leaders while building broader public understanding of global issues.
The program’s design maximizes philanthropic impact through sustained engagement rather than one-time interventions. Students receive ongoing mentorship, network access, and learning opportunities that continue creating value throughout their educational and professional journeys, especially as they navigate a disrupted foreign policy landscape.
Partner with us to ensure that tomorrow’s international affairs leaders understand global interconnections through lived experience rather than inherited privilege. Your investment supports students who will bring essential perspectives to foreign policy discussions while building broader public understanding of how global issues affect local communities.
Our program represents a strategic investment in the next generation of diplomats who will rebuild America’s foreign policy infrastructure.
For partnership inquiries or philanthropic support related to this program, please contact development@instituteforglobalaffairs.org.
About Our Program Leadership
Elizabeth Shackelford brings deep diplomatic expertise to her role directing the Summer Geopolitics Academy. Currently serving as Senior Policy Director at Dartmouth’s Dickey Center for International Understanding, she has built her career through diplomatic postings in Poland, South Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, and Washington, DC. She is the author of “The Dissent Channel: American Diplomacy in a Dishonest Age” and co-author of an upcoming textbook from Stanford University Press on the mechanics of US foreign policy, bringing unmatched credibility to the academy’s mission at this critical period for American foreign policy.
For educators interested in collaboration, please email shackelford@instituteforglobalaffairs.org.
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