Adam Baltaxe

Search for Common Ground is the world’s leading peacebuilding NGO, working on bringing people together regardless of circumstance. During my summer internship with Search, I worked in both Brussels and Washington, D.C., supporting these peacebuilding projects across the globe. I collaborated with an international team on tasks like translating program guides, conducting research on violence prevention efforts in Guatemala, and preparing contracts and project management tools. My experience also included attending a speaker series in Belgium, where I gained insights into global politics and the systemic challenges of addressing social issues. Ultimately, this internship deepened my understanding of international peacebuilding and provided invaluable connections to further my career aspirations in this field. 

I was surprised by the level of autonomy I was given in my role, particularly in managing research and translating program guides. Even though I was pretty lucky to often be the only Spanish speaker in the office, I didn’t expect to be entrusted with such important responsibilities, especially since the projects directly supported high-stakes international initiatives. I was also surprised to discover how nuanced peacebuilding efforts are, as they require not just theoretical knowledge but also a deep understanding of the factors specific to each region. 

I plan to build on this experience by pursuing further research on peacebuilding initiatives. I’m also an advisory board member with Soliya’s Blueprint for Belonging Project and Syracuse’s Life Together committee to apply the dialogue strategies I learned in a domestic context. In the long-term, I aim to explore international organizations and graduate programs focused on conflict resolution to refine my expertise and contribute to practical solutions in the field of global peacebuilding.