NATO Public Diplomacy Division
I have worked for NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division since 2019.
NATO is an alliance of 32 countries united by a pledge of collective defence - all for one and one for all. At its core, it’s that simple. But in order to maintain the security of its members in an increasingly complicated and unstable world, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has grown over the last 75 years into a complex intergovernmental organization that does crucial work in many different areas - from cooperating with non-member countries on counter-terrorism, to developing shared principles of responsible use for AI, to setting standards to lower military carbon emissions.
The purpose of NATO’s communications branch is not only to explain all of these areas of work to regular people, but also to counteract any hostile information activities (read: propaganda or disinformation) from those who seek to undermine the Alliance’s cohesion and weaken it from within (read: Russia. China, and all the other authoritarian regimes whose oppressive systems are threatened by a strong democratic world).
As a communications officer, I contribute my skills to advance NATO’s mission. Some specific aspects of my work include:
writing and editing for the NATO website, developing key pages like NATO’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
producing videos and animations, from brainstorming to scripting to editing
hosting and producing podcasts, breaking down NATO history and NATO summits
speaking to public audience’s about NATO’s work, like at NATO’s first-ever gaming tournament in Warsaw
managing a team of dedicated, creative communicators telling NATO’s story to the world
I started at NATO as an intern fresh out of my master’s degree - not really understanding much about this venerable transatlantic alliance, but curious to learn more about this organization I’d heard about as a child. NATO was part of our family lore, because my grandfather had worked at the Alliance’s military headquarters when it was based in Paris in the 1950s, and my grandparents often spoke of the few years that they’d lived in France. On the first day of my internship, I wore the NATO star tie that I’d inherited from my grandfather when he passed away. I’m not that fresh-faced intern anymore, but I still pause sometimes when I’m walking into NATO HQ in Brussels, reflecting on what an honour and privilege it is to serve my country and all its Allies in this vital organization.