Dena Taha
Dena is a USC Master of Public Diplomacy candidate (Fall 2018) and Communication Chair of the Society of Public Diplomats. Her interest in post-conflict reconstruction and conflict resolution and prevention stems from her Lebanese background, a country that has never seen a period of stability since its independence.
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Prior to her studies at USC, she was a news producer at Al-Arabiya News Channel, a pan-Arab television news channel broadcast in Arabic based in Dubai, at its United Nations/New York Bureau. She was responsible for covering daily proceedings there related to the Middle East and the Arab world, and US foreign policy in that region. Being at the United Nations, the heart of international political dialogue and cooperation, drew her to the field and drew her to the field of international communication and development. She received a B.S. in Mathematics from the American University of Beirut in 2013 and was a visiting non-degree student at the Near and Middle Eastern Civilization department at the University of Toronto for the academic year 2013-2014. Dena is fluent in English and Arabic, with basic knowledge of French.
Kerry Velez
Kerry is a USC Master of Public Diplomacy candidate (Fall 2018), Center on Public Diplomacy Student Fellow, President of the Society of Public Diplomats and a freelance producer. Post-graduation she hopes to use her skills in strategic planning, media relations and foreign policy to build a stronger brand for institutions, organizations or important issues.
Kerry’s public diplomacy interests include Bosnia and Herzegovina reconstruction, nation branding, tech policy, corporate diplomacy and U.S. diplomacy.
She was drawn to the field of international communications and the intricacies of smart power following a 2012 internship with the Department of State’s Public Affairs Section at the U.S. Embassy in Australia and through classes focusing on public diplomacy and conflict negotiation. In the winter of 2012, she graduated with a bachelor's degree in science of communication studies from Emerson College in Boston, MA.