Fruzsina Straus M.A. '07's journey was different from that of typical students. During her time at the School of Diplomacy, she worked a full-time job at an INGO associated with the United Nations during the day while attending her classes at night. She stated that working full-time while being a student allowed her to take what she learned in class and apply it immediately and effectively to her career. During her time at Seton Hall, her specializations in public health and policy and in international organizations greatly helped her work. This led her to apply to work within the UN network through the Young Professionals Program after a decade in her field.

Her first assignment with the UN Secretariat was in Beirut, Lebanon, where she spent the first five years focusing on post-conflict recovery and economic development planning across the MENA region. Fruzsina then joined UN‑Habitat’s Africa Regional Office based at headquarters in Kenya. In her first six months alone, she traveled to 24 countries across the African continent, gaining an intensive grounding in the region through hands‑on work in secondary cities and towns on urban resilience—leading the implementation of disaster risk reduction measures such as early warning systems, nature‑based solutions, evacuation routes, and community mobilization.

In Morondava, Madagascar, for example, she helped to establish an evacuation center for a highly vulnerable community. Just days after she departed following the inauguration, the center was fully occupied during a cyclone—an experience that underscored the value of hands‑on, practical work translating disaster risk reduction into real‑world impact.

Two years ago, she joined the United Nations Environment Programme as Head of Disaster Risk Reduction and Peacebuilding, based in Kenya, where she leads global work at the intersection of disasters, climate, and peace across a wide range of country contexts. She explained that working for the UN requires a lot of flexibility, given the changing global landscape, which has led to the restructuring of various UN programmes and staff.

Looking ahead, she is interested in deepening her engagement at the country level, with a focus on work that is directly connected to national decision‑making and meaningful community engagement. Her aim is to help translate global frameworks and solutions into locally grounded, high‑impact action. At the same time, she is increasingly interested in how shifting global dynamics, emerging technologies, and evolving priorities are transforming the role of the private sector in development, and the implications this has for diplomacy and partnership. Drawing on her experience across INGOs and the UN, she is keen to explore how public–private engagement can better respond to these changes.

Reflecting on her education at Seton Hall, she credits its practical orientation with shaping her ability to think critically about a changing global landscape and to apply theory in real‑world settings—an approach that has continued to inform her professional trajectory.

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