IROnline Alumni Profile: Kevin Mackey

Meet Kevin, an International Relations Online student in Kenya who is passionate about humanitarian relief and believes communication is the key to leadership.

Current Location: Nairobi, Kenya

I am in the Executive Master of International Service (MIS) program with a concentration in International Development. I am the program development director for a humanitarian relief and development organization. I am currently living in Nairobi, Kenya, providing support to our program in Somalia.

I am a busy professional with a new family. I live abroad as well. I cannot afford to take time off from my career to undertake my master’s. International Relations Online provided me the flexibility I needed to continue doing my job, live abroad, and provide for my family.

I believe that my work has a very tangible impact on the world. From a humanitarian perspective, my work helps save lives and alleviate suffering. At the same time, I am working to promote longer-term development goals, such as improving access to health care and education. Finally, I am working to help shape norms, such as promoting the role of women as decision makers in their own destinies.

I have been working in the humanitarian and development field for almost 14 years. I have accumulated a wealth of experience designing and implementing projects aimed at helping the world’s most vulnerable communities. I am now in my fourth semester of my master’s program. Over the past few semesters, I have acquired a whole new vocabulary and series of concepts to help me frame my experience. As I have moved into leadership roles within my organization, I am increasingly called upon to be a teacher/mentor to others. The terms and concepts that I have learned through this course have made me a better communicator and mentor to young managers.

I really enjoy the online platform. Living abroad, I feared being disconnected from the school experience. However, the online platform allows me to participate in real time in discussions and get to know my fellow students and faculty members. I feel much more connected to my classmates and American University in general.

I think that much of my professional life has centered around service towards others. I have been both an AmeriCorps and Peace Corps volunteer. Following these experiences, I became a humanitarian aid worker. I believe that a life worth living is a life in service to others. I have dedicated my energy and intellect in pursuit of these ideals.

I am interested in the causes of conflict. Moreover, I am interested in how to address chronic conflict. Having worked in two conflict-affected countries—Sri Lanka and Somalia—I am keen to find solutions to help these countries heal.

There are many passionate professionals who I have had the honor of serving with. If I were to name leaders who I admire, I would say individuals like Steve Jobs. I appreciate the fact that he battled back to take the leadership of Apple. Leaders who have suffered adversity and come back to fight another day make better leaders.

I really enjoyed the Global Health Politics and Policy class I took a couple of semesters back. The program I manage has large-scale health programming. I have, over the years, developed and managed a number of different health projects in a conflict-affected development context. However, I did not understand fully why we prioritized some types of health interventions over others. The class provided me the history of the decisions that led to the programs that I am currently implementing.

The program has equipped me with the concepts and vocabulary to help me be a better leader and mentor. As you move up in an organization, you do less of the day-to-day and begin to provide guidance and vision to teams. Having a firm understanding of the concept and the words to express those concepts makes one a better communicator. Leaders need to communicate effectively, and the MIS program has made me a better communicator.

It was a lot of fun. In the online MIS program, I am surrounded by my peers, people of the same level of experience as myself. It was great to share old war stories over a couple of drinks after class. We all have such a diversity of experience, and it is great to be able to share those lessons learned in formal and informal ways.

I chose think tanks. It was interesting because I had no understanding of what think tanks were. I was sort of a tourist of another career path. 

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