New Scholarship With McGill University to Promote Purposeful Leadership

Suhanya: My name is Suhanya Joseph de Saram and I graduated with a BA in Politics and Governance from Sciences Po. I studied Europe-Asian relations on Le Havre campus, Asia-Pacific Minor, before spending my 3A (the third year abroad) at UCL (University College London) in the United Kingdom, where I was part of the UCL Arts and Sciences interdisciplinary department. Post graduation, I returned to Sri Lanka (amidst the pandemic) and have been working in the international development and policy sector for almost four years. I currently work on designing and implementing social support programmes for marginalised communities at a local women’s rights NGO.

Anna: My name is Anna Legault and I am an alum of the Dual Degree between Sciences Po and the University of British Columbia. I was a student on Sciences Po Reims campus, North America Minor, studying Europe-North American relations before completing my studies at UBC with a focus on languages and sociolinguistics. My background is as a contemporary ballet dancer and I currently divide my time between dance training and work on equitable linguistic policy in the Canadian context.

Suhanya: I am very honoured to have made it this far in the scholarship process and grateful for the support the programme is able to give me towards my Master's education and future career. In particular, the holistic approach and emphasis on community-based leadership was what drew me to the programme and I am excited to be part of such a diverse and talented network from around the world.

Anna: I was interested in the way the McCall MacBain program brings people together from different fields who have a shared motivation for systemic change. I am thrilled to be connected to an interdisciplinary network of scholars and grateful for the support of the finalist award as I pursue graduate studies.

Suhanya: I was able to nurture many leadership and teamwork qualities during my time at Sciences Po, and was especially lucky to have met so many diverse and wonderfully talented people throughout my time there. I was the leader of the English Theatre group, and was also very engaged in the music and performing arts sector, as well as in the debate and MUN (Model United Nations) teams of the Le Havre campus. In particular, leading and developing the English theater group into one that was engaging, creative, and would resonate with francophone audiences was challenging yet extremely rewarding. I wish to continue honing my creative and performing skills at McGill whilst also further exploring the policy and development world through McGill’s various activities for graduate students. 

Anna: During my time as a student in Reims, I worked my first job as a language interpreter at UNESCO. The process of facilitating negotiations between English, French, and Italian was a crash-course in the nuance of translation. I believe that purposeful leadership is needed in the field of cross-cultural communications: identity, history, belonging, and power (im)balances are just some of the facets I saw at play when attempting to reach compromise. I am looking forward to further researching this at McGill via comparative language work, and exploring how intermediaries can better build bridges across divides. This domain of work will be mediating so many of the important inter-national conversations we have in our increasingly globalised world. It will take leadership from diverse fields to continue building the effective and equitable intermediary work that is needed.

Suhanya: Explorative.

Anna: Expansive.