{"id":1953,"date":"2025-06-13T14:12:19","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T18:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/npsia\/?post_type=cu_story&p=1953"},"modified":"2025-06-17T09:29:35","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T13:29:35","slug":"from-npsia-to-international-911-valentina-canales-burkes-global-impact","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/npsia\/story\/from-npsia-to-international-911-valentina-canales-burkes-global-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"From NPSIA to \u201cInternational 911\u201d: Valentina Canales Burke\u2019s Global Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n From NPSIA to \u201cInternational 911\u201d: Valentina Canales Burke\u2019s Global Impact\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

When Valentina Canales Burke applied to grad school, she wasn\u2019t entirely sure she\u2019d go. But when she was accepted to all the programs she applied to\u2014including public policy at McGill and international relations at uOttawa\u2014 she made a clear choice: NPSIA\u2019s MA in International Affairs. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cAt the end of the day, I realized international affairs wasn\u2019t just an interest\u2014it was what I wanted to build my career around,\u201d she says. \u201cNPSIA was the program that aligned with both my passion and my goals.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

That decision paid off. Today, Valentina works as an Operations Officer at Global Affairs Canada\u2019s Emergency Watch and Response Centre\u2014what she playfully calls \u201cinternational 911.\u201d She helps Canadians abroad through some of the most difficult moments of their lives, from medical evacuations to dealing with deaths and kidnappings. \u201cIt\u2019s intense, but so fulfilling to know I\u2019m helping people when they need it most,\u201d she says. \u201cTravel can be life-changing, but when the unexpected happens, I\u2019m proud to be part of the team that helps people navigate through it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Valentina\u2019s time at NPSIA was filled with equally high-impact experiences. She completed a co-op in trade at Global Affairs Canada, went on exchange to Sciences Po in Paris, and served as a panelist at the Canadian Association of International Development Professionals\u2019 annual conference. Through her work as NPSIA\u2019s social media assistant, she became a well-known and well-connected presence in the school, capturing events, interviewing students, and developing strong relationships across the faculty. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cI\u2019m proud of how many people I\u2019ve connected with. It\u2019s a nice feeling to walk into a room and see familiar faces\u2014or have people recognize me from something I worked on.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Those connections have opened doors\u2014literally. She credits Larry Lederman, a former ambassador and NPSIA Fellow, as an unexpected mentor who introduced her to Ottawa\u2019s diplomatic community. \u201cHe\u2019s invited me to embassies, cultural events, concerts\u2014he\u2019s been incredibly kind and generous with advice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As she looks to the future, Valentina is eyeing the foreign service exam, continuing her work in consular affairs, applying to international conferences for young diplomats, and exploring opportunities across Europe. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cNPSIA changed my life,\u201d she says. \u201cI came in unsure of where I fit, and I\u2019m leaving with the confidence that I belong in these rooms\u2014and that I can make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Valentina Canales Burke applied to grad school, she wasn\u2019t entirely sure she\u2019d go. But when she was accepted to all the programs she applied to\u2014including public policy at McGill and international relations at uOttawa\u2014 she made a clear choice: NPSIA\u2019s MA in International Affairs. \u201cAt the end of the day, I realized international affairs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":228,"featured_media":1982,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[78],"cu_story_tag":[],"class_list":["post-1953","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-2025-spring-grad-profiles"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/npsia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/1953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/npsia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/npsia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/npsia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/228"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/npsia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/1953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1985,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/npsia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/1953\/revisions\/1985"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/npsia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/npsia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/npsia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=1953"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/npsia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=1953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}