Giorgia Santamaria is originally from northern Italy near the Austrian border. She
grew up in Bolzano but spent her teen years living in several other cities. Giorgia
later became an undergraduate at Webster Leiden and studied International Relations.
She earned her bachelor’s degree at the university in 2014.
“One of my favorite classes was International Law,” she said. “I also took two classes in Psychology because I was able to combine what I was learning there and relate it to what I was studying in International Relations. The interdisciplinary approach in the Psychology classes was really interesting.”
Giorgia joined the International Relations Club. She was a member for a few years and later became its secretary before she left the club to begin working for the university. While continuing her studies, she served as Webster Leiden’s Research and Administrative Assistant.
Prior to her graduation, she began working as the Graduate Admissions Coordinator and eventually the Site Registrar as well at the university. For these roles, she worked to recruit new students and helped improve a computer system used to assist those that required visas and other documents from the IND, the Dutch government’s department of immigration.
“I helped restructure the filing and monitoring system that we had,” she said. “We created and implemented a system that made it easier to track the process, monitor students’ statuses, and detect issues. We worked on an evaluation system for courses, too. I also attended recruitment fairs and other events to inform future students about the university based on my experiences.”
Giorgia went on to earn her master’s degree in International Conflict Studies from
King's College London. She now lives in Milan, Italy and works as both the Public
Engagement Officer and the Chair Secretary at an organization called OXFAM Italia.
“Like at Webster Leiden, I have two different positions,” she said. “On the public
engagement side, I work with ambassadors for the organization and assist management
with communications that involve our public relations activities. We also organize
quite a lot of fundraising events, most recently one in Florence. My other role involves
a lot of planning and managing the agenda for the organization’s Chair to make sure
things run smoothly.”
Text Brandon Hartley