Giovanna Zeloni Rinaldo
My name is Giovanna, and I’m a journalist from São Paulo, Brazil. I have lived in Japan, Brazil, the United States and Spain—I have always loved multicultural environments! My most relevant experience is having recently worked at the 2022 Qatar World Cup. I chose IE University’s Master in International Relations as I wanted additional expertise to boost my career as a journalist, and it was important for me to follow my passion for human rights. One key thing I’ve learned at IE University is how much I’m committed to helping others and contributing to a better, fairer society. I’m also a keen football fan and love how the sport can bring different national identities and cultures together.
“My experience at IE University was the snapshot of the world I hope to live in and help transform.”
Guided by a passion for justice
Giovanna had been living in the US for over four years and obtained a bachelor’s degree in journalism before enrolling in the Master in International Relations at IE University. She had a hugely successful academic experience, graduating magna cum laude with honors from the journalism department. She also earned more than 20 collegiate awards and was honored as a finalist at the Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence awards. She says she was driven by stories that illustrated issues such as migration and gender inequality and wanted to help people to understand these struggles on a more personal level.
Despite these achievements, Giovanna felt that she needed additional expertise to give her an edge as a journalist. After considering other master’s degrees, she decided to follow her passion and jump headfirst into the field of international relations. She happily admits that, although it was challenging, she found it incredibly worthwhile and exciting. Thanks to this program, she can now approach global news with a more robust understanding of the underlying dynamics at play. She was also eager to experience life in Europe—it was important for her to gain another fresh perspective, with a heightened cultural awareness, after being raised in Brazil and having lived in the United States and in Japan.
“What I liked most about this master’s degree was the opportunity to share knowledge, conversations and experiences with an incredible group of individuals from the most diverse backgrounds.”
Giovanna found the program to be an enriching experience not just academically but on a personal level too. In her own words, “What I liked most about this master’s was the opportunity to share knowledge, conversations and experiences with an incredible group of individuals from the most diverse backgrounds. I made friends from different countries, industries, backgrounds and all walks of life.”
For her Capstone Project, she was able to combine her journalistic skills and recently acquired academic experience in international relations, delving into the spread of the far-right in Brazil and in the US. She says, “It has taught me to look at current political events in a new light and to understand the changes that continue to happen, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Giovanna credits this project with helping her sharpen her analytical skills, and through this, she got the opportunity to volunteer with Club de Madrid, a Spanish organization that promotes democracy worldwide. “It was great to work so closely with a topic I’m so passionate about, during a time when my home country was having its own struggles with democracy. It allowed me to channel that urgency into important, meaningful work to help protect this foundation of our global society.”
A personal highlight for her during her time at IE University was interviewing Cristina Gallach, who was the High Commissioner for the 2030 Agenda of the Spanish government at the time, and is now Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and for Ibero-America and the Caribbean. “We talked ahead of IE University’s Women and Economic Leadership event and discussed the importance of gender equality and how advancing in this area benefits all other sustainable development goals.”
Giovanna believes that her IE University experience has enriched her skill set. By working with classmates of different nationalities and areas of study, she could see firsthand how different perspectives and life experiences can contribute to much richer solutions to global issues. She believes that “the more diverse perspectives work together, the closer the solutions will mirror the diversity we experience in real life.”
“I believe my Master in International Relations is what gave me a real edge.”
Giovanna had such a great experience that she would recommend the program even to those who, like her, don’t have a background in international relations. She believes that we as global citizens have a duty to be informed of the challenges we face, from economic inequality to climate change to COVID-19. She asserts that we have a duty to contribute solutions, too: “We cannot be passive in a time that requires thoughtful, decisive action to determine our present and our future.”
When asked to summarize her experience at IE University, she says it “was a snapshot of the world I hope to live in and help transform,” and since graduating, Giovanna has been able to combine her passions in pursuit of that transformation. As a lover of both football and international relations, she landed the perfect role as International Communications Manager for the Latin American agency that handled all Qatar 2022 World Cup communications and public relations.
From Giovanna’s perspective, the Qatar 2022 World Cup was just as much about politics as it was about football, so her Master in International Relations gave her an edge to stand out from her fellow communications professionals and football aficionados. Thanks to that, she could better understand the international dynamics at play that went beyond the traditional world of football. What’s more, having studied in such a multicultural environment, Giovanna could draw cultural similarities between Latin American and Arab societies that she could then address in her communications work to encourage fans to truly embrace the tournament. “With this background, I got to mix two of my passions, football and politics, and to excel at them in such a high-level event with global reach like the World Cup.”
Giving into the stereotype, Giovanna says that as a Brazilian, she never had a choice in whether or not she was going to like football, but growing up, she realized how football is more than just a sport. For instance, she loved seeing countries come together in the name of football at the World Cup. With this in mind, working in such an environment was an incredibly rewarding experience for her as she was surrounded by people just as passionate as herself about sport, the event, and the global connection that the World Cup brings. “I strongly believe that football helps tell our historical, social, political and economic story as a society. Football has witnessed two world wars, revolutions and has been the stage for the widest range of historical moments. But it is also a testament to our ability to solve all of these contradictions of the human condition in peaceful terms (for the most part) without resorting to war and other forms of aggression. It speaks volumes of our shared capacity for coexistence.”
Giovanna has since found a new role as Communications Officer at Southern Voice, a network of over 66 think tanks from Latin America, Africa and Asia working on the United Nations’ SDGs and rebalancing knowledge asymmetry. The organization produces evidence-based research that informs global policy debates and decision-making on sustainable development. Putting her international relations expertise to work, Giovanna is currently heading up the planning and communications for Southern Voice’s landmark conference, which will take place in Nairobi, Kenya, bringing together sustainable development experts from across the globe.
We’re sure that no matter what Giovanna does next, she’ll continue to use her Master in International Relations to drive positive change across the world.
