From assisting displaced refugees to facilitating health or environmental standards throughout the world, INGOs often do work that governments can’t or won’t.

Spawning from these strengths, Webster now offers a graduate program in a growing subspecialty of international relations: International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs).

Originally launched at Webster’s campus in Leiden, the Netherlands, the M.A. INGO program has expanded to Webster’s London campus. A graduate certificate is also offered at Leiden.

Some of the same attractions that draw students to international relations at Webster’s European campuses also draw them to the INGO program: experienced international faculty and special learning opportunities with the many major international organizations located near each Webster campus.

Leiden is near several INGOs, such as the International Organization for Migration, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the International Court of Justice, and the Peace Palace in The Hague. At Webster London, students have the chance for priceless exposure to London’s famous Chatham House – the Royal Institute of International Affairs.

Michael Braeuninger, who is pursuing the INGO certificate at Webster Leiden, has been accepted for an internship at Oxfam Novib in The Hague, in part thanks to the help and connections of Webster professor Leonard Suransky.

“I am halfway through the program, and already I feel much more confident entering the job market,” Braeuninger says. “Studying in the Netherlands provides the opportunity for internships and attending conferences and lectures given by well-known, respected institutions in the world of NGOs. My first week, I attended a very rewarding conference on peace studies in Africa, where I had the opportunity to meet and speak with some very interesting, knowledgeable people.”

In today’s world, INGOs increasingly play a role
on par with governments and businesses.

Specializing in INGOs is recognition of the fact that, in today’s world, INGOs increasingly play a role on par with governments and businesses. From assisting displaced refugees to facilitating health or environmental standards throughout the world, INGOs often do work that governments can’t or won’t. In some cases in the developing world, they assist or even replace the role of whole ministries in fields such as education or health.

Webster’s program aims to give students not just the theoretical knowledge of how INGOs work, but also the practical skills to manage them and make them work better. Thus, curriculum also covers management, business, human resources, fundraising, and marketing. The objective is to train students to be successful actors in the INGO and nonprofit world.

Graduates work in the INGO sector as managers, grant-writers, lobbyists in international forums, and negotiators trained to nimbly navigate cross-cultural settings.

Danielle Verbiest, who originally enrolled in Webster Leiden’s M.A. in International Relations (IR) program, switched to the INGO program as soon as Webster launched it.

“I enjoy that these courses, both INGO courses and management courses, focus on a more practical side of working in an INGO,” Verbiest says. “This offers a nice balance with the IR courses in the program. Several are taught by professionals who have worked or currently work in INGOs themselves. This adds so much more value to these courses.”

After completing the program, Verbiest intends to work in program management and development with INGOs that operate in the Horn of Africa or in China.

Braeuninger, too, hopes to develop a career with INGOs at home or abroad. He was just completing his M.A. in International Relations at Webster St. Louis when he discovered the new INGO certificate after a Google search.

“Not only has it been a seamless segue from my IR studies,” Braeuninger says, “It’s also offered hands-on training for practical, marketable skills that complement the largely theoretical studies in IR. Grant writing in particular is attractive because this skill is applicable and in high demand in many different fields, especially in the NGO development field.”

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