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Bess Dopkeen is in her third year as an Acquisition Management analyst in the office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics). She works on the Under Secretary's staff to monitor Army, Navy and Air Force programs, primarily in the areas of cost, schedule and performance. As a 2004-2005 Dutko Fellow at the Global Fairness Initiative (GFI), she worked on projects aimed towards improving economies of underdeveloped countries.
Bess coordinates the Active Citizenship Summers program for selected current Tufts students interested in public leadership and service opportunities in DC, as well as the DC arm of the Tisch School of Citizenship and Public Service's Connecting Alumni and Student Experiences mentorship program. She is a coxswain for the competitive women's Alexandria Community Crew team in Virginia, and coaches the novice women's high school crew at T.C. Williams, a public school in Alexandria, VA. At Tufts, Bess majored in Political Science and minored in the study of Africa and the New World.
When applying for the Dutko Fellowship, I couldn’t figure out how to answer one of the application’s main questions, “What would you like to do in DC?” After a well rounded Tufts experience I found myself interested in, well, a lot. When leaving Tufts, the career paths and possibilities of what I could do with my life seemed to be overwhelming, yet how exactly to break into each of the fields was much less clear.
Washington, DC had a specific lure. I had never been there before, yet after my Introduction to American Politics course freshman year, I knew it was where I wanted to be. Moving to a brand new place specifically known for being difficult to penetrate seemed daunting. Yet those associated with the Dutko Fellowship didn’t flinch when I told them about my many interests, and automatically seemed to be internally processing the different doors they could open.
After a difficult decision between two wonderful organizations, I decided to spend my fellowship as a Program Associate at the Global Fairness Initiative (GFI), an international development organization working to improve economies of underdeveloped countries. I gained invaluable knowledge of the inner workings of a nongovernmental organization and nonprofit, and was able to work on portfolios ranging from India to Lesotho, and from Ukraine to Cambodia. I attended meetings in the World Bank, FIAS, US-ASEAN and the Cambodian Embassy while absorbing the nuances of each. I had the honor to help welcome the new President and First Lady of Ukraine in their inaugural visit to the United States, and traveled as a Dutko Fellow with GFI to Phnom Penh, Cambodia where we organized an international multi-stakeholder conference centered on labor standards and trade incentives--my most cherished experience that year. There I met and worked with Ambassadors, members of the private sector and multilateral institutions, and experienced the euphoria of the successful completion of a meaningful and action enforcing event.
While at Global Fairness I had the unique opportunity to be located within the offices of Dutko Worldwide, which provided me with an enhanced view and understanding of Washington politics, and how through politics and civil service I am able to work towards achieving positive social outcomes.
An objective of the fellowship is to assist recent graduates who hope to pursue public service in Washington, and to help them wedge their foot into D.C.’s door of opportunities. This was exactly what I needed in order to transition from college to professional life, and my experience was thrilling. Continuing the Tufts and Tisch School of Citizenship and Public Services’ principle of acquiring diverse skills while pursuing civic and social responsibility, I have spent my last two and a half years working in the Department of Defense for the Under Secretary of Acquisitions, monitoring acquisition programs within the Army, Navy and Air Force. Such an opportunity would never have been possible had I not gained the rich experience, guidance and assistance necessary from the Dutko Fellowship, and had they not opened wide to me the door to the DC world.
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