As the CPD News Intern, Aparajitha assisted in assembling the monthly newsletter and compiled news stories about CPD contributions to the field of public diplomacy in Noteworthy and CPD Announcements.

Aparajitha Vadlamannati was a second year student in the Master’s of Public Diplomacy program at USC. In 2009, she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BA in Global Studies and a Minor in Speech Communication from San Jose State University in San Jose, CA. Her region of emphasis in her undergraduate course was South and Southeast Asia, an interest that has carried over to her studies at USC.

Along with this regional interest, she was also curious about the rising role of corporations in foreign affairs and their impact on foreign publics, corporate social responsibility and the role of the United Nations today. She first realized the need for public diplomacy from a previous internship with the World Affairs Council of Northern California in San Francisco, CA, a non-profit dedicated to educating the public on current, international affairs, and an undergraduate project representing Thailand at the Model United Nations Conference of the Far West.