For this month’s IEDP Alumni Spotlight, I am excited to introduce you to IEDP alum, Jesús “Louie” Zúñiga. I first learned about Louie from an IEDP friend, who shared that they had a great experience connecting with Louie. And then when our Program Manager, Lauren shared that he had single-handedly organized the university-wide Problem-Solver Symposium during his time in the program, I knew Louie would be a fantastic spotlight. Join me in welcoming Louie!

When did you graduate from Penn IEDP? What were your areas of specialization? 

I graduated in May 2024, and completed my IEDP internship at the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP-UNESCO) – Dakar Office. Alongside the IEDP, I completed a dual degree in Non-profit Leadership (NPL) with a focus in philanthropy. 

Since graduating from Penn IEDP, where has your career taken you? What work are you currently engaged in? 

After graduation from IEDP, I spent one year applying and interviewing while originating a variety of different freelance consulting projects. Some were in the education and international development sector (RTI, Jounce, OneWorld), some were in philanthropy, workforce development, and environmental. In May 2025 I was hired as a corporate portfolio manager at Myriad USA, an international grantmaking intermediary in Manhattan that is focused on connecting tax deductible USD philanthropy to local NGOs around the world that may or may not be registered as a 501c3. In December 2025 I took an offer from Vanguard Charitable just outside Philadelphia to join their business development team as their Strategic Growth Manager.

How has your experience in Penn IEDP supported you throughout your career? 

The experience allowed me to explore my interests in depth, gave me a strong sense of the space and helped me identify best practices, high potential opportunities, and flops early on. And it gave me the context, toolkit, and networks I needed to blaze my own trail into the space. 

Favorite memory at Penn IEDP?

• Wagner fieldwork stories 
• Our cohort chemistry 
• Proseminar
• CIES Miami 
• Dakar internship
• USAID still existed 

What about the Problem-Solver Symposium? How did it come about?

I was inspired to make the symposium when I took an elective class called NGOs and International Development, which has a wide cross listing status so it is open to many programs as an elective. It created such an enriching experience with students tackling social impact and global development from so many angles, and made me see how siloed all the programs are and some students in my group from different programs decided to team up and secure funding to create an opportunity for getting people together from different programs. But then that kind of fell through because it was so much more convoluted than we expected. So the next year many of them had graduated but I still had a good map of different access to their funding resources and I secured more funders and was able to weave together a patchwork of different programs offering funds to guarantee seats for their students and the result was a really fun night and a very successful event. Unfortunately I got covid so I missed my own symposium. But it was a hit! I also created a playbook of how we organized it and where I got funding from in case anyone wants to try it again.

Any lasting advice for current Penn IEDP students? 

• Listen to Lauren (IEDP Program Manager).
• Transform all of your IEDP homework and assignments into applied work by writing about live projects you are interested in, interviewing people in the space, and testing ideas in a structured incubator.
• Apply for the Lipman Family Prize Fellowship. 
• Find opportunities to expand your Penn experience past IEDP and get involved with different colleges, programs, and friend groups across Penn.
• Network, network, network, find authentic connection points, send those follow ups, go to office hours, and make trips to DC and NYC to get in front of people and shake some hands.

If you would like to connect further with Louie, feel free to reach out! He has been kind enough to share his LinkedIn and email (jlzuniga.iv@gmail.com).