Trinisa Fung ’23 Awarded the Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Graduate Fellowship

Trinisa Fung ’23 has received a Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Graduate Fellowship supporting a two-year graduate program, two summer internships, and extensive professional development leading to a Foreign Service Officer position in the U.S. Department of State. Fung will be starting a Master’s in Public Policy (MPP) at Georgetown University in Fall 2023. 

“The Pickering fellowship will help me pursue my passion for studying public policy and enable me to connect with other like-minded individuals who share my love for diplomacy and public service,” said Fung, a 2023 graduate from Tomball, Texas. 

As a psychology and sociology double major she has embraced her academic pursuits at Grinnell College and through the American University-Washington Semester Program. Fung was selected in fall 2021 as a U.S. Foreign Service Intern to participate in a summer 2022 domestic internship with the U.S. Department of State’s East Asia and Pacific Affairs Bureau and in summer 2023 she will be interning overseas with the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia. 

While on off-campus study in spring semester 2022, Fung was an international forum for democratic studies intern with the National Endowment for Democracy. In the 2020-2021 academic year, she served the U.S. embassy in Prague as an analytical intern through the Virtual Student Federal Services (VSFS) internship program.  

Additionally, Fung held prominent public service roles at Grinnell College. As a committee member of the Rosenfield Program in Public Affairs, International Relations, and Human Rights, she helped her peers prepare for careers in civic engagement and connected the Grinnell community to broader social and political issues. As a Global Kitchen peer mentor and Global Envoy mentor with the Institute for Global Engagement, she hosted panels and information events for peers and the campus community. 

Fung served as a member on the Student Alumni Council, coordinator and ambassador for New Student Orientation, QuestBridge representative for first-generation and low-income (FGLI) students within the Multicultural Leadership Council and Student Government Association, social outreach coordinator for QuestBridge, and student adviser for the Low-Income Lending Library and Chaplain’s Office Student Pantry in the Center for Religion, Spirituality, and Social Justice. 

The Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Graduate Fellowship program, named after distinguished U.S. diplomat Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering, offers a unique opportunity to promote positive change in the world. It is funded by the U.S. Department of State and administered by Howard University. The program ensures that the Foreign Service reflects the face of America to foreign audiences and provides a source of trained professionals who are dedicated to pursuing Foreign Service careers with the Department of State and representing America’s interests abroad.  

For additional information about the award, visit https://pickeringfellowship.org/about/ and make an advising meeting with Ann Landstrom, fellowship advisor, at landstrom@grinnell.edu.