Expansive Education Leads to Fed

During her time at Washington College, Julianna Sterling ’23 amassed quite a toolbox of marketable skills, through the wide-ranging classes she took and the diverse internships she pursued. And when you talk to her today, she seems intent on drawing on that toolbox for some time to come.

She says the most valuable benefit of attending Washington “was probably learning not to be scared of any subject.” She pursued majors in three disciplines: economics, French, and international studies.

Along the way, she took full advantage of experiential-learning opportunities, such as serving as a research intern in immigration policy at the Cato Institute and as a finance analyst intern with the Research Triangle Institute International, where she supported senior analysts in researching and preparing documents for the budget portion of bids on federal and private international development contracts. The contracts were for such entities as the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

With the support of a grant from the Cater Society of Junior Fellows, she served as an independent researcher at Mutuelle d’Epargne et de Crédit de la Zone de Yoff, a microfinance institution in Dakar, Senegal. Using French she learned at Washington College, she conducted surveys aimed at illuminating demographics and trends in successful loan guarantees amongst the microfinance institution’s clients. Another Cater grant enabled her to do research on museum ethics and reparations practices in France.

Sterling’s study of economics is proving to be particularly helpful at her current employer, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, where she works as a senior research assistant. As such, she’s working on a policy effectiveness and assessment team for the Board’s Division of Supervision and Regulation. The division is focused on bank supervision and regulation, and Sterling’s team does cost-benefit analysis for the regulatory policies that the Board puts forward.

Sterling’s facility with French and her background in Francophone Africa will come in quite handy during the next steps of her education and career journeys, which will entail pursuing master’s and doctorate studies in economics with a specialization in development.

“My long-term goal is to work at either the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund,” Sterling said. “I’d work in private sector development and work with developing countries on those initiatives.”

— Ken Keuffel