Karly Martinez, MIPA

Contact Karly

Hometown

Union Grove, Wisconsin

Undergraduate education

B.A. in International Affairs and History, George Washington University, 2025

Expected graduation date

May 2027

Professional/research interests

Security Policy and Russian and Eastern European Studies, Journalism and Think Tanks.

Career goals

While I lived in Washington, D.C., I was fortunate enough to intern for the German Marshall Fund as a research trainee. After I graduate, I hope to return to D.C. and work in a similar role, analyzing issues such as authoritarianism, security policy, and conflict resolution in international affairs. My plan is to work for a think tank as a researcher or a newspaper as an investigative journalist. My ultimate goal is to work for the Institute for the Study of War on the Russia and Ukraine Team, where researchers collect open-source data and produce daily intelligence estimates that include movements of the front lines.

Assistantship

I currently work as a project assistant for the Director of the La Follette School, Professor Susan Yackee. In this role, I assist in her research surrounding regulatory rules and the American policymaking process.

Summer Internship

Throughout my first year at the La Follette School, I was the finance intern for WisDems. In that role, I assisted the call time manager and the finance director in donor relations and research, helping to fund the Democratic Party statewide. I also assisted with events such as the 2026 WisDems State Convention.

Client Work at La Follette

I am currently taking Cost-Benefit Analysis; my group is working with Open Development Cambodia to determine the effects of economic land concessions. We are investigating how private development on designated parcels of land impacts the environment and displaces community members. Open Development Cambodia will utilize our CBA in discussions with international organizations and the Cambodian government to demonstrate the environmental costs of economic land concessions.