Katja Kurz serves on the EPIP-NY Steering committee. She is the University Relations Coordinator at Cultural Vistas, an international exchange organization organizing professional programs to foster career exploration and leadership development. In her role, Katja focuses on increasing access to international education opportunities for STEM and traditionally underrepresented students. She has previously held research and teaching positions at Columbia University in NY and Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. Katja has published on human rights advocacy and intercultural communication. She holds a doctorate in English from the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz and an M.A. from Clark University in Worcester, MA.  [caption id="attachment_46805" align="alignright" width="150"] Katja Kurz[/caption] Katja responded to the EPIP summer challenge to share how she's embracing leadership opportunities this summer.  This is her story. Becoming Globally Competent Leaders: My Experience from a Summer Program for African American STEM Students Do we need international experience to become good leaders? The answer is YES, as a result of an innovative leadership project that I worked on this summer. The project, called STEM LAUNCH (“Learning and Understanding New Career Horizons”), was aimed at creating international opportunities for U.S. students at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) for leadership development. (more…)