Maggie Wedeman
Maggie Wedeman
Maggie Wedeman is the director of federal government affairs at the Partnerships for New York City. In this role, Maggie helps build strong relationships between the city’s business leaders and representatives in Washington, and she advocates for federal policies that improve the city and promote economic growth. Previously, Maggie was a fellow at the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, where she developed programs to promote strategic, bilateral engagement, particularly targeting young professionals. Maggie graduated from George Washington University in 2016, having majored in international affairs (concentrating in security policy and Asian studies) and Chinese language. Upon graduation, she was selected from a pool of over 3,000 applicants to be one of 110 members of the inaugural class of Schwarzman Scholars at Tsinghua University in Beijing, where she earned her master’s degree in global affairs. While at GW, Maggie spent three summers in China at intensive Mandarin training programs, one summer on a U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship. Maggie graduated summa cum laude and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
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What excites you about the work you do? So much! I monitor and engage in major national and local issues that I would be reading about in my spare time, regardless of whether or not it was my job. I meet with elected officials and business leaders, who make decisions that affect the lives of so many people. I work between New York City and Washington D.C. (two of greatest cities) and see how the sausage is made!
How did GWU and the UHP prepare you for your professional journey? In what ways has your career evolved since you graduated from GWU? The UHP gave me the liberal arts education that has made me fluent in many diverse social and professional situations. It also helped introduce me to the type of intellectual community I know I want in my job. My career has evolved since GWU in that I am currently not focusing so directly on China and international relations. While I believe someday I will return to these topics professionally, it feels good to take a break, learn new things, and flex different parts of my brain. Sometimes you have to take time away from various topics and professional areas to fall back in love with them, and that is ok.
Advice for current UHP students: Don’t undervalue your own happiness when making decisions about your career and life in general. There is a tendency to follow set paths to ‘success’ once you enter a career field, but it’s important to always reflect if meeting external metrics of success is making you happy. It is always ok to try something new!