A career path that included studying genetics and working at the White House and State Department led Natalya Wallin to Harris Public Policy.
Natalya Wallin, MPP'15

It is not unusual for University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy students and graduates to take a variety of unexpected turns on their professional journey. However, there may be only one who can say she left a career in molecular genetics cancer research to become an activist in the battle against human trafficking.

As the director of strategic partnerships for the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery, Natalya Wallin MPP’15 says she employs everything she studied at Harris—from economics to data analytics to political economy—to take on the challenge of addressing a crime of economic opportunity that impacts an estimated 40 million people worldwide.

Wallin is quick to point out that this is not a crime that exists only “over there.” It exists in every country, including the U.S.—a fact recently underscored by the arrest of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft for solicitation at an establishment suspected of employing victims of human trafficking.

The Global Fund to End Modern Slavery is a public-private partnership that aims to disrupt this black market by making it economically unprofitable.

“We look for opportunities to align with national priorities of governments and private-sector realities wherever possible to secure buy-in and build sustainable solutions in the market,” Wallin said. “This is new in the anti-trafficking space.”

“We don’t pretend to have all the answers, but we are committed to rigorously testing models, learning, and scaling what works to reduce prevalence.”

Despite her work in the White House, a career in public policy was not a clear next step for Natalya Wallin.

Wallin’s passion for fighting modern slavery and human trafficking began before entering Harris. After serving as a White House intern for the Obama administration, she became Special Assistant to the Ambassador to Combat Trafficking in Persons at the U.S. State Department.

“The more I learned about human trafficking, the more overwhelmed I was with the big picture—the systems that fueled and perpetuated exploitation. I wanted to do more and needed a robust framework and tools for analyzing a problem of that complexity and scale. This led me to Harris,” she said.

Looking at Wallin’s path from the White House and State Department to Harris, one might assume that a career in public policy was always the plan. But nothing could be further from the truth.

Knowing her parents could not afford college tuition, she took advantage of a scholarship to study biology at Grace College. Upon graduation, she received a fellowship to research molecular genetics related to breast cancer at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). An astute observation by a mentor soon had her reconsidering her career.

“My mentor noted that I spent all my free time reading about foreign policy, human rights, and global trends and that these issues clearly fired me up,” she recalled. “Something clicked. I had no idea what the next steps would look like, but that comment spurred a new phase of exploration.”

She entered a master’s program at Duke University, where she studied political science, theories of international conflict, and designed a study abroad program in South Africa to interview people across the country after the presidential election of Jacob Zuma in 2009.

Global Fund to End Modern Slavery

Wallin insists that her background in genetics research laid a strong foundation for her later work in public policy.

“Both offer a chance to pursue and dissect complex problems with discipline and persistence,” she noted.

Having that broad, multi-functional base of experience undoubtedly contributed to her success at Harris, where she learned that designing and implementing effective policy requires working with and communicating across disciplines and sectors.

“I think everyone at UChicago would agree that data is critical to inform evidence-based decisions and interventions, but that is not enough. A range of sectors and disciplines intersects with everything we do,” said Wallin, who urges students to incorporate a few classes or seminars on topics outside of their focus area.

“My experience at Harris helped me really appreciate the perspectives of classmates and professors looking at a problem through a different lens than my own.”