Education
09/2010-12/2012
M.A. Political Science from Simon Fraser University (SFU), Canada
Thesis: “Obama’s Foreign Policy toward Russia: Continuity or Change?”
Accessible here: http://summit.sfu.ca/item/12682
09/2004-09/2008
Honours Philosophy and B.A. Political Science from University of Winnipeg (UofW), Canada
Honours Thesis: “Liberalism and Individualism: The Dissonance Within.”
Professional Experience
01/2019-Present (Part-time)
English Teacher, Freelance, in Ukraine and Latvia
• Teaching English at a number of schools in Ukraine and Latvia, predominately focusing on advanced English and business English for young professionals.
05/2016-Present (Part-time)
Private Investor, International
• Managing investments in real estate assets in Latvia and the United States, while researching further options in countries such as Georgia, Cyprus and Ukraine.
• Managing rent-out of the owned real estate assets—finding tenants, drafting and signing contracts.
• Managing a stocks portfolio diversified in commodity ETFs, cryptocurrency, energy and technology sectors.
08/2016-07/2017 (Part-time, remote)
Research Specialist in International Migration, at JIS Management, Riga, Latvia
• Researched nationality laws and legal datasets of different countries’ naturalization and residence programmes.
• Analyzed the core requirements and conditions of those programmes, writing up summaries in natural language for future publication in a global database that offers services in migration facilitation.
10/2016-03/2017 (Full-time)
Analyst, Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD), at Thomson Reuters, Gdynia, Poland
• Conducted regulatory, compliance, sanctions, AML, and litigation research, specializing in Russian files.
• Analyzed research data and prepared reports based on the findings, evaluating and marking any red flags found.
• At a request of the Regional Head of EDD, utilized my previous experience in due diligence to provide feedback to management on research methods and use of EDD databases, drafting a detailed report to that end.
03/2015-11/2015 (Part-time)
Campaign Strategist, at the Green Party of Canada, Vancouver and Burnaby, Canada
• Planned and organized political campaigns for several 2015 Green Party federal election candidates.
• Recruited campaign staff and formed work teams, assigning operational roles, trainings and tasks.
• Edited and provided feedback on candidates’ speeches and media material drafts.
09/2013-07/2015 (Full-time)
Researcher and Analyst, at IPSA International, Vancouver, Canada
• Investigated individuals and business entities for any risk factors, mostly in leading citizenship-by-investment programmes. Due diligence, AML, reputation assessment and corruption detection were core parts of the work.
• Based on the research and analysis done, wrote reports that were used by our clients—governments and Fortune 500 financial firms—in assessing risk of of-interest individuals and business entities.
• Continually helped the firm refine its research and reporting methodology, particularly in areas of Russian litigation access and extraction, Russian corporate records verification and Russian media analysis.
• Drafted training guides on the compliance and sanctions databases for the firm’s incoming researchers.
02/2013-09/2013 (Full-time)
Policy Correspondent and Analyst, at the Green Party of B.C., Vancouver and Victoria, Canada
• Corresponded with party members and constituents, answering questions and making clarifying statements in regards to Green Party policies, communicating directly with the party leadership on any pressing matters.
• Liaising with the Green Party of B.C. campaign offices for quantitative and qualitative data on the 2013 British Columbia election, analytically assessing the data to provide the Green Party a strategic review for future use.
09/2010-04/2013 (Part-time)
Teaching Assistant in Political Science, at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
• Taught political science and political philosophy tutorial classes, 12-20 students per class.
• Facilitated class discussions, encouraging student participation and critical thinking, monitoring progress.
• Graded the students’ university exams and essays, providing feedback in commentary form.
08/2012-01/2013 (Part-time)
Research Assistant in Political Science, at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
• Assisted Dr. Michael Howlett in managing survey databases on Canadian public policy.
• Sent out surveys, compiled contacts, worded inquiries, and assessed incoming survey data.
03/2010-07/2010 (Full-time)
Intern, at the United States Senate Budget Committee, Washington, D.C., United States
• Assisted staff in legislative and budgetary research, focusing on healthcare and defense.
• Analyzed and compiled media feeds for the congressional staff, noting any adverse information found.
• Wrote legislative reports and summaries, focusing on the U.S. Department of Defense acquisition bills.
02/2010 (Full-time)
Intern, at the National Farmers Union (NFU), Washington, D.C., United States
• Assisted staff in research, accounting, database control and entry, and filing.
• Attended agriculture and union related meetings and wrote up the meeting reports for staff.
01/2010 (Full-time)
Intern, at the United States Senate, Kent Conrad’s Office (D-ND), Washington, D.C., United States
• Answered phones, did filing, managed and delivered fax files and letters.
• Attended U.S. Congressional hearings to take notes for staff, writing up summaries.
Volunteering and Auxiliary Experience
03/2015-04/2016
Volunteer Interpreter, at the Canadian Red Cross, British Columbia Lower Mainland, Canada
• Served on call in the First Contact and Disaster Management programmes, particularly, but not solely, for Russian-speaking refugees in situational distress.
• Translated from English to Russian announcement and general information pamphlets.
• Served as a First Responder in resettling Syrian refugees into the British Columbia Lower Mainland.
12/2014-03/2015
Coordinator of Development and Research, at 2015 NATO Youth Summit (MoNYS), International
• Researched and provided comparative analysis of potential host cities, communicating with liaisons in those cities for conceptual and practical development plans.
• Worked with management and staff in drafting planning for MoNYS in 2015 and beyond, persuading the organization, through analytical reports, to host its summit in Riga in 2015 and in Vancouver in 2016.
• Deliberated over organizational restructuring, assisting MoNYS transition and rebranding into a project under an affiliated umbrella NGO, Euro Atlantic Diplomacy Society.
02/2014-12/2014
Research and Methodology Officer, at 2014 NATO Youth Summit (MoNYS), International
• Responsible for the research, published material and academic content of MoNYS 2014, including rules of procedure, crises management scenarios, and drafting of the summit’s guidelines and debate topics.
• Researched, selected and published current events media articles on the organization’s official website.
• Coordinated the organization’s programmes in public relations and outreach.
01/2012-09/2012
Chair for Political Science Graduate Student Caucus, Simon Fraser University, Canada
• Organized social events and professional workshops, involving respected lecturers on academic topics.
• Served as an intermediary between the graduate students and the tenured faculty.
• Together with the Treasurer, managed and allocated the caucus budget, assets and grants.
Certifications and Awards
09/2016, 08/2018, and ongoing involvement
Certification Programme in International Migration, by International Organization for Migration (IOM), hosted by the Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic
• Participant in annually-held summer lectures on ongoing as well as historical international migration realities, presented by respected international migration experts and field operatives, mostly from the UN agencies.
• From 2018 programme onward, have been invited to be a lecturer on the statelessness issue in the Baltics.
Awards of Appreciation from the Canadian Red Cross (CRC), Vancouver, Canada
• Awarded a number of certificates of appreciation for active engagement in CRC assignments, namely resettlement of Syrian refugees in British Columbia, serving as an organizer of CRC conferences, and staffing call-support in Alberta 2016 and Saskatchewan 2015 forest wildfires.