Career Spotlight: Anna Kalamkarian

From Public Health to Global Policy, following Curiosity into International Affairs

Anna Kalamkarian is a PhD candidate in the School of Public Health at Adelaide University. As a 2024 Global Voices Policy Fellow, she participated in the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and developed a policy proposal on how government systems can better collaborate to address complex disadvantage. Her interests span public policy, governance and international affairs, with a particular focus on how evidence can inform policy and systems change. In 2026, she was recognised as a Young Woman to Watch in International Affairs.

Not every career in international affairs begins with a politics degree. For Anna Kalamkarian, a researcher at the University of Adelaide's School of Public Health, the path started with a study tour in China, a surprising PhD interview question, and a curiosity that refused to stay within disciplinary lines. Recognised as a Young Woman to Watch in International Affairs by YAIA in 2026, Anna's journey offers an honest and encouraging model for those approaching the field from unconventional starting points.

A Spark in Beijing

Anna's interest in international affairs grew from a series of encounters rather than one defining moment. The first came during an undergraduate public health study tour in Jinan and Beijing. "Seeing how public health measures were designed and implemented in a different country made me start thinking more about how policy approaches vary across contexts, and what Australia might learn from alternative models," she explains. The second spark came from an unexpected place, a PhD interview. A geopolitical question caught her off guard, pressing her to consider how her research on multidimensional disadvantage in early childhood connected to broader international dynamics. It's a question she says has stayed with her ever since.

Building a Pathway, Step by Step

Anna's entry into the field was largely self-directed at first, subscribing to think tanks, reading widely, watching programs like Q+A and Foreign Correspondent. The decisive formal step came through a Global Voices Policy Fellowship, which provided policy writing training and her first trip to Canberra to engage directly with policymakers, and took her to the United Nations High-Level Political Forum in New York.

From there, opportunities accumulated: the History, Politics and Society summer school at Oxford, the Women in Strategic Policy initiative, Chatham House Common Futures Conversations, and most recently the St Gallen Symposium in Switzerland, a gathering of global leaders and emerging voices focused on navigating a disrupted world order. "Much of my journey has been exploratory and driven by curiosity," Anna says, "starting with small accessible steps and gradually building into more formal opportunities."

"Let curiosity lead you into spaces you don't fully understand yet. That's usually where the most meaningful learning happens."

Where Public Health Meets Global Policy

Anna's research centres on measuring multidimensional disadvantage in early childhood, a domain that might seem removed from foreign policy, but which she sees as deeply connected. Social policy governance, she argues, is domestically delivered but internationally informed. Agreements like the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child set common standards, yet countries vary enormously in how they translate those commitments into practice.

Geopolitical pressures also ripple into social systems in subtler ways — she points to ongoing tensions around whether rising defence spending comes at the expense of welfare investment as one example. "I'm interested in how international influences are interpreted and translated into domestic policy choices," she says, "and how countries can learn from one another while responding to their own contexts."

Advice for Aspiring Practitioners

For students considering international affairs, Anna's message is clear: there is no single entry point. She recommends starting with what's accessible - programs like the YAIA Fellowship, Global Voices Policy Fellowship, Women in Strategic Policy, and the Global Essay Challenge and following the YAIA Careers Board to stay across emerging opportunities.

She also encourages people to lean into what makes their background distinct. "Coming in with a public health and epidemiology background has given me some unique perspectives. I think this is a field where different viewpoints are genuinely valued." The challenge of navigating unfamiliar territory, she says, is best met with openness rather than waiting until you feel fully ready.