When Aditi Hate graduated from Lawrence University in Wisconsin in 2005, the Mumbai-born development professional had what seemed like a healthy supply of job opportunities. She moved to Washington and was soon working for the Stimson Center.
Before the year of work training tacked onto Hate’s F-1 student visa ran out, the Stimson center had sponsored her for an H-1B employee visa and she spent the next four years at the nonprofit center researching natural disaster preparedness plans for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and examining nonproliferation issues as part of a contract with the United Nations.
By the time Hate completed Georgetown University’s Master of Science in Foreign Service Program in May, though, the battered U.S. economy, the crunch on government and foundation grants, and the growing pool of overeducated, overexperienced and unemployed U.S. citizens had radically changed the landscape of job openings at development-focused NGOs.