Continuing to Build the Next Generation of Peace and Security Experts Amidst Instability  

Marlena Broeker May 22, 2025

I had the opportunity to speak with college students about my experience as a Scoville Fellow working on nuclear weapons issues at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation (CACNP). With the help of the Tufts Career Center and Salem State alum and Executive Director of CACNP, Fmr. Congressman John Tierney, I spoke with students interested in foreign policy careers at two universities in the Boston area: Salem State University (SSU) and my alma mater, Tufts University. Through these presentations, I was able to detail the support Scoville has provided for my professional growth and explain how, in my day-to-day work, I contribute to CACNP’s mission to lower the dangers posed by nuclear weapons through op-eds, congressional briefings, and fact sheets. More than anything else, though, the experience was a lesson for me in how now, more than ever, the work Scoville does to bring young people and their perspectives into the peace and security field is so important.

Marlena presenting to students at Tufts. 

Students at both of my presentations were excited, curious, and asked great questions about DC’s environment as both a place to work and live. They also told me about their doubts and anxieties over ever being able to find a job or pursue a career in peace and security issues. At Salem State, I spoke to a class on foreign policy and international security issues. The professor told me one of his goals is always to convince his students that they have the tools and abilities to pursue a career in foreign policy or political science or peace and security issues. He also noted that it’s become increasingly difficult to do so.

Working primarily on nuclear non-proliferation and arms control issues, I’ve been able to observe how the organizations around me are dealing with an increasingly complicated and dangerous nuclear threat with fewer resources. For some Scoville host organizations and beyond those working with Scoville as well, the only way they can bring in more or any early career professionals is by having an organization like Scoville provide the funding for a position. The nuclear community and peace and security community as a whole are in a period of transition, and Scoville does essential work to help the field open and revitalize their pool of thinkers and doers. 

Marlena and CACNP Executive Director and SSU alum, Frm. Congressman John Tierney, with students at SSU.

Scoville does a phenomenal job not only connecting young professionals to supportive host organizations but also giving them the tools to be successful and engaged in the field after their fellowship. During my fellowship, I’ve been supported every day by my host organization in my different projects and post-fellowship plans. At SSU, I was joined by Fmr. Congressman Tierney, and together, we shared our perspectives on career-building, policy work, and change-making in the nuclear non-proliferation community. Giving these presentations is just one example of how Scoville and CACNP have supported my entry and the entry of other young professionals into the field. I am excited and hopeful that I will see some of the students I spoke with enter the peace and security field either by way of Scoville or otherwise in the future. 

Marlena Broeker is a Fall 2024 Scoville Fellow Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation