Bonnie D. Jenkins, Ph.D

I would say two things. One, my drive. I've always had a strong drive - I don't know where it came from, but I've always had a strong drive. I've always loved to accomplish things, I like to work hard, and walk across that stage, and get the accolades for it. I don't like to get things for any... it's like, if I work hard and then get rewarded, or just knowing myself I did things, it's always been important. I think part of it's my mom, because she's always been, always by my side. And then I would say, just growing up in an environment in New York City, I'm from the Bronx. I grew up at a time when there was adventure, there was new things, you could accomplish things - not the typical thing you hear about the Bronx, but I grew up at a time when I had lots of friends, and we did fun things together. That's who I am inside - I've always wanted to try new things, I'm not afraid of new things, I like to just be out there, and be energetic. I feel sometimes like I have more energy now than I've had in a long time. I think it's because I grew up in a very New York City fast environment with my school personality, and that's what's given me the drive. And then my mom, who's always been supportive of everything.

The best advice I received was not to carry other people's burdens. What that means is, if people have an issue, don't take it on, don't carry it, don't assume that it's yours to worry about. Let it stay where it is. Don't take it on. So if I walk in a room and people have an issue because I'm a woman, or because I'm black, that is their problem, not mine. Don't take it on. Don't be like, oh my god, they may not like me because of this or that. If I do that, then I'm taking on their issue. That is their issue, not mine. That frees you from carrying a concern about what other people have feelings about, and that's not something I have to be worrying about. So that's always been the best advice I've gotten.

Just to persevere. The work that I do in international security, there's not a lot of women, there's certainly not a lot of people of color in it, it's still very predominantly male, though there's a lot more women than when I started. If this is what you want to do, stick with it, because we're gonna go through times when there's gonna be a lot of women who are not in the field - even though a lot of times young girls are not even aware of this stuff. But I have found that there are certainly a lot more women than when I started. But you have to persevere. You have to persevere with anything that you're interested in. Don't let people talk you out of things that you want to do. Don't let people think that you cannot do something that you want to do. Just listen to your inner self, and listen to what your self is saying, and what you think you can do, and not what others think you can do, because they don't know you, and they don't really know what your capabilities are now, and what your capabilities would be, next week, or two years from now.

The biggest challenges right now is that international security is changing. With the global changes that's going on in the world right now, with the changes in the role of the U.S., the changes in our traditional things we always did, like being part of certain organizations, it's all kind of changing right now, so a lot of it is where are we going to land? What is it going to look like for the United States and the world five years from now? I think the biggest challenge is that it makes it questionable for younger people to figure out what they want to do, where they want to be, whether they want to work in government or not - it just makes it very challenging, I think, for young people who want to be in these fields. And for people like myself, as I kind of look at everything more of a strategic view, because I've been in it for a while, just kind of seeing it all change, and not knowing myself where things are going to end up. So I think that's one of the biggest challenges, because things are definitely in flux right now.

I would say being trustworthy. Being trustworthy means following up on what you say you're gonna do. Don't make commitments that you can't stick to. Being honest, because there's so much dishonesty around the world right now. Following through with what you say you're gonna do. I think that's kind of a general thing that's shared with all of those things - which is just being who you are, and letting people know who you are, and that they can trust you to be the person that you show up as. That you're gonna be a responsible person, and a thoughtful person. And kindness - that's what's needed, is more kindness and thoughtfulness. So all of those kind of things are important.