Christy Ihlo Bypasses a “Traditional” Career Path to Pursue her Passion in Tanzania

Christy Ihlo took a huge, but carefully calculated, risk leaving her post as a policy associate at Duke’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions to pursue her passion for international conservation with an NGO in Tanzania. She went as an unpaid six-month intern for the African People & Wildlife Fund. Now she has been hired, with a great promotion, to direct their monitoring and evaluation efforts, a growing sub-field in international conservation. Her story is about developing skills, weighing—and then taking—risks, and building a career in an unexpected way.