Bob Graham Center for Public Service

View the Recording of the Event

Three Bob Graham Center alumni living and working abroad participated in our “Careers in Public Service” series on November 14, 2023.

Panelists were Vasilios Kosmakos, a Peace Corp Volunteer in Paraguay;  Huter Hales, a proposal development office for the government of Belize, and Elizabeth Pantaleon, a US foreign service officer in Guatemala.

VASILIOS KOSMAKOS
PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER, PARAGUAY
Vasilios Kosmakos grew up in Treasure Island, Fla., and attended the University of Florida where he double majored in Sustainability Studies and International Studies and minored in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation and Anthropology. He is currently a Peace Corps Trainee serving in the environmental sector in Paraguay. At the University of Florida, Vasilios founded The Florida Naturalist Oral History Project at the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program. As an undergraduate, Vasilios was the recipient of the 2022 Haskell Award and the 2021 Panhellenic Scholarship. Vasilios has a wide range of research interests and has assisted with projects on insects, water quality, the Lumbee tribe and the Underground Railroad, and has coauthored a research paper studying the spread of bacterial wilt among potato crops in Ethiopia. He also studied abroad in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, served as the founder in the Save McCarty Woods campaign, and was as a past president of the UF chapter of The Wildlife Society.

HUNTER HALES
PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT OFFICER, GOVERNMENT OF BELIZE
Hunter Hales is a UF Class of 2021 International Studies and French and Francophone Studies double major. Hunter’s time at UF was enriched by her involvement with the Bob Graham Center (especially the “lunch and learns”), the Beyond120 program, and her study abroad experiences. After graduation, Hunter moved to Belize to work as a Proposal Development Officer in the Government of Belize’s Climate Finance Unit. With almost two years of experience in the public sector, Hunter is exploring post-graduate opportunities while continuing to work toward accessing finance to meet the country’s climate priorities.

ELIZABETH PANTALEON
US FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICER, GUATEMALA
Elizabeth Pantaleon is a U.S. Foreign Service Officer serving in Guatemala City. While at the University of Florida, she earned dual degrees in international studies and public relations, a minor in Arabic, and worked at the English Language Institute. She pioneered the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant program in the West Bank/Palestinian Territories. Elizabeth is a Pickering Fellow and graduate of Georgetown’s Master of Science in Foreign Service. Previously, she served in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S. Embassy Bangkok, and the Georgetown Institute for Women Peace and Security. A proud Miamian and first-generation college student, Liz is passionate about sharing her Latin roots and facilitating cultural exchange through flan diplomacy.