In his current role as Program Officer for the Transatlantic Program at the Aspen Institute Germany, he leads the U.S.-German Forum Future Agriculture initiative.
Previously, he led Aspen Germany’s Subnational Policy Dialogue for state legislators from Florida and worked as Program Assistant for the Laboratories of Democracy Initiative, strengthening transatlantic exchange between state and provincial legislators from the United States, Germany and Canada. He earned a Master’s in International Relations at the Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs,
Syracuse University, and a Master’s in Public Policy from the Hertie School in Berlin as part of the Atlantis Dual Degree Program.
Ferdinand gained professional experience in international relations at the German Federal Foreign Office, co-organizing diplomacy and foreign policy workshops across Europe for the Global Diplomacy Lab and advancing German foreign policy at the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City. As an alumnus of the Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) Scholarship and holder of the Centennial Scholar Award of the Maxwell School, Ferdinand aspires to a career focused on strengthening transatlantic relations.