This piece originally appeared in the University of Toronto International Relations Program Alumni Association (IRPAA) LinkedIn page. I spearheaded the Alumni Spotlight to highlight unique alumni stories and create more people-centred content that engage the tight-knit IRPAA network. This article eventually reached a record-high impression of 2,237 and reached 1,327 members. Read the full piece here.

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Upon graduating from the U of T IR Program and McGill Law, Jake Hirsch-Allen (IR’05) was set for a law career but found himself compromising his potential and vision. Jake has been navigating three unlikely professional areas in the past decade: international law, entrepreneurship, and publicprivate partnerships. Now, at LinkedIn, his passion has been figuring out how tech can be utilized for the benefit of society at large. “I learned a lesson that one should do a job that one enjoys doing—and is good at—with people they enjoy doing it with. While I enjoyed working with people during my law career, I didn’t love the work and wasn’t good at it. I’m not adversarial; I’m not good at litigating or fighting. I’m not detail-oriented, so I’m not good at corporate law. I was pretty good at lobbying, though, so I have spent much of the past decade influencing the government—one way or another.” He attributed his extensive career to his enduring passion for storytelling and social justice. Jake’s journey showed us that curiosity and authenticity go a long way.