Joel Ekström
MPS Class of 2025, Global Development
- Pronouns: He/him
- Grand challenge: Conflict sensitivity in addressing food security challenges
- Where he considers home: Copenhagen, Denmark
- Connect: ce257 [at] cornell.edu (Email) | LinkedIn
Joel Ekström, a Swede with a passion for the fight against hunger, is a student of the Master of Professional Studies (MPS) programme in Global Development at Cornell University. He has a background in Peace and Conflict studies, which he studied at Lund University, Sweden, focusing on the issue of food security in conflict, and the weaponization of hunger. As part of his bachelor's degree, he also studied rural development, migration and climate change at the University of Bologna, Italy.
After an internship at the Danish think tank The Council for International Conflict Resolution (RIKO), he worked as a Partnerships and Communications Officer for the UN World Food Programme’s Nordic Office, engaging with Swedish public and private sector stakeholders committed to the fight against world hunger. Drawing from his experience from working on the ground in humanitarian operations, he will continue to focus his studies on the interrelation between hunger and conflict - food and peace.