Bernadine Joselyn is Blandin Foundation’s founding director of Public Policy and Engagement, where she leads efforts on behalf of Minnesota’s largest rural-based philanthropy.
Bernadine spent the first fifteen years of her professional life in Soviet (and then post-Soviet) Affairs. She served seven years as diplomat with the U.S. Department of State, including tours in New Delhi, Moscow, and Washington DC. After the collapse of the Soviet Union Bernadine left the diplomatic corps to work on international academic and cultural exchange programs with the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX) and subsequently to open and lead Eurasia Foundation’s first Moscow office.
A native of Minnesota, Joselyn has a master’s degree in international affairs and a certificate in advanced Soviet studies from Columbia University, where she was privileged to study with the late ACURA founder, Professor Stephen F. Cohen, as well as a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey Institute. Joselyn is a member of the Human Rights Commission for the City of Grand Rapids and serves on the board of the Russian-American Business and Culture Council.