From the Foreign Service to the Board Room
When Riz Khaliq, BA International Studies ’93, MA International Transactions ’94, was a student at George Mason University, his main focus was to receive an education and be a positive contributor to his family. They had immigrated from Pakistan because his father served as a diplomat at the Pakistani Embassy in the United States.
“Being one of seven and a first-generation immigrant, college was a pretty significant burden for the family,” said Khaliq. “I can say unequivocally, for my parents, and specifically my dad, education was the most important thing that any of his kids could partake in and that he could pay forward to his kids. If we were going to improve our lives, it was going to come from education.”
Khaliq worked while earning his degree, and likes to tell a story of how he used to buy cars at auctions at the beginning of the semester, drive them around, and then sell them for a profit to pay for the next semester’s tuition. He also interned on Capitol Hill for a foreign affairs committee, where he learned how legislation is formed.
Khaliq’s studies at Mason took place right after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and classes with Dr. Mark Katz—whose teaching method contextualized central and eastern Europe’s history through storytelling—amplified Khaliq’s interest in the region even more. He also recalls debating with classmates from around the world about policy issues.
“One takeaway I had from Mason is that everybody's opinion matters and that stuck with me in a lot of different ways,” said Khaliq. “I was able to experience classrooms with people from so many diverse backgrounds, and I never felt like I was discounted or like I didn’t deserve to be there because I was from a certain part of the world.”
After earning his master’s degree from the Schar School, where he studied international transactions and business, Khaliq began working with the Department of Commerce and passed the Foreign Service exam. While working for deputy assistant secretary for domestic operations Dan McLaughlin, Khaliq noticed an exciting opportunity for a new position in post-apartheid Cape Town, South Africa—a highly sought-after station. Khaliq wasn’t sure he’d get the job because he was so young, but applied anyway.
“I still remember Dan going and making an argument in front of the board that they present to if you’re going to be assigned to a different location, and he told them, ‘Riz always fights above his weight,’” said Khaliq. “That stuck with me because I don’t look at anything like I’m less or better. I just thought, ‘I’m going to take a chance because I know I can do this,’ and that’s what Mason taught me.”
During his time in the Foreign Service, Khaliq had a variety of assignments as a commercial attaché in Kenya, South Africa, and Denmark. He wrote speeches and completed advance work for United States government officials, like the secretary of commerce and Vice President Al Gore. He would meet with a country’s minister of trade to review talking points and manage optics for international meetings with U.S. officials. At one point, Khaliq even met the Dalai Lama while working for the Foreign Service in Copenhagen.
“Just having the ability as a 26-year-old to sit across from leaders from around the world and communicate with them taught me so much about how to handle myself,” Khaliq said.
One of Khaliq’s most memorable assignments happened while he was working in Cape Town, South Africa. He was in the country at the time of the country’s second election after the end of apartheid, and he served as an election observer in Port Elizabeth as people stood in line to cast their votes. To this day, Khaliq still has an official ballot from the election with all of the candidates’ photographs on it.
When he completed his time with the Foreign Service, Khaliq began a new chapter in his career at IBM. Over the span of twenty years, he served in multiple senior management roles. His final role at IBM was as vice president of IBM’s Global Public Sector, where he developed growth strategies and partnerships with government agencies across global regions.
In August 2020, Khaliq was named the new CEO of Assima, a worldwide leader in training, assistance, and software adoption for Fortune 500 companies. He is focused on Assima’s client experiences, as well as creating a work environment where every employee’s opinion is heard and healthy discussions are encouraged to build stronger ideas.
“It’s great to know that you have people who will support your ideas, but you also need people that challenge what you think,” Khaliq said. “Having people with that are willing and able to challenge you that you respect is key.”
Written by: Kristen Greiner, MFA ’20