Dillon Kersh

Dillon Kersh is a dual-degree MBA/MIA student at Columbia University, pursuing an MBA at Columbia Business School and a Master of International Affairs at Columbia SIPA, where he concentrates in International Security and Diplomacy. His academic and professional interests focus on the intersection of geopolitics, national security, and markets, particularly how political and security developments shape investment, business strategy, and economic policy.

Prior to Columbia, Dillon was an Associate at The Cohen Group, a Washington, DC-based strategic advisory firm, where he advised clients across the aerospace and defense, technology, financial services, and legal sectors on geopolitical risk, international market entry, and regulatory and government affairs strategy. He has continued working with The Cohen Group part-time while at Columbia.

Dillon graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Political Science, with a concentration in International Relations and US History. While at Penn, Dillon worked as a Research Assistant at the Wharton Political Risk Lab, supporting research led by Professor Witold Henisz on the material impact of political risk on multinational corporations and strategies firms can use to manage political exposure.

His current interests include geopolitical risk and capital allocation, transatlantic security, defense industrial policy, economic statecraft, and the implications of geopolitical competition for global businesses and investors. Outside of his academic and professional work, Dillon enjoys traveling, history, soccer, and classic films.