On Thursday, March 17th from 10:00 - 11:15am ET, please join the Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP) for the public launch of the State Department’s new Negotiations Support Unit.
The Negotiations Support Unit (NSU) is a team of peace process and negotiations experts in the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO) at the U.S. Department of State that provides tailored support to U.S. diplomats engaged in peace processes or complex political negotiations. NSU experts have experience in over 30 peace processes and negotiations, both in government and as direct advisors to negotiation parties. The NSU supports U.S. officials at every stage of peace processes and complex political negotiations, from strategic planning through implementation. The unit advises on both the negotiation process and the substance of peace talks. NSU team members work with U.S. Special Envoys, Ambassadors, and officers in the field to design and support negotiations on all tracks (I, II, and III).
AfP is delighted to host the NSU’s public launch on March 17th at 10:00am ET.
Featuring:
Liz Hume, Executive Director, Alliance for Peacebuilding (moderator)
Assistant Secretary Anne A, Witkowsky, U.S. State Department, Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (opening remarks)
Deputy Assistant Secretary Ariel P. Eckblad, U.S. State Department, Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations
Meghan Stewart, Advisor and Team Lead – U.S. State Department, Negotiations Support Unit
Aimee Breslow, Advisor – U.S. State Department, Negotiations Support Unit
Tyler Thompson, Advisor – U.S. State Department, Negotiations Support Unit
The event will feature opening remarks by Assistant Secretary of State Anne Witkowsky, followed by a conversation between AfP’s Executive Director Liz Hume and Deputy Assistant Secretary Ariel Ecklad and questions and answer session with the audience and the wider NSU team.
Speaker Bios:
Liz Hume (she/her), Executive Director—Alliance for Peacebuilding
Liz Hume is the Executive Director at the Alliance for Peacebuilding. She is a conflict expert and has more than 20 years of experience in senior leadership positions in bilateral, multilateral institutions and NGOs. She has extensive experience in policy and advocacy and overseeing sizeable and complex peacebuilding programs in conflict-affected and fragile states in Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa. Liz is also an experienced mediator, and she is a frequent guest lecturer on countering violent extremism, international conflict analysis and peacebuilding in conflict-affected and fragile states. Liz holds a BA from Boston College, a JD from Vermont Law School, and an MA in Negotiation, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding from California State University, Dominguez Hills.
Anne A. Witkowsky (she/her), Assistant Secretary—U.S. State Department, Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations
Anne Witkowsky was sworn in as the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO) on January 10, 2022. Ms. Witkowsky previously served in government as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability and Humanitarian Affairs from 2014-2016 in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). There she held responsibility for policy on peacekeeping and stability operations; humanitarian assistance and disaster response; DoD support to the security of U.S. embassies; international humanitarian law, rule of law and protection of human rights; and women, peace and security. Prior to that, she served in the U.S. Department of State as the Acting Principal Deputy Coordinator (2012-2013) in the Bureau of Counterterrorism (CT), and the CT Deputy Coordinator for Homeland Security and Multilateral Affairs (2009-2013). Ms. Witkowsky holds a BA in Russian and East European studies from Yale University, and an MPA, with a concentration in international security, from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. She is the recipient of State Department Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards, the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Civilian Service, and the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service.
Ariel P. Eckblad (she/her), Deputy Assistant Secretary—U.S. State Department, Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations
Ariel P. Eckblad is a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Department of State’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO). Ariel leads the Bureau’s efforts to anticipate, prevent, and respond to conflict and instability in Africa and Asia. She also oversees the Bureau’s office of program design, monitoring, and evaluation. Ariel was most recently Chief-of-Staff in the Office of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and had been the National Security Legislative Counsel in the former Senate office of Vice President Kamala Harris. Outside of government, Ariel was the visiting Mullen Seminar of Law professor at Georgetown University. She has taught negotiation and dispute resolution at the American University Washington College of Law, Georgetown University Law Center, Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Harvard Law School. Ariel holds a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law, and Masters of Science degrees from the University of Oxford and the University of London in diplomacy and international relations, respectively. She has been both a Marshall Scholar in the United Kingdom and a Fulbright Scholar in India, and was the valedictorian of her class at Spelman College.
Meghan Stewart (she/her), Advisor and Team Lead—Negotiations Support Unit
Meghan joined the State Department from the U.S. Department of Defense, where she worked on defense support to stabilization, operational support to stabilization in NE Syria, and minimizing civilian casualties in U.S. military operations. She joined DoD as a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow. Prior to working at DoD, Meghan was Vice President of Legal Strategy at the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG), where she advised foreign governments and rebel groups on negotiating peace agreements and drafting post conflict constitutions and served as one of PILPG’s senior technical experts on peace processes. In over 13 years with PILPG she advised parties to two dozen conflicts on a wide range of issues including peace process design, technical drafting, negotiations strategy, ceasefires, and democratic transitions. She led a range of engagements including advising rebel coalitions in Sudan (Sudan Revolutionary Front) and Burma (United Nationalities Federal Council) on ongoing peace negotiations. Meghan holds a JD from the American University Washington College of Law, an MA in international Affairs from the American University School of International Service, and a BA in Political Science and Anthropology from Brown University.
Aimee Breslow (she/her), Advisor—Negotiations Support Unit
Aimee is a democracy and gender specialist, focusing on the durability and inclusivity of peace processes. She spent the first half of her career working in the NGO and academic sectors with organizations such as the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the Open Dialogue Project, and the International Development Program at Johns Hopkins University – School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Aimee has extensive field experience in the Balkans, the Middle East, and Central Asia, focusing on civil society and political parties in conflict and post-authoritarian societies. Before joining the NSU, Aimee spent a decade as a contractor at the U.S. Department of State, including serving as the Senior Advisor for Democracy, Governance & Gender in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. Aimee is a Fulbright Fellow and a Robert Bosch Fellow. She holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and a MA in Social Change & Development from Johns Hopkins University – SAIS.
Tyler Jess Thompson (he/him), Advisor—Negotiations Support Unit
Most recently, Tyler was the Senior Expert on Negotiations and Peace Process Support at the US Institute of Peace. He also served as USAID's Atrocities Prevention Advisor from 2016 to 2018, leading engagement at the NSC and in the interagency. Tyler is a lawyer, barred in New York, and has served as a strategic advisor on international law, peace negotiations, ceasefires, atrocities prevention, transitional justice, and post-conflict transitions for governments, parties, and civil society in a broad range of countries. Tyler is formerly the policy director for United for a Free Syria and counsel to a coalition of pro-democracy Syrian-American advocacy and educational organizations. For six years, Thompson served as legal counsel at the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG), where he directed their ceasefires practice area. He managed PILPG's offices in Tripoli, Libya, and Pristina, Kosovo. Tyler’s research and practitioner areas include peace negotiations, cease-fires, agreement drafting, crisis management, transitional justice, atrocities prevention, post-conflict legislative reform, disaster diplomacy, and constitution drafting processes. He has advised the U.S. government, other states, conflict parties, and civil society in Syria, Libya, Yemen, Kosovo, Georgia, Burma, South Sudan, Philippines, Cameroon, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Zimbabwe, and Ethiopia. Tyler holds a Juris Doctor and a Masters in International Affairs from American University. He holds a Bachelors in English and Gender Studies from Boston College.