Day 2: September 11, 2024

Kirsty Graham, CEO, Edelman U.S.
Kirsty Graham is the CEO of Edelman U.S. Kirsty was formerly the Global President of Edelman’s Practices and Sectors, overseeing strategy and development for Edelman’s global brand and corporate practices and the global impact and ESG team, as well as other global sectors: health, technology, energy, and food and beverage. Kirsty also served as the Global Chair of Health, a role she has held from January 2020 when she first joined Edelman in 2020 to February 2023. Graham has lived in the U.S. for 24 years and has engaged with business, government, media, and civil society in the course of her career. Prior to Edelman, Graham spent 10 years at Pfizer Inc, where she served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs for their Biopharmaceuticals Group. Graham was previously SVP, Global Policy and International Public Affairs at Pfizer.Earlier in her career, Kirsty spent 16 years in the New Zealand Foreign Service working on a wide range of economic, security and trade policy issues with responsibilities spanning bilateral relations with China, Japan, and the United States. She holds a B.A. in English Literature and a postgraduate degree in Philosophy from the University of Otago. 

Meredith Preston McGhie, Secretary General, Global Centre for Pluralism
Meredith Preston McGhie is the Secretary General for the Global Centre for Pluralism and is a peacemaker and pluralism ambassador working to build societies that recognize, respect, and value diversity. Meredith has devoted nearly 30 years to addressing conflict and instability in Africa and Asia. In her previous role as Africa Regional Director with the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, she facilitated and advised a range of peace processes, including with Kofi Annan during the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation in 2007/8 and on a range of peace processes in Sudan, South Sudan Nigeria and Somalia.  Her experience has spanned work across Africa and Asia, including with Indigenous communities in Northeast India and Myanmar and UN peace processes in Kosovo and Northern Iraq. The Global Centre for Pluralism is an independent organization founded in partnership by the Government of Canada and His Highness the Aga Khan dedicated to building capacities for societies to live peacefully and productively with diversity, developing approaches towards belonging and inclusion. 

Liz Hume, Executive Director, Alliance for Peacebuilding
Elizabeth (Liz) Hume is the Executive Director at the Alliance for Peacebuilding. She is an international lawyer and a conflict expert with more than 25 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. From 1997-2001, Liz was seconded by the U.S. Department of State to the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Kosovo as the Chief Legal Counsel and Head of the Election Commission Secretariats. She was responsible for developing the legal framework and policies in support of the implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords and UN Resolution 1244.  She helped establish the Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation at USAID, developing programs and policies to improve the U.S. Government’s ability to address the causes of violent deadly conflict. Liz holds a BA from Boston College, a JD from Vermont Law School, and a MA in Negotiation, Conflict Resolution, and Peacebuilding from California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Lea Baroudi, Founder and Director, MARCH Lebanon
Lea has dedicated her career to peace and sectarian conflict resolution. As a founding member and director of MARCH, a Lebanese NGO, she focuses on conflict resolution and women’s roles in peace. A certified mediator and member of the Mediterranean Women Mediators Network, she helped launch the Global Alliance of Regional Women Mediator Networks at the 74th UN General Assembly. With extensive experience mediating conflicts in Tripoli and Beirut, she has developed programs to combat radicalization and conducts training in conflict resolution. Honored with the Reagan-Fascell Fellowship and an MBE from Queen Elizabeth II, she spoke on women's peace roles at the UN Security Council.

Helena Puig Larrauri, Co-founder and Strategy Lead, Build Up
Helena is the co-founder of Build Up, a peacebuilding collective that works to identify and apply innovative practices to prevent conflict and tackle polarization. She is a peacebuilding professional with over 15 years of experience working with civil society actors and multi-lateral organisations in conflict contexts and polarized environments. She specializes in process design and inclusion for mediation and peacebuilding programs, and has extensive experience in designing digital inclusion processes and addressing conflict drivers in digital spaces. She is also a Senior Advisor on Digital Technologies and Mediation to the United Nations Mediation Support Unit and an Ashoka Fellow.

Holistic Environmental Peacemaking Approaches for Reconciliation in Yemen

H.E. Dr. Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed, Former Prime Minister of Yemen
H. E. Dr. Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed served as the Prime Minister of the Republic of Yemen from 2018-2024. Prior to this position, H.E. Dr. Saeed served as the Minister of Public Works and Roads in Yemen during 2017-2018 and the Vice-Minister of Public Works and Roads from 2015- 2017. He was also a member of the Conciliation Commission at Yemen's National Dialogue Conference during 2013-2014 and the elected rapporteur of the Constitution Drafting Commission in 2014. Preceding his political career, he gained extensive experience through his work in academia, as well as the public and private sectors. H.E. Dr. Saeed holds a Master’s and Doctorate degree in architecture and design theories from the Faculty of Engineering at Cairo University.

H.E. Abdulsalam Al-Awadhi, Ambassador of Yemen to the United Nations Environment Program
H.E. Abdulsalam Al-Awadhi is a leading Yemeni diplomat and politician. He currently serves as the Head of Mission and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) at the Embassy of Yemen in Kenya since 2018. Highlights from his previous career include his terms as Chargé d’Affaires (2013-2014) and Counsellor (2012-2013) at the Embassy of Yemen in Spain, Third Secretary for Economic and Political Affairs (2011-2012), as well as Head of Section for Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Deputy Head of Section for International Relations, and Head of Section for Arabian Peninsula at the Yemeni Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 2009-2011. H.E. Al-Awadhi holds a Master's in International Relations from the Institute of Arab Research and Studies and a Bachelor's in Political Science from Sana’a University.

Muna Luqman, National Coordinator on Inclusion, United Nations Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen
Muna Luqman is a Yemeni peace activist and human rights advocate. Since 2024, she has worked as a National Coordinator on Inclusion with the United Nations Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen (OSESGY). Luqman is a co-founder of the Women’s Solidarity Network, Chairperson of the Yemeni foundation Food4Humanity, and member of the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership. She works with grassroots organizations in Yemen and with the Yemeni diaspora to demand women have a seat at the peace negotiations table. Luqman frequently briefs the UN Security Council, members of the U.S. Congress, and the UN Human Rights Council, and has worked across the world to advocate for an end to the war in Yemen and for women’s participation in the peace process. Climate change and water diplomacy have been a highlight of her advocacy work, particularly on local mediation over natural resources. In 2023, Luqman was awarded the Hillary Clinton Award for her vast engagement in promoting women’s rights and peace. In 2019, Muna was the recipient of the International Young Women's Peace and Human Rights Award.

Hisham Al-Omeisy, Senior Yemen Advisor, European Institute of Peace
Hisham Al-Omeisy is an information specialist and a conflict analyst by profession. Currently the Senior Yemen Advisor with the European Institute of Peace, he previously worked as the Information Resources Center Director with the U.S. Mission to Yemen, where he received the U.S. State Department’s Superior Honor Award. He has more than 20 years of experience working with government and non-government organizations, is a regular speaker at conflict and human rights conferences and conventions, and is a media commentator with bylines in the press, reports, and documentaries on Yemen and the region. He holds a B.A. in International Relations, an M.A. in Reconciliation and Peacebuilding, and a Master’s degree in Conflict, Peace, and Security.

Albert Martinez, Program Manager, European Institute of Peace
Albert Martinez is a Program Manager at the European Institute of Peace. He manages the Institute’s Climate and Environmental Peacemaking Programme, focusing on Yemen and Somalia. Prior to joining the Institute in January 2023, Albert worked for over three years at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Geneva as an Analyst and Management Support in the EU-UNEP Climate Change and Security Partnership. He coordinated environmental peacebuilding projects to strengthen resilience to complex climate change and security risks in fragile and conflict-affected contexts in Sudan and Nepal. Albert holds an MA in International Administration and Conflict Management, an M.Sc. in Political Science, and a B.Sc. in Environmental Science.

In Pursuit of Responsible Partnership: Engaging Local Women Peacebuilders as Equal and Powerful Stakeholders

Anna Zaros, Interim Head and Director of Organizational Advancement,  Nonviolent Peaceforce USA
Anna Zaros has over 15 years of experience working to build communities and peace, justice, and healing from the Philippines, to Bolivia, to the United States. Anna is currently the Interim Head of Nonviolent Peaceforce USA and the Director of Organizational Advancement. Anna holds a Masters in International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame, where she focused research and practice on women's inclusion in peace and development and inter-religious peacebuilding. 

Clotilda Andiensa Waah, Coordinator and Founder, Center for Advocacy in Gender Equality and Action for Development (CAGEAD)
Clotilda Andiensa Waah is the Coordinator and Founder of CAGEAD, a women-led non-profit grassroots organization established in 2007. Led by Clotilda, CAGEAD’s mission is to empower women and youth by developing skills to promote community development, economic security, and health and well-being. Clotilda is dedicated to transforming youth and women’s lives in rural communities in Cameroon through educational advocacy and sensitization to promote gender equality, promoting non-violent communication and peacebuilding, and preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence in schools and communities. She builds coalitions and alliances with other like-minded civil society organizations, where they carry out advocacy on issues related to gender equality and peacebuilding with local and national stakeholders. 

Tahani Yaghshi, Conduct and Conflict Management Specialist, George Washington University
Tahani Yaghshi is a peacebuilder from Syria, where she focused on the role of civil society and community dialogues in fostering peace. Tahani holds an MSc. in Conflict Management and Humanitarian Action and is currently working as a Conduct and Conflict Management Specialist at George Washington University. With more than seven years of practical involvement in promoting peace at the grassroots level, she has worked in various conflict zones, including Syria, Tunisia, and Sudan. Yaghshi’s proficiency extends from working with esteemed local and international organizations such as Mobaderoon, the United States Institute of Peace, and the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict.

Ro Tucci, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Stabilization, USAID
Rosarie Tucci is currently USAID's Deputy Assistant Administrator in the Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Stabilization. She previously served as USAID's Deputy Director (2015-17) and Director (2020-2023) of the Center for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance, spearheading the $100 million Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal and championing the nonviolent collective action program. Prior to that, she served as the Director for Inclusive Societies, Peace Processes. and Reconciliation at the U.S. Institute of Peace, establishing portfolios on dialogue, mediation, negotiation and inclusive peace. She also served as Senior Advisor to USAID's Deputy Administrator from 2011-2014. She has worked to advance issues ranging from ceasefire monitoring and atrocity prevention to enhancing civic space and youth engagement, and worked on countries like Colombia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Ukraine, Central African Republic, and Yemen. Tucci was a Fulbright Scholar focused on transitional democracy in Bulgaria. She holds a Masters in international human rights law from the University of Nottingham and a B.A. in political science and communications from Boston College.

Centering “P” in the HDP Nexus: Lessons from Evidence-Based Conflict Integration Approaches

Nell Bolton, Technical Director for the Equity, Inclusion and Peacebuilding team, Catholic Relief Services
Nell Bolton serves as Technical Director for the Equity, Inclusion, and Peacebuilding team at Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and has supported CRS’ peacebuilding and governance programming throughout the world. She is also active in social and restorative justice initiatives in Louisiana within the United States. Bolton holds a Masters in International Peace Studies from the Kroc Institute at Notre Dame and a Masters of Theological Studies degree from Candler School of Theology at Emory University.

Shaziya DeYoung, Senior Researcher, Learning and Evidence, Alliance for Peacebuilding
Shaziya DeYoung serves as the Senior Researcher for Learning and Evidence at the Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP), providing in-depth research and analysis for AfP’s Learning and Evidence portfolio. Shaziya focuses on peacebuilding evidence initiatives, including synthesizing, translating, and disseminating evidence for a wider reach, while also fostering field-wide monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) capacity development. Shaziya holds a Masters. in International Policy and Development from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies where she focused on Peace and Conflict Studies and Monitoring and Evaluation methodologies.

Chandler Hill, Research Associate, American Institute for Research
Chandler Hill Lichtenfels is a Research Associate at the American Institutes for Research. She utilizes qualitative methods and geospatial analysis techniques to inform and evaluate policy and programming aimed at preventing armed conflict and violence, particularly at its intersections with migration, education, housing, public health, and workforce development. Ms. Hill Lichtenfels is also currently working with The George Washington University and Texas State University to collect, analyze, and model data on issues affecting migrants traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border, producing evidence in support of innovative, data-driven, and just immigration policies. Ms. Hill Lichtenfels holds a Master of Science in Geography and Graduate Certificate in Geographical Information Systems from The George Washington University.

Jason Calder, Director, Saferworld USA
Jason Calder is Director of Saferworld USA, having joined in 2018. He directs Saferworld’s policy change and partnership-building activity in Washington, DC and oversees its advocacy work at the United Nations. Jason has three decades of experience in peacebuilding, governance, and development in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. He has a Master’s in Economics from the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. He previously spent 15 years at The Carter Center, most recently as its Office Director and Country Representative in Guyana. He brings a range of expertise on multi-stakeholder dialogue, inclusive governance, social cohesion, community-driven peacebuilding, social movements, and aid effectiveness.

Global Fragility Act MEL Innovations to Establish an Evidence Base for Conflict Prevention and Stabilization

Lieutenant Colonel Brian Grimsley, Deputy Director for Stabilization and Peacekeeping Policy in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Counternarcotics and Stabilization Policy, U.S. Department of Defense
Lieutenant Colonel Brian Grimsley was commissioned as an Infantry Second Lieutenant from Appalachian State University in 2005. Over the last 17 years, Lieutenant Colonel Grimsley has served in a variety of assignments in Infantry and Special Forces units. Lieutenant Colonel Grimsley was assigned to Fort Drum, New York and served as a Light Infantry Platoon Leader in 2nd BCT, 10th Mountain Division. After returning from Iraq, Lieutenant Colonel Grimsley was assigned to Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia where he served as a Ranger Platoon Leader for two years and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. After graduating the Special Forces Qualification Course in December 2011, Lieutenant Colonel Grimsley was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) and served as a Detachment Commander and Company Executive Officer. Lieutenant Colonel Grimsley earned a Master of Arts in Strategic Security Studies from the National Defense University. Lieutenant Colonel Grimsley was assigned to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict in 2023 and currently serves as the Deputy Director for Stabilization and Peacekeeping Policy.

Lauren Hershey, GFA Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Specialist, Program Office, Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Stabilization, USAID
With eight years of analytic, programmatic, and strategic planning experience in foreign policy and development, Lauren Hershey is dedicated to driving innovative solutions to seemingly intractable challenges, specifically in conflict-affected environments. In her current role as the lead Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Specialist for USAID’s Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Stabilization for the Global Fragility Act (GFA), she provides technical expertise on and co-leads the collaborative interagency GFA MEL strategic framework design and implementation process, specifically focused on integrating innovative approaches to evidence generation, learning, and adaptation. From October 2020-December 2022, she served as a MEL Specialist at the Department of State (DOS), where she incorporated MEL principles, methods, and frameworks into counter-state disinformation and propaganda program design, implementation, assessment, and evaluation. From 2016-2020, she served as a Stabilization Advisor with the DOS Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, where she applied conflict prevention and stabilization principles in strategic planning efforts, led program design and management, and provided analytic policy recommendations in priority conflict environments throughout Europe, including the Western Balkans region and Ukraine. Lauren graduated with her MA in International Security from the University of Denver's Josef Korbel School of International Studies in 2016, where she concentrated in mixed methods analysis and conflict resolution. She has a BA in English Literature and Linguistics from the University of Florida, where she graduated in 2011.

Joe Hewitt, Senior Advisor, Office of Foreign Assistance, U.S. Department of State
Before joining the State Department, Dr. Joe Hewitt was the Vice President for Policy, Learning, and Strategy at the U.S. Institute of Peace. He led USIP's efforts to capture learning from the Institute's program activities and apply it to improve future programming and strengthen policy recommendations. He brings more than 25 years of experience working to apply rigorous analyses of conflict dynamics to strengthen tools for conflict assessment, improve the design of peacebuilding programs, and refine systems for program monitoring and evaluation. Previously, he was a Senior Conflict and Peacebuilding Advisor at USAID. Before joining USAID, Dr. Hewitt was the Associate Director of the Center for International Development and Conflict Management at the University of Maryland. Prior to joining the University of Maryland, Dr. Hewitt was a faculty member in the Department of Political Science at the University of Missouri. Dr. Hewitt’s publications have appeared in the Daedalus (Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences), Journal of Conflict Resolution, the Journal of Peace Research, and International Interactions. During his academic career, he also co-authored four books. Dr. Hewitt received his doctorate in government and politics from the University of Maryland and his bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan.

Peacebuilding Starts at Home: Expanding the Team

Chip Hauss, Senior Fellow for Innovation and Board Member Emeritus, Alliance for Peacebuilding
Chip Hauss has been exploring ways of producing large-scale social and political change through nonviolent means for five decades. In this work, Hauss has tried to be a political bridge builder who brings “strange political bedfellows” together to help solve problems that can only be effectively addressed if they work together. Hauss serves as a member of the Board of Directors (emeritus) of the Alliance for Peacebuilding where he is also a Senior Fellow for Innovation, a Visiting Scholar at George Mason’s School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution, and a charter member of ProSocial World’s New Paradigm Coalition. Hauss is a veteran author with nineteen books to his credit. His introductory textbook, From Conflict Resolution to Peacebuilding, was published in 2019 and his edited volume, The Rondine Method, in 2023. He is currently finishing Peace is a Verb with Patricia Shafer.

Patricia Shafer, Executive Director, NewGen Peacebuilders
Patricia Shafer is the Executive Director of the international nonprofit organization NewGen Peacebuilders and the associated Youth & Peace in Action initiative. She also serves as Senior Fellow for Peace Education at the Washington, DC-based Alliance for Peacebuilding and as Global Ambassador with the Institute for Economics & Peace. In these roles, Patricia focuses on leadership for the design and delivery of peace education, training, and mentoring programs that integrate leadership development, project management, conflict resolution, and sustainable peacebuilding. Patricia is also one of 1,500+ Rotary Peace Fellows. In 2022, Patricia received the Melanie Greenberg Award for Excellence in U.S. Conflict Resolution & Peacebuilding. She holds a MSc in Consulting and Coaching for Change—a joint-venture of Oxford University, UK, and HEC France; an MBA from Northwestern University Kellogg Graduate School of Management; and an M.A. in Journalism from The Ohio State University.

Emily Evans, Programs and Research Officer, the Peace Innovation Initiative
Emily Evans is a socio-cultural anthropologist and peace innovator currently working as the Programs and Research Officer at the Peace Innovation Initiative. As a scholar and practitioner, she actively works to design and launch actionable and sustainable solutions for rebuilding our increasingly polarized public sphere through innovative research and cross-sectoral connections. Over the past ten years, she has dedicated herself to uncovering the root causes of complex social and political issues that prevent various communities from experiencing stability and peace. Drawing upon lessons from deeply divided societies around the world, her research uses ethnographic data to generate a deeper understanding of present issues and the people involved, focusing on illuminating the often misunderstood relationship between belonging narratives and political engagement. In 2022, Emily received her M.A. in Conflict Resolution from King’s College London. Emily also has a B.A. in Anthropology and a Certificate in Peace and Conflict Studies. 

Abby Rapoport, Publisher and Co-Founder, Stranger’s Guide
Abby Rapoport is the publisher and co-founder of Stranger’s Guide. Abby spent the first portion of her career as a political reporter, covering Texas politics for The Texas Tribune, The Texas Observer, and The American Prospect. Her work has also appeared in Glamour, The National Journal, and The New Republic. Before founding Stranger’s Guide, she served as Acting Publisher for The Texas Observer. She currently chairs the Texas Democracy Foundation.

Aviva Lund, Account Executive, OptimalWork
Aviva Lund learned about OptimalWork during her studies at the University of Notre Dame, which transformed her academic experience. It greatly improved her neuroscience studies, took her productivity to previously unseen levels, and helped her find greater meaning in life more generally. She began working for OptimalWork after graduation to help bring these life-changing principles to as many people as possible. Aviva received her education at the University of Notre Dame, obtaining a B.S. in Neuroscience and Behavior. She was a member of the Nu Rho Psi Neuroscience National Honors Society, a Notre Dame Sorin Fellow, and a member of the Society for Neuroscience and the Yale Medical School Discovery to Cure Program.

Yes, We know You’re Tired: How Peacebuilders are Addressing Care and Well-Being

Laura Webber, Care Centered Program Coordinator, Think Peace
Laura Webber engages in research and practice at the intersection of trauma healing, embodiment, social neuroscience, and peacebuilding. She centers a healing-based and whole-being approach as she engages in efforts toward conflict transformation from the individual to the collective. Laura carries a particular focus in supporting social change practitioners and activists to nurture their resiliency and sustainability. She currently works in support of social change organizations in a variety of capacities, including research, program design and facilitation, and learning.

Claude Gatebuke, Executive Director, African Great Lakes Action Network
Claude Gatebuke is a Rwandan genocide and war survivor. He is also the co-founder and executive director for the African Great Lakes Action Network and has been featured in communities around the world, including national and international media such as TV, radio, and newspapers. He works with communities around the world to create platforms where activists and peacebuilders can connect and share lessons on how to do their work in authoritarian or hostile contexts. Most recently, the network created a new pillar of work based on requests from members on Mental Health for Activists and Peacebuilders.

Alexis Flanagan, Co-Director, Resonance Network
Alexis (she/her) is a queer Black feminist DC girl whose heart pumps to the beat of “the Pocket” that holds down DC go-go music and culture. She is a cultural worker, writer, artist, healer, and organizer working at the intersection of art and activism in the DC Metropolitan Area.  Alexis has led programs and organizations working to end sexual and intimate partner violence for more than a decade, most recently serving 5 years as the Assistant Director of HopeWorks, a comprehensive sexual assault and domestic violence program in Columbia, MD. Now, Alexis dedicates herself to deepening practice and embodiment of liberation and transformation within communities she loves. Alexis was a Movement Maker in NoVo Foundation’s Move to End Violence Program and is enjoying her current evolution as the bass line of the jazz ensemble that is the Resonance Network staff team.

Kenneth Chomba, African Coaches Network
Kenneth is a community organizer, campaigner and deeply passionate about facilitating learning spaces for collection action. Kenneth hails from the African province of Kenya, deeply in love with Africa. He has been facilitating campaign strategy and narrative building for almost a decade across the world, with established organizations, movements and more autonomous activist groups. In 2018, he became the coordinator of the African coaching Network. In this role, he has deepened his work and understanding of supporting movements across a diverse range of issues.

Jesse Eaves, Senior Director, Peacebuilding, Humanity United
Jesse Eaves is a Senior Director for the Peacebuilding team at Humanity United (HU). He currently manages a body of work that supports and accompanies networks of local peacebuilders from around the world as they use “people power” and partnerships with others to reimagine a peacebuilding system where international cooperation on peace and violent conflict is defined by those living closest to conflict and honors their vision for sustainable peace. With a background in child protection and systems change, Jesse has worked extensively in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe on issues ranging from human trafficking and child exploitation to youth-led conflict transformation. Prior to joining HU, Jesse was the Senior Child Protection Policy Advisor for World Vision USA, where he managed an advocacy portfolio focused on child trafficking, child labor, child sexual exploitation, and child soldiers. Prior to joining World Vision, Jesse worked as the Director for External Relations for Resolve, an advocacy organization focused on bringing peace and justice to northern Uganda.

Announcing the Effective Peacebuilding Initiative

Benjamin Valentino, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, The Effective Peace Initiative
Benjamin Valentino is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Effective Peace Initiative.  He is a Professor in the Department of Government and the Associate Dean for the Social Sciences at Dartmouth College. His research interests focus on the causes, consequences, and prevention of violent conflict. He is the co-creator of the Early Warning Project, which uses state-of-the-art methods to assess the risk of mass atrocities in countries around the world. At Dartmouth, he teaches courses on international relations, international security, American foreign policy, and the causes and prevention of genocide. Professor Valentino’s book, Final Solutions: Mass Killing and Genocide in the 20th Century, received the Edgar S. Furniss Book Award for making an exceptional contribution to the study of national and international security. His work has appeared in outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, The American Political Science Review, Security Studies, International Organization, Public Opinion Quarterly, World Politics, and The Journal of Politics. He earned a B.A. in Political Science from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Clionadh Raleigh, Executive Director, Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED)

Clionadh Raleigh is a trustee of the Effective Peace Initiative. She is a professor of political geography and conflict at the University of Sussex and the executive director of the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED). Her research concentrates on the dynamics of conflict and violence, African political environments, and elite networks. She has received two European Research Council Awards (an ERC starter in 2011 and ERC consolidator in 2016) to pursue this research. Raleigh founded ACLED in 2005 as part of her P.hD. work and it is now an independent NGO with 200 staff collecting and analyzing information on political violence and demonstrations across the globe.

Roger Mac Ginty, Professor in Defence, Development and Diplomacy, School of Government and International Affairs at Durham University

Roger Mac Ginty is Professor in Defense, Development, and Diplomacy in the School of Government and International Affairs at Durham University. He works on peace and conflict, particularly on the intersection between top-down and bottom-up approaches to peacemaking. Mac Ginty has conducted extensive fieldwork and his research has been funded by the EU, ESRC and Carnegie Corporation of New York, among others. He is interested in everyday peace and the different ways in which this might be captured. He co-directs the Everyday Peace Indicators project (with Pamina Firchow) and edits the Taylor and Francis journal Peacebuilding (with Oliver Richmond). His articles have been published in Cooperation and Conflict, Security Dialogue, and Review of International Studies.

Florencia Montal, Senior Researcher and Evaluator, Center for Victims of Torture

Florencia Montal is a Senior Researcher and Evaluator at the Center for Victims of Torture, an organization committed to healing the wounds of torture on individuals, their families, and their communities and to ending torture worldwide.  Montal has a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in Political Science. From 2020 - 2022,  she was an Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Studies at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Argentina. With funding from the Effective Peacebuilding Initiative, Montal has produced the Peace Interventions Dataset, the most comprehensive collection of statistical information on peace interventions in major conflicts between 1990 and 2022.

Building Trust In and Supporting Proximate Peacebuilders

Claude Gatebuke, Executive Director, African Great Lakes Action Network
Claude Gatebuke is the Executive Director of the African Great Lakes Action Network. He is a Rwandan genocide survivor, a civil war survivor, and human rights advocate whose passion for justice transcends boundaries. He has traveled extensively, speaking out and raising awareness of justice, injustice, and other challenges faced by the African Great Lakes at colleges, universities, churches, community organizations, and conferences. He often makes television and radio appearances, driven by an innate desire to improve the lives of the people living in the African Great Lakes. Claude is a Carl Wilkens Fellow at Genocide Intervention Network, an organization focused on empowering individuals and communities with tools to stop genocide. He is also a member of the African Great Lakes Coalition (AGLC), which unites over a dozen advocacy organizations with a common vision for a peaceful Great Lakes Region of Africa.

Clotilda Andiensa Waah, Coordinator and Founder, Center for Advocacy in Gender Equality and Action for Development
Clotilda W. Andiensa is the Coordinator and Founder of the Center for Advocacy in Gender Equality and Action for Development (CAGEAD). Clotilda is passionate about gender equality and development. She is improving young women's knowledge of human rights, reproductive health, and community development. She has 20 years of teaching experience with young adolescents in secondary schools and over five years of designing, coordinating, and implementing projects in the area of school-related gender-based violence, adolescent sexual and reproductive health, and human rights. She is serving her second mandate as the Country Lead for the Her Voice Fund in Cameroon, coordinating and supervising six grantees in Cameroon.

Corie Walsh, Senior Portfolio Manager, Peacebuilding, Humanity United
Corie Walsh is a Senior Portfolio Manager for Peacebuilding at Humanity United (HU). Prior to joining HU, she worked as the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Research Procurement Advisor for Mercy Corps, where she managed the roll out of a global multi-million dollar master service agreement system. She also implemented a department-wide equity learning plan to increase shared understanding of equity and oppression, identify reforms to increase inclusion, and develop a plan to sustain and habituate efforts. Previously, she worked in Yemen as a Grants and Reporting Specialist, where she was responsible for the country office’s communications, strategic planning, donor relations, business development, program standards compliance, and team training. In addition to her professional work, Corie serves on the Board of Directors for the Pepita Foundation that practices trust-based philanthropy. She is also engaged in mutual aid, disability justice, and community work.

Nick Zuroski, Manager, Policy and Advocacy, Alliance for Peacebuilding
Nick Zuroski is a Manager for Policy and Advocacy at the Alliance for Peacebuilding. He has extensive experience at the intersection of peace and stability, gender equality, and grassroots-oriented understandings of human security. Nick holds an M.A. in International Affairs—concentrating in Global Gender Policy and International Law and Organizations—from The George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs and a B.A. in Mandarin Chinese and World Politics from Hamilton College.

Innovative Peacebuilding: Integrating Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for Enhanced Conflict Resolution

Frederic Deycard, Associate Director for Mali and the Sahel, The Carter Center
Dr. Frederic Deycard is the Associate Director for Mali and the Sahel at The Carter Center. He has developed and managed the Peace Through Health initiative in central Mali since 2017, using an integrated, community-driven approach to peacebuilding leveraging health to foster trust and social cohesion. This program includes a mental health, psychosocial, and peacebuilding project that fosters social cohesion in marginalized communities subjected to violence. Other projects in the Sahel include data-driven research on the nexus of climate and conflict and locally-led efforts to counter misinformation. Before joining The Carter Center, Frederic worked as a consultant on conflict in Niger, Mali, and Chad. He is an expert in political violence, peacebuilding, and conflict analysis. He holds a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology and a Master's in Conflict Analysis from the Political Studies Institute of Bordeaux, France, and a Master's in Contemporary History from the Michel Montaigne University of Bordeaux.

Maddie Warman, Mali Program Associate, The Carter Center, Conflict Resolution Program
Maddie Warman is the Program Associate for Mali in The Carter Center’s Conflict Resolution Program. Since joining The Carter Center in 2021, her work on the Peace Through Health in Central Mali Initiative has supported the development of a community-driven model for resolving conflict by using health and development as an entry point for peace. Advancing The Carter Center’s strategy to implement innovative cross-sector approaches, Maddie led the development of the Mental Health for Peace pilot in Central Mali, integrating mental health and psychosocial well-being into peacebuilding. Maddie holds an M.A. in Conflict Resolution with a concentration in Peacebuilding in Sub-Saharan Africa from Georgetown University, where her research focused on the role of INGOs in international mediation. She graduated from Scripps College with a B.A. in International Relations and Interdisciplinary Humanities and a Minor in French.

Alys Willman, Ph.D., Mental Health Program Consultant, The Carter Center/World Bank
Dr. Alys Willman is a consultant supporting The Carter Center in building a theoretical and implementation framework for integrating mental health, psychosocial support, and peacebuilding initiatives. Alys has dedicated her career to preventing violence by tackling its structural drivers. As an international development economist, she consults for the World Bank, United Nations, and various national governments and nonprofits, and is a Non-Resident Fellow with the School of International and Public Affairs at the University of Georgia. Alys also worked as a Senior Social Development Specialist with the World Bank. She is co-author of Pathways for Peace (United Nations and World Bank), Violence in the City (World Bank), Societal Dynamics and Fragility (World Bank), and has published dozens of policy and academic papers. Alys holds a Ph.D. in Urban and Public Policy and a Master's in International Affairs from The New School for Social Research, as well as a B.A. from DePauw University.

Ryan Fowler, Senior Program Associate, Mental Health Program, The Carter Center
As a member of the The Carter Center’s global behavioral health team, Ryan supports the growing body of mental health systems strengthening programming in Sierra Leone and provides leadership to the mental health program’s emerging initiatives integrating mental health and peacebuilding. Prior to joining The Carter Center, he worked as a mental health counselor in private practice. His international experience includes leading a disaster recovery program that included mental health support with Mennonite Central Committee in Nepal. He also advised community-based organizations in Cambodia on project planning and monitoring and evaluation and has extensive grant management experience. Ryan led the development of the United Way of Greater Atlanta's anti-human trafficking work and innovation initiatives and worked as a project officer with MAP International. Ryan holds an M.A. in Counseling, an M.A. in Cross-Cultural Studies, and a B.A. in Psychology.

Jessica Koreis, Mental Health Program Consultant, The Carter Center
Jessica Koreis is a Mental Health Program Consultant for The Carter Center. She is a Ph.D. candidate in Community Psychology at Georgia State University (GSU), where she builds on her Master’s in Public Health with a focus on Social Epidemiology. Her global public health commitment was initially shaped during her Peace Corps service in Rwanda, where she focused on Maternal and Child Health and combating malnutrition. Currently, Jessica contributes to The Carter Center Global Behavioral Health program as a consultant, integrating mental health support into peacebuilding efforts and enhancing behavioral health frameworks through community-based participatory research. Her research at GSU centers on strengthening global behavioral health systems, community-level trauma prevention, and promoting protective factors for marginalized groups, particularly refugee and migrant mothers. Additionally, Jessica supports community-based childhood adversity prevention NGOs in Georgia with their monitoring and evaluation initiatives.

Haiti: Where are We Now and Where Do We Go Next?

Christy Martins, Senior Director, Nickol Global Solutions
Christy Martins is an international development practitioner with 20 years of experience, including eight years overseas in Ecuador, South Sudan, Haiti, Sri Lanka, and Hong Kong. Her technical areas of focus are governance and stabilization, and she has experience working on USAID programs globally. She is the former Chief of Party on USAID's Sri Lanka Reintegration and Stabilization in the East and North (RISEN) program.  She holds an M.A. in International Development and a B.A. in International Relations, both from American University.

Ambassador Rick Barton, Princeton University School of Public and International Affairs
Ambassador Barton is a lecturer at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, where he served as Co-Director of the Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative from 2016 - 2023. Ambassador Barton was the first Assistant Secretary of State for Conflict and Stabilization Operations and served as America’s Ambassador to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in New York and the UN’s Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva. In 1994, he co-founded USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives. He has led peacebuilding initiatives in more than 40 crisis zones across the globe, including Haiti, Iraq, Nigeria, Burma, and Pakistan. He is the author of Peace Works: America's Unifying Role in a Turbulent World.

John Jordan, Senior Conflict Advisor in USAID’s Center for Conflict and Violence Prevention
John Jordan supports USAID’s conflict and violence prevention programs across Latin America and the Caribbean and helps to incorporate “do-no-harm” and conflict sensitivity as core elements of USAID’s work. John previously supported conflict and violence prevention programs in Honduras, Guatemala, Kenya, Nigeria, and the Dominican Republic. John has a Master’s degree in Global Human Development from Georgetown University and a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Gettysburg College.

Kalinda Magloire, Chief of Party, USAID’s Haiti Citizen Security Program, Management Systems International, a Tetra Tech Company
Kalinda Magloire’s areas of focus include programming in rapidly changing environments, civil society strengthening, public service provision, and gender. In the immediate aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, she supported the USAID/OTI Haiti Recovery Initiative, implementing capacity-building and institutional strengthening activities to ensure continuity of government services. She later oversaw the program’s $30 million grants pool. Kainda is a social entrepreneur who has provided technical assistance to Haitian organizations in governance, gender, capacity building, community participation, monitoring and evaluation, and strategic communications. She led teams in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Côte d’Ivoire. Kalinda holds an M.A. in International Development Management from the London School of Economics and a M.A. in Political Science from the University of Montreal.

Louis-Henri Mars, Founding Member and Executive Director of Lakou Lapè
Louis-Henri Mars has led Lakou-Lapè, a Haitian peacebuilding organization since 2012. Previously, he had managed Haitian assembly and manufacturing companies. Lakou Lapè is currently partnering with USAID-Haiti Citizen Security Program, on which Louis-Henri serves as Conflict Advisor. He has a Diploma in Business Administration from the New York Business School and holds certificates in Conflict Transformation and Dialogue Facilitation from the Glencree Center for Peace and Reconciliation, Dublin, and the Center for Justice and Peace of Eastern Mennonite University. He completed a Distinguished Humphrey Fellowship Program on Human Rights and Social Justice at Duke University.

Fear Factor: How Fear is Being Used to Control Our Minds, Our Bodies, and Our Institutions and What to Do About It

Rachel Locke, Director of the Violence, Inequality and Power Lab at the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, University of San Diego
Rachel Locke is Director of the Violence, Inequality, and Power (VIP) Lab at the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice (IPJ), University of San Diego. Before joining IPJ, Rachel was Head of Research for violence prevention with the Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just, and Inclusive Societies at New York University's Center on International Cooperation, where she led coalition building and evidence curation with the UN, bilateral governments, the African Union, civil society, and others to help deliver the 2030 Agenda targets for peaceful societies (SDG 16.1). Earlier in her career, Rachel served as Senior Policy Advisor with USAID, developing and representing agency-wide policy on issues concerning conflict, violence, and fragility. After leaving USAID, Rachel launched a new area of work for the National Network for Safe Communities at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, bridging effective peace-violence reduction approaches from the U.S. to municipalities globally. She holds a Master's in International Affairs from Columbia University, Graduate School of International and Public Affairs.

Brandon “Biko” Koenig, Ph.D.,  Associate Professor of Government & Public Policy, Franklin and Marshall College
Dr. Brandon "Biko" Koenig is an Assistant Professor in the Government and Public Policy programs at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA, and Co-Founder of Research|Action, a worker-owned research and organizing firm. Trained as an ethnographer and qualitative specialist, Biko’s research investigates questions of political behavior and mobilization that centers the experiences of everyday actors as they seek to challenge status-quo power relationships.

Andrei Serbin Pont, Ph.D., President, CRIES
Dr. Andrei Serbin Pont is the President of CRIES (Regional Coordinator for Social and Economic Research) and CEO of InnovAcción Hub. He merges expertise in geopolitical intelligence, focusing on foreign policy, defense, security, and human rights. At CRIES and InnovAcción Hub, Andrei spearheads mechanical, technological, and methodological innovation, emphasizing AI technologies to enhance NGO effectiveness. By leveraging open-source intelligence and tech-driven social impact, his mission is to strengthen civil society across Latin America and the Caribbean for sustainable change through advanced technology. Andrei is the Regional Representative for Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict and a Senior Fellow at the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies. Andrei holds a Ph.D. in International Relations, an M.A. from the Santiago Dantas Program, and a B.A. from UNSAM.

Amita Vempati, Development Manager, Artistic Freedom Initiative
Amiti Vempati is the Development Manager for the Artistic Freedom Initiative (AFI). A lifelong performer with musical training in South Asian, Central Asian, and East European traditions, she uses her passions for social justice and art to connect with communities all over the world. Prior to joining AFI, Amita was a Senior Program Officer for the Western Balkans and Moldova at the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative. She has also worked closely with the East European Folklife Center, the Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center, and American Councils for International Education directing outreach programming based in the U.S. and Central Asia. Amita completed her B.A. in Government, History, and Russian Studies at the University of Texas and her M.A. in Central Eurasian Studies (focusing on post-Soviet Central Asia) at Indiana University. She leads the Uncovered/Recovered series at Brooklyn Raga Massive working to platform underrepresented voices, decolonized art, and critical activism in South Asian music.

Atrocity Prevention at a Crossroads: The State of International Law and Role of Judicial Institutions

Ambassador David J. Scheffer, Professor of Practice, School of Politics and Global Studies, Arizona State University; Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations
Ambassador David J. Scheffer is Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), with a focus on international law and international criminal justice, and a Professor of Practice at Arizona State University (Washington offices). Scheffer was the Mayer Brown/Robert A. Helman Professor of Law (2006-2020) and is Director Emeritus of the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. He was Vice-President of the American Society of International Law (2020-2022) and held the International Francqui Professorship at KU Leuven in Belgium in 2022. From 2012 to 2018 he was the UN Secretary-General’s Special Expert on UN Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials, and the Tom A. Bernstein Genocide Prevention Fellow working with the Ferencz International Justice Initiative at the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum from 2019 to 2021. During the second term of the Clinton Administration (1997-2001), Scheffer was the first ever U.S. Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues and led the U.S. delegation to the UN talks establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC). He signed the Rome Statute of the ICC on behalf of the United States on December 31, 2000. He negotiated the creation of five war crimes tribunals: the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, and the ICC.

Rebecca Shoot, Executive Director, Citizens for Global Solutions
Rebecca Shoot is the Executive Director of Citizens for Global Solutions (CGS). She is an international lawyer and democracy and governance practitioner with more than 15 years of experience in the non-governmental, inter-governmental, and private sectors supporting human rights, democratic processes, and the rule of law on five continents. She is Co-Founder of the ImPACT Coalition on Just Institutions and the International Court of Justice, Co-Convener of the Washington Working Group for the International Criminal Court, and Editor-in-Chief of Mondial, a biannual journal of democratic world federalists.

Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum, Professor of Law, Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University
Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum is Professor of Law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law where she directs the Benjamin B. Ferencz Human Rights and Atrocity Prevention Clinic and the Cardozo Law Institute in Holocaust and Human Rights. Her scholarship focuses on human rights, public health, and atrocity prevention, especially related to preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based crimes, slavery and the slave trade, Indigenous rights, and human rights violations against minority groups. She holds a J.D. from Cornell Law School and an MPH from the John Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Douglas Irvin-Erickson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Carter School, George Mason University
Dr. Douglas Irvin-Erickson is Assistant Professor at the Carter School and Director of the Genocide Prevention Program at the Carter School, George Mason University. Doug has worked in the field of genocide studies and mass atrocity prevention in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Cambodia, Myanmar, Ukraine, and Argentina. He is the author of books, chapters, and articles on genocide, religion and violence, human security, international criminal law, and political theory. His first book is titled, Raphaël Lemkin and the Concept of Genocide (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017), and he is currently writing a second book, Dying in the Age of Thoughtlessness: Genocide, Terror, and Conflict Resolution. Doug is a Senior Fellow with the Alliance for Peacebuilding, a Board Member of the Institute for the Study of Genocide, and a member of the editorial board of Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal.

Kristin J. Smith, Director, Atrocity Crimes Initiative, Criminal Justice Section & Center for Human Rights; Staff Attorney, Criminal Crustice Section, American Bar Association
Kristin J. Smith directs the Atrocity Crimes Initiative, a joint initiative of the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section and Center for Human Rights to advance atrocity prevention, response, and accountability. The Initiative includes projects aimed at strengthening legal frameworks and international criminal justice institutions, such as the International Criminal Court Project and a Working Group on Crimes Against Humanity, among others. Prior to the ABA, she worked as a Fellow at the Global Justice Center in New York and the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute at Washington University School of Law, and as a legislative analyst and criminal prosecutor in Oregon. She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Washington University in St. Louis School of Law.

Hamse Warfe, Former Senior Advisor, U.S. Department of State
From child refugee to U.S. presidential appointee, Hamse Warfa's life and career has navigated some astonishing twists and turns. A passionate leader, he has more than 25 years of global leadership experience across federal and state governments, philanthropic organizations, nonprofits, and in the private sector as a successful tech entrepreneur. In January 2022, the U.S. President appointed Warfa as his Senior Advisor in the U.S. State Department to advance a global democracy agenda, including the 2023 Summit on Democracy. Prior to joining the federal government, Warfa was the Deputy Commissioner for Workforce Development at the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) in Minnesota. Hamse is a 2016 Bush Foundation Fellow, a recipient of the 2017 Minnesota Statewide Facing Race Award, and an Ashoka Global Fellow for his social entrepreneurship work. In addition to his new book, The Transformational Leader: Twelve Practices for Driving Lasting Change, Warfa is the author of America Here I Come: A Somali Refugee's Quest for Hope, and the producer of an upcoming documentary film.

Rebecca Crall, AfP Vice Board Chair; Manager, Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention, Rotary International 
Rebecca Crall is the Area of Focus Manager for Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention, as well as the Vice Chair and Executive Committee Member of AfP’s Board of Directors. She has been with Rotary International since 2006, working primarily with the strategic and programmatic development of the Rotary’s Peace Initiatives. Her work as Area of Focus Manager centers on the strategic growth of the PCP portfolio with an emphasis on the development of the Rotary strategic partnership with the Institute for Economics and Peace.

Peter Digitale Anderson, Executive Director, Peace Catalyst International
Peter Digitale Anderson is Executive Director of Peace Catalyst International. He is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he is equipping community peacemakers and collaborating with others for racial justice and healing. Drawing on his experience in community organizing and development, interfaith peacebuilding, and contemplative spirituality, he weaves together internal and external liberation alongside neighbors, fellow activists, and people of faith. His projects include facilitating a healing and practice space for white men undoing white supremacist and patriarchal cultures; organizing white folk, especially people of faith, to work for racial justice alongside BIPOC partners; providing nonviolent protection for civilians and training others in safety skills; building community and inspiring activists through singing circles; and more. In addition, Peter leads trainings in conflict transformation, nonviolence, trauma awareness and healing, and community-based peacebuilding.

Hiba Qasas, Executive Director, Principles for Peace
Hiba Qasas is a development leader, peacebuilder and changemaker, who is the Head of Secretariat of the Principles for Peace Initiative, a collective effort to develop a new set of principles, standards, and norms to better enable national and international actors to craft more effective and inclusive approaches to peace. Hiba dedicated 16 years of service at the United Nations with a focus on crisis countries. She has been working passionately to advance women’s rights and gender equality across various regions worldwide. She served as the Chief of the Crisis Prevention and Response Office in Geneva, as the UN Women Country Representative in Iraq, and as the Head of the Middle East and North Africa Section at Headquarters in New York. Ms. Qasas also worked at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) at the country and HQ levels and as part of the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Response. Before joining the UN, Hiba worked for a Palestinian NGO with a focus on microfinance and rural development. Hiba is a Palestinian national and holds a Master of Sciences in International Cooperation for Development from the European School for Advanced Studies, University of Pavia, Italy.

Avi Meyerstein, Founder and President, Alliance for Middle East Peace
Avi Meyerstein is the Founder and President of the Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP). Starting in 2003, Avi brought together dozens of NGOs to build an umbrella coalition that would significantly expand resources, scale up Israeli-Palestinian grassroots partnerships, and create a growing, interconnected community of peacebuilders. Avi also developed and launched the initiative to create an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace. ALLMEP’s global campaign to create that fund led to the bipartisan passage of the Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act of 2020 (MEPPA), which provides $250 million for joint economic and people-to-people partnerships. Avi has led ALLMEP through several stages of growth and organizational development and is actively involved in its strategy, operations, and advocacy. Avi is a former national law firm partner, a business co-founder, and a Fulbright Global Scholar. He is a graduate of Columbia University and Georgetown University Law Center.

Caroline Mays, Executive Director, New Story Leadership
Caroline has served as the Executive Directory of New Story Leadership (NSL) since 2022.  Her earlier career was divided between staff experience in offices and committees on Capitol Hill and extensive work in media, non-profit development organizations and civil society institutions in the Middle East, including four years of work in the West Bank. Caroline served in both the offices of House members and for the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. Her work in the Middle East included leading communications and external relations for Ma’an Network, a Bethlehem-based NGO and the largest, independent media organization in the Palestinian Territories.  In addition, she held program management roles at the Bethlehem Development Foundation. A longtime advocate of women’s and girls’ rights and trained in conflict resolution, Caroline joined Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai’s official delegation at the 2014 celebration in Oslo, Norway. She holds a Master’s degree in Middle Eastern studies from The American University of Paris and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from The George Washington University.

Tehila Wenger, Deputy Director, Geneva Initiative
Tehila Wenger is the Deputy Director of the Geneva Initiative in Israel, an NGO promoting a peace agreement between Israel and Palestinians. Her work includes organizing and facilitating joint dialogue forums for key stakeholders, advocacy and outreach with Israeli decision-makers and international stakeholders, and coordinating research projects on reconciliation, Jerusalem, and the two-state solution. Previously, Tehila participated in the Dorot Fellowship in Israel and coordinated Jewish-Muslim dialogue initiatives as part of the Yakar-Tel Aviv cultural center. She has a B.A. in Politics from Princeton University and an M.A. in Diplomatic Studies from Tel Aviv University. Tehila has published articles about the conflict in Haaretz, The Jerusalem Post, and Bryant Literary Review, and has been invited to speak about the two-state solution and Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation work in conferences throughout Israel and Europe.

Hamze Awawde, Regional Manager of the Palestinian Delegation, Hands of Peace
A peacebuilder and leader, Hamze Awawde is committed to inspiring and empowering youth to create change. Before joining Hands of Peace as Regional Manager of the Palestinian Delegation, Hamze recruited young participants for skill-building and conflict resolution programs with YaLa Young Leaders, where he developed the YaLa Online Academy, YaLa Press, and YaLa Social Media channels. Most recently, Hamze organized and recruited 130 young activists from the Middle East and Africa for a six-week online leadership course and coordinated an online Facebook for Journalists program with the International Center of Journalists. Hamze earned an M.A. in Global Community Development from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a B.A. in Business Administration and Economics from Birzeit University in Ramallah.

Kirsty Graham, CEO, Edelman U.S.
Kirsty Graham is the CEO of Edelman U.S. Kirsty was formerly the Global President of Edelman’s Practices and Sectors, overseeing strategy and development for Edelman’s global brand and corporate practices and the global impact and ESG team, as well as other global sectors: health, technology, energy, and food and beverage. Kirsty also served as the Global Chair of Health, a role she has held from January 2020 when she first joined Edelman in 2020 to February 2023. Graham has lived in the U.S. for 24 years and has engaged with business, government, media, and civil society in the course of her career. Prior to Edelman, Graham spent 10 years at Pfizer Inc, where she served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs for their Biopharmaceuticals Group. Graham was previously SVP, Global Policy and International Public Affairs at Pfizer.Earlier in her career, Kirsty spent 16 years in the New Zealand Foreign Service working on a wide range of economic, security and trade policy issues with responsibilities spanning bilateral relations with China, Japan, and the United States. She holds a B.A. in English Literature and a postgraduate degree in Philosophy from the University of Otago. 

Meredith Preston McGhie, Secretary General, Global Centre for Pluralism
Meredith Preston McGhie is the Secretary General for the Global Centre for Pluralism and is a peacemaker and pluralism ambassador working to build societies that recognize, respect, and value diversity. Meredith has devoted nearly 30 years to addressing conflict and instability in Africa and Asia. In her previous role as Africa Regional Director with the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, she facilitated and advised a range of peace processes, including with Kofi Annan during the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation in 2007/8 and on a range of peace processes in Sudan, South Sudan Nigeria and Somalia.  Her experience has spanned work across Africa and Asia, including with Indigenous communities in Northeast India and Myanmar and UN peace processes in Kosovo and Northern Iraq. The Global Centre for Pluralism is an independent organization founded in partnership by the Government of Canada and His Highness the Aga Khan dedicated to building capacities for societies to live peacefully and productively with diversity, developing approaches towards belonging and inclusion. 

Liz Hume, Executive Director, Alliance for Peacebuilding
Elizabeth (Liz) Hume is the Executive Director at the Alliance for Peacebuilding. She is an international lawyer and a conflict expert with more than 25 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. From 1997-2001, Liz was seconded by the U.S. Department of State to the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Kosovo as the Chief Legal Counsel and Head of the Election Commission Secretariats. She was responsible for developing the legal framework and policies in support of the implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords and UN Resolution 1244.  She helped establish the Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation at USAID, developing programs and policies to improve the U.S. Government’s ability to address the causes of violent deadly conflict. Liz holds a BA from Boston College, a JD from Vermont Law School, and a MA in Negotiation, Conflict Resolution, and Peacebuilding from California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Lea Baroudi, Founder and Director, MARCH Lebanon
Lea has dedicated her career to peace and sectarian conflict resolution. As a founding member and director of MARCH, a Lebanese NGO, she focuses on conflict resolution and women’s roles in peace. A certified mediator and member of the Mediterranean Women Mediators Network, she helped launch the Global Alliance of Regional Women Mediator Networks at the 74th UN General Assembly. With extensive experience mediating conflicts in Tripoli and Beirut, she has developed programs to combat radicalization and conducts training in conflict resolution. Honored with the Reagan-Fascell Fellowship and an MBE from Queen Elizabeth II, she spoke on women's peace roles at the UN Security Council.

Helena Puig Larrauri, Co-founder and Strategy Lead, Build Up
Helena is the co-founder of Build Up, a peacebuilding collective that works to identify and apply innovative practices to prevent conflict and tackle polarization. She is a peacebuilding professional with over 15 years of experience working with civil society actors and multi-lateral organisations in conflict contexts and polarized environments. She specializes in process design and inclusion for mediation and peacebuilding programs, and has extensive experience in designing digital inclusion processes and addressing conflict drivers in digital spaces. She is also a Senior Advisor on Digital Technologies and Mediation to the United Nations Mediation Support Unit and an Ashoka Fellow.

Slashing the Silos: Solutions for Improved IDP Engagement in Peacebuilding

Andrea Wegner, Senior Director, Conflict Prevention, Stabilization, and Transition, DT Global
Andrea Wegner is a Senior Director in the Conflict Prevention, Stabilization and Transition practice area at DT Global. She is a stabilization and forced migration expert with experience designing, managing, and implementing donor-funded stabilization, democracy and governance, and civil society programming in fragile and conflict-affected contexts, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Myanmar, Sudan, and Syria. Before joining DT Global, Andrea led Syria programming in various leadership positions, including twice as Chief of Party, for programs funded by the U.S. Department of State, USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives, and UK DFID. From convening roundtables of government officials, NGOs, and internally displaced persons in Iraq to spending some of the most formative years of her career supporting displaced educators and children in Syria, the nexus between internal displacement and development has long been at the forefront of her mind. Andrea has an M.A. in Arab Studies and a Certificate in Refugees and Humanitarian Emergencies from Georgetown University and a B.A. in Global Studies from the University of Minnesota.

Nazik Mubarak Elmahi Ahmed, MEL Associate Director, USAID OTI STEP-UP Sudan Program
Nazik Mubarak Elmahi Ahmed is an experienced monitoring and evaluation professional who is the MEL Associate Director for the USAID Office of Transition Initiatives (USAID/OTI)-funded STEP-UP Sudan program, implemented by DT Global. With over 15 years of experience in the development and humanitarian sectors, Nazik’s work focuses on bolstering civil society to advance democratic processes in Sudan. Previously, she led internal and external evaluation work in Sudan for USAID/OTI and the World Bank, as well as worked with the Sudanese government. Nazik focuses on implementing M&E systems that prioritize data-driven insights, empowering communities, and fostering sustainable, long-term solutions. Her work fosters civic engagement, assists in democratic transition, and supports community development and the livelihoods of IDPs in challenging contexts within Sudan. Nazik holds an M.A. in development planning from the University of Khartoum and a B.Sc. in Rural Development from the University of Gezira in Sudan.

Katie Kerr, Peace and Security Unit Head, International Organization for Migration
Katie Kerr, Head of the Peace and Security Unit in the Washington Office of the International Organization for Migration, is an international development professional and lawyer. Her career has taken her to multiple conflict and post-crisis environments, where she has worked across the humanitarian, development, and peace nexus. Directing programs in Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Bosnia Herzegovina, and Colombia, Katie managed activities for transitional justice, community stabilization, ex-combatant reintegration, assistance to victims, and solutions for IDPs. Her consulting work focused on preventing violent extremism in the Lake Chad Basin region and Somalia. Katie has also worked as a lawyer, most recently as a public defender for juveniles, with pro bono work on civil rights and asylum. She holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and an M.A. in Economics from St. Andrews University. Katie's publications on peace negotiations with ex-combatants and gangs reflect her lifelong interest in preventing violence and protecting youth.

John Thon Majok, Director, Refugee and Forced Displacement Initiative, Wilson Center
In his role as Director of the Wilson Center’s Refugee and Forced Displacement Initiative, John Thon provides program oversight, strategic direction, and thought leadership, including recently co-authoring the working group report, US Leadership Matters in Addressing Forced Displacement Crisis. His forced migration expertise encompasses resilience, integration, education, resettlement, and protracted situations, and his perspective is informed by scholarship and lived experience. He studied the 1980 U.S. Refugee Act that established the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program, through which he came to the U.S. after living for 13 years in refugee camps. Before he joined the Wilson Center, John Thon developed strategic outreach plans for exchange alumni at the U.S. Department of State. In 2006, he coordinated the global recruitment of skilled professionals for the 2006 USAID-funded Diaspora Skills Transfer Program for Southern Sudan. John Thon holds an M.P.A from George Mason University and a B.Sc. in Public Administration from the University of Arizona.

Interpersonal or Institutional? Practical Trust-Building Insights from Ukraine, Mexico, and Moldova

Matt Vanderwerff, Senior Technical Advisor, IREX
Matt Vanderwerff brings more than 15 years of international development non-profit experience, with a focus on programs that support human flourishing through community development, building social and public trust, increasing access to information, promoting media literacy, and implementing youth and technology programming. His current work focuses on social and public trust initiatives, including applied research, resource development, and program integration and delivery. He also has designed and oversees a program that conducts media literacy and professional development training to help students and teachers learn the skills they need to recognize and resist manipulative information in the U.S. Previously, he served as Deputy Director for IREX’s Information and Media practice, providing program management and technical assistance across a portfolio of media literacy, access to information, and independent media support programs in Eastern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Asia. He holds an Executive Certificate in Non-Profit Fund Development from the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza School of Business (2018), and an M.A. in Russia and East European Studies from the University of Michigan.

Inesa Dorogan, Gender & Youth Advisor, Comunitatea Mea Program, Moldova, IREX
Inesa Dorogan is the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) and Youth Advisor for the Comunitatea Mea Program, the flagship local democracy program funded by USAID and implemented by IREX in the Republic of Moldova. With more than 20 years of experience with international organizations and civil society, she specializes in international development, human rights and democratic governance, gender equality, and policy analysis. She also has experience with international elections observation missions at IRI and ENEMO.

Anastasiia Matviienko, Civic Engagement Lead, UNITY Program, Ukraine, IREX
Anastasiia Matviienko is the Civic Engagement Lead for IREX’s Ukraine/UNITY program. She has extensive experience in promoting civic engagement, transparency, and good governance in Ukraine. Over the past 10 years, she led impactful national projects that have enhanced the transparency and accountability of local governance and built the capacity of various local stakeholders to meaningfully engage in governance and influence decision-making. Her work focuses on fostering youth participation in civic life, conflict-sensitive tolerance-building, and social cohesion. In her current role, she advances strategic initiatives to promote civic activism among Ukrainian youth and encourages meaningful youth engagement in decision-making.

Monica Rodriguez, Program Manager, Ambulantes Program, Mexico, IREX
Mónica Rodríguez Mandujano has more than 15 years working in community development programs. She has worked as a freelance consultant, social entrepreneur, and for NGOs and government institutions. Her focus has been mainly program design, management, and evaluation on themes related to sustainable agriculture systems and migrant worker rights, among others. Since January 2023, she has been IREX’s Consultant for the Ambulantes project. She currently has the role of Program Manager for the second phase of the project, which is implemented in four states of Mexico and provides information on safe migration to internal migrant agricultural workers. She holds a B.A. in International Relations from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, and a Master’s in Diplomacy and Strategic Negotiation from the University of Paris Sud XI.

Leveraging African Perspectives for Sustainable Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding

Ambassador Ahmed Abdel-Latif, Director General, Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping, and Peacebuilding; Executive Director, Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development; Co-Chair, African Union’s Network of Think Tanks for Peace (NeTT4Peace)
Ambassador Ahmed Abdel-Latif has been the Director-General of the Cairo International Centre for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping, and Peacebuilding (CCCPA) since October 2020. He is also the Executive Director of the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development and the first Chair of the African Union’s Network of Think Tanks for Peace (NeTT4Peace) launched in February 2023. A career diplomat since 1997, he has long-standing experience in multilateral affairs and was posted to Egypt’s mission to the UN and World Trade Organization (2000-2004). Prior to joining CCCPA, he was the Permanent Observer of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) to the UN. He joined the Agency in 2015 serving as Chief of Office of the Director General. Ambassador Abdel-Latif holds an LLM from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a B.A. in Political Science from the American University in Cairo (AUC), and the diplôme of Sciences Po-Paris.

Libakiso Matlho, Executive Secretary, African Union's Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development Centre
Libakiso Maltho istheExecutive Secretary at African Union Centre for Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (AUC-PCRD) based in Cairo, Egypt. Under the AU Directorate of Political Affairs, Peace, and Security (AUC-PAPS), she provides strategic oversight including spearheading the development, programming, and implementation of PCRD and peacebuilding interventions, initiatives, and actions designed to prevent relapse and consolidate peace in the African Continent.

Dragan Popovic, Portfolio Manager of the Inclusive Politics Portfolio, UNDP Somalia 
Dragan Popovic has 20 years of experience working in conflict and post-conflict contexts, like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. His engagement has been primarily focused on addressing core governance, rule of law, reconciliation, stabilization and transitional justice issues, integrating political and technical approaches, contributing to creation of the pre-conditions towards sustainable development. At the moment, he is managing UNDP’s Inclusive Politics Portfolio in Somalia and is directly collaborating with UNSOM focusing on the key state-building and political processes, such as (i) facilitation of the high—level decision making, (ii) organization of democratic elections, (iii) completion of the constitutional making process, (iv) building consensus on the federalist model, (v) initiation of community reconciliation and stabilization initiatives, (vi) provision of parliamentary assistance etc. He holds two MA degrees, one in Ethnology and Anthropology, from the University of Belgrade, Serbia, and one in Political Science, from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.

Frederik Teufel, Lead Coordinator, Transition States Coordination Office, African Development Bank
Frederik Teufel is the Lead Coordinator for the Transition States Coordination Office at the African Development Bank (AfDB). He is responsible for promoting innovative financing mechanisms that raise resources for interventions at the humanitarian-development-peace-security nexus, including through capital markets, and ensures that these are deployed effectively through holistic investment strategies that also leverage the private sector to build a resilient and peaceful continent. Frederik has 18 years of experience in development finance with a focus on Africa and Latin America, where he managed and evaluated projects, facilitated investments in frontier markets, and carried out political economy assessments. Prior to his current position, he was the Advisor to AfDB’s Vice-President in charge of implementing its lending program. Frederik is also the task manager of the Bank’s White Paper Series on Entrepreneurship and Free Trade and its 2014-2021 Strategy for Addressing Fragility and Building Resilience in Africa.

Hodan Hassan, Executive Director, Kulan Consulting
Ms. Hodan Hassan is the executive director of Kulan Consulting – a firm that partners with governments and organizations to support program learning and adaptation; socio-political context analysis and research; and conference facilitation. Hodan started working with USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) as the deputy country representative for the Sudan program. She helped lead a $20 million political transition program that sought to establish social cohesion and jump start governance in South Sudan in the aftermath of the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord. In 2007, Hodan spent one year seconded to the U.S. Embassy’s political section to support the emerging Somalia Unit with political reporting. From 2008-2016, Hodan worked in the USAID Somalia Office in varying capacities, culminating in her role as deputy office director from 2011 onward. She oversaw the rapid expansion of the budget and staffing, and played a critical role in the conceptualization, design, and implementation of new activities. Hodan contributed to the development of USAID’s first country-level strategy for Somalia and a $100 million innovative stabilization program. From 2016, Hodan has undertaken a diversity of consulting assignments with the World Bank, Adam Smith International, IOM, UNICEF, DAI, and International Crisis Group – among others. She graduated from University of California, Los Angeles with Bachelors in Political Science and a Master of Arts in African Studies.

Adnan Abdo Mohamed, East Africa Regional Coordinator of PAYNCOP and Co-Founder of HAGE Youth Organization
Adnan Abdo Mohamed is the East Africa Regional Coordinator of PAYNCOP and the Co-Founder of HAGE Youth Organization. As a researcher and champion for the Youth, Peace, and Security agenda, Adnan advocates for youth inclusion in peacebuilding processes and counters the cultural narratives that hinder and neglect their active participation in peace and security. He has six years of experience in peace and security, preventing and countering violent extremism, and mediation through research and grassroot community engagement. Adnan is a candidate for an M.A.t in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Hargeisa. He is a member of the Youth4Peace Africa program by the African Union Department of Political Affairs, Peace, and Security (AU-PAPS). He was appointed as a cultural ambassador for Silencing the Guns in Africa by the African Union in 2021.

Evidence Behind Successful Community-Led Early Warning and Early Response in Preventing Conflict

Haruna Iliya, Chief Superintendent of Police, Nigerian Police Force, Equal Access International
Chief Superintendent of Police Haruna Iliya is a distinguished officer in the Nigerian Police Force. Haruna joined the Nigerian Police Force in 2005 as a Cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police and has held key positions in Abuja, Anambra, Ogun, and Lagos commands. He currently serves as the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Gezawa under the Kano Police Command, Kano State. He has attended several workshops on civilian security, including comprehensive training on Early Warning and Early Response (EWER) for violence prevention and building community resilience and social cohesion conducted by Equal Access International. As a member of the EWER group in the Gezawa Local Government area of Kano State, he effectively collaborates with communities to enhance policing through intelligence and guidance. Haruna's career is marked by a commitment to community engagement and the implementation of strategic security measures, reflecting his passion for creating a secure environment for all.

Andrea Carleton, Program Manager, Equal Access International
Andrea Carleton is a Program Manager at Equal Access International and brings more than four years of experience implementing projects in East Africa and Nigeria around civilian security, early warning early response, peacebuilding, countering and preventing violence extremism, social and behavior change communications, and climate change. She is passionate about the fact that peacebuilding is a grassroots process, and the positive impact individuals can have on their communities.

Maji Peterx, Ph.D.,  Country Director, Equal Access International
Dr. Maji Peterx brings more than 20 years of experience in development and humanitarian work. He is an Alternatives to Violence (AVP) Lead Facilitator, facilitates Trauma Consciousness and Resilience, and is very experienced in Compassionate Connection. He has facilitated well over 250 AVP, Trauma, Preventing and Transforming Violent Extremism (PTVE) and other peace promotion related workshops, not just in Nigeria but also internationally (in the U.S., Guatemala, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, and the UK). He introduced AVP to Kaduna, Kano, Nassarawa, and Plateau States and was involved with the project in Delta, Rivers, Enugu, Anambra, Kwara, Osun, Oyo, and Lagos States in Nigeria between 2002 and 2006. He introduced Trauma Consciousness and Resilience to several organizations and groups in Nigeria and to the AVP group in South Africa in 2015 and was on the team that trained Facilitators in Trauma Consciousness in Minnesota in 2014. Maji worked extensively on PTVE in the northeast of Nigeria with victims and survivors of the Boko Haram insurgency.

Grace Yohanna, Community Member and NGO Volunteer, Equal Access International
Grace Yohanna is a graduate of Entrepreneurial and Business Management and is currently pursuing her master’s in business administration. She volunteers with several NGOs where she promotes the issues of women and girls, gender equality, human rights, security, and peace. She has more than three years of experience working in areas of peace and security, Early Warning Early Response mechanisms, Women, Peace, and Security, community engagement, and sexual and gender-based violence issues. She loves to volunteer her skills and time to serve others and contribute to society by creating a better and more conducive environment while learning new skills and making an impact in her community and the country at large. She has a passion to equip teens and youth with skills while interacting with diverse people at different levels contributing to growth and development.

Reframing and Reclaiming: Learning From Feminist Civil Society to Revamp the WPS Agenda

Sanaa Qasmieh, Team Lead for the Tamasok (WPS Systems Strengthening) Program, Chemonics International
Sanaa Qasmieh is a recognized WPS accountability champion in Jordan, where she is the Team Lead for the Tamasok (WPS Systems Strengthening) program for Chemonics UK. Sanaa has been working as a humanitarian and development professional for more than 15 years and is deeply experienced in designing and implementing gender mainstreaming strategies and trainings, with the most obdurate institutions, to bring about feminist change and leadership and drive progress on WPS. She also has expertise in gender transformative approaches  and meaningful and inclusive youth participation. She has diverse geographic experience, having worked in Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Sub-Saharan Africa, Afghanistan, and Cambodia.

Katherine Tomaszewski, Senior Legal Advisor, Charity & Security Network
Katherine Tomaszewski is a human rights lawyer with a background in international humanitarian and human rights law, national security law, and U.S. criminal law and litigation. As Senior Legal Advisor with Charity & Security Network (C&SN), she provides legal analysis and expertise to support the organization’s legal, policy, and advocacy goals, and leads C&SN's Lawfare and Material Support portfolios. Katherine’s past work includes U.S. criminal litigation, assisting victims and their families in bringing international claims of torture to the United Nations Committee Against Torture, and partnering with local civil society organizations in various countries to advocate for international human rights standards and the protection of civilians during conflict.

Sharanjeet Parmar, Senior Transitional Justice Advisor, Partnership Fund for Resilient Ukraine
Sharanjeet Parmar is a Canadian lawyer with more than 20 years of experience working on gender equality, sexual violence, children and armed conflict, transitional justice, and anti-corruption in multiple countries affected by armed conflict. Sharanjeet has prosecuted international crimes for a war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone and taught in the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School. Currently working as Senior Transitional Justice Advisor for the Partnership Fund for Resilient Ukraine, she has been advising on gender issues and delivery in Ukraine since 2018.
Sangeeta Goswami, Policy Advocacy Adviser, Human Security Collective
Sangeeta Goswami is the Policy Advocacy Adviser at Human Security Collective. Her work, including as part of the Global Non-Profit Organization Coalition on the Financial Access Task Force and the Security Policy Alternatives Network (SPAN), revolves around assessing and helping mitigate the impact of counterterrorism and countering the financing of terrorism rules and regulations on the operational environment of civil society. \ Sangeeta works with civil society, government and private sector stakeholders at the national level, and with conglomerations of standard setters at regional and global levels. Her other areas of interest include sanctions and the sociology of risk.

Writing a New Story for the Middle East: Leveraging a Platform for Deliberative Democracy Powered by AI 

Caroline Mays, Executive Director, New Story Leadership
Caroline has served as the Executive Directory of New Story Leadership (NSL) since 2022.  Her earlier career was divided between staff experience in offices and committees on Capitol Hill and extensive work in media, non-profit development organizations and civil society institutions in the Middle East, including four years of work in the West Bank. Caroline served in both the offices of House members and for the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. Her work in the Middle East included leading communications and external relations for Ma’an Network, a Bethlehem-based NGO and the largest, independent media organization in the Palestinian Territories.  In addition, she held program management roles at the Bethlehem Development Foundation. A longtime advocate of women’s and girls’ rights and trained in conflict resolution, Caroline joined Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai’s official delegation at the 2014 celebration in Oslo, Norway. She holds a Master’s degree in Middle Eastern studies from The American University of Paris and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from The George Washington University.

Tarek Maassarani, Adjunct Lecturer, Georgetown University; Chief Operating Officer, Geopolymer International, LLC
Tarek Maassarani is a peace and justice practitioner with extensive experience training peacebuilders, activists, educators, peacekeeping forces, and youth; facilitating restorative justice and dialogue processes; and designing and implementing restorative and social justice initiatives in the U.S., Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. Tarek has served as director of the Salam Institute for Peace, lead trainer for the U.S. Institute of Peace, and professor at Georgetown, amongst other universities. Tarek has litigated human rights cases, investigated federal interference in climate science research, published on corporate whistleblowing and religious peacebuilding, produced a film on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and currently leads a green tech start up. Tarek has Muslim, Jewish, and Christian family hailing from Germany, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, and Madagascar.

Eran Nissan, CEO, Mehazkim 
Eran Nissan is an Israeli peace activist. He is 33 years old, lives in Jaffa, and currently serves as the CEO of 'Mehazkim', an Israeli progressive movement. Eran served as a combat soldier in the special forces of the Israeli military, and after his release, he decided to promote a peaceful resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Eran headed the Education & Advocacy department in Peace Now, Israel's biggest and oldest peace movement advocating for the Two-State- Solution. Eran is also the Israeli regional coordinator for both Solutions not Sides, a British education program for British youth which centers the voices and stories of Israeli and Palestinian change-makers, and New Story Leadership, which focuses on equipping a new generation of Palestinian and Israeli leaders with the tools needed to create social, economic and political change in the region. Eran holds a B.A in political science & Philosophy, and an M.A. in Emergency & Disaster Management.

Rawan Odeh, Social Impact Partnership Team Lead, monday.com
Rawan Odeh is a Palestinian Brooklyner who leads social impact partnerships in tech. She was the Executive Director of New Story Leadership, a leading peacebuilding organization for Palestine and Israel. She understood that those closest to the problem are closest to the solution, and yet they do not have access. She saw the same story play out while working for Women's World Banking in micro-finance for low-income women across the world. Across her experiences in the social impact space, she has always been aware of a missing link addressing world issues: private-public sector partnerships to make incredible things happen faster, bolder, and bigger.

Addressing Gender Apartheid as a Tool to Implement the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda in Afghanistan

Teresa Casale, Executive Director, Mina’s List
Teresa Casale is Executive Director of Mina’s List. With 15 years of experience in the international NGO sector, Teresa specializes in policy advocacy and has advocated to the U.S. Government, the United Nations, the World Bank, and other global entities. Before becoming Executive Director, Teresa led Mina’s List’s advocacy efforts related to the promotion and protection of Afghan women and girls. Prior to joining Mina’s List, Teresa served as Global Policy Advocate at the International Center for Research on Women, where she helped launch and manage the Coalition for Women’s Economic Empowerment and Equality, served as the Legislative Chair of the U.S. Civil Society Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, and managed the Feminist UN Campaign. Teresa is a frequent contributor to The Hill and has also published in Ms. Magazine and Foreign Policy Magazine. She holds an M.A. in International Relations and a B.A. in History and Political Science.

Heather Barr, Associate Director, Women's Rights Division, Human Rights Watch
Heather Barr, Human Rights Watch
Heather Barr is the interim women’s rights deputy director at Human Rights Watch. She joined Human Rights Watch in 2011 as their Afghanistan researcher. Before that, she worked for the UN in Afghanistan on human rights from 2007-2011. She left Afghanistan in 2014 but continued visiting regularly and following the situation for women and girls closely. She is a lawyer and has also worked on the rights of women and girls in other countries including Bangladesh, China, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, South Korea, and the United States.

Metra Mehran, Afghanistan Advocacy Fellow, Amnesty International USA
Metra Mehran is a human rights activist from Afghanistan, recognized as a finalist for the 2021 European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. With a decade of experience in international development, peace, and gender equality, she has worked with prestigious organizations such as the United Nations, World Bank, and USAID. Co-founder of the Feminine Perspectives Movement, Metra has advocated for women's rights during Intra-Afghan peace negotiations and promoted sustainable peace through intergenerational dialogue. Now in exile due to the Taliban's resurgence, she continues to fight for gender equity by exposing the Taliban's oppressive decrees and calling for the recognition of Gender Apartheid.

Payvand Seyedali, Afghanistan Country Director, Women for Women International
Payvand Seyedali has spent her career in the international development sector, primarily focusing on the rights of women and girls. She specializes in executive leadership, organizational development, gender, education, negotiation, and policy work in fragile and conflict-affected states, specifically Afghanistan, where she has lived for over a decade. Payvand has held a variety of leadership positions for UN Women, BRAC, and PWC, among others. She was senior adviser to the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, and also led the UK government's largest education fund in Afghanistan: the Girls' Education Challenge. She began her career as a high school teacher and then a field organizer for the 2008 Obama campaign. Payvand was awarded a Transformational Leadership recognition at the annual NATO Leaders’ Meeting and selected as Activist of the Year by the Middle Eastern Legal Association of Washington. She believes in the power of people to come together towards practical and brave solutions.

Mapping Peace: Bridging Beliefs and Values in a Multipolar World - An Interactive Workshop 

Evan Hoffman,Professor, Vancouver Island University
Dr. Evan Hoffman is a professor at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada and has published numerous articles on the themes of conflict prevention and resolution, peacebuilding, and mediation. Over the last 25 years, he has consulted to Global Affairs Canada, the Carter Center, the United Nations, the European Union, the Ottawa Police Service, St. Lawrence College (Cornwall), the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice, and others. His books include The Mediator’s Handbook for Durable Peace (CIIAN, 2010) and International Mediation in a Fragile World, co-edited with David Carment (Routledge, 2017). He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, an M.A. in Post-war Recovery Studies from there University of York, UK, and an B.A. from Carleton University, Ottawa.

Andrew Duffy, Senior Technical Director and Practice Area Lead, Dexis Consulting Group
Andrew Duffy is Senior Technical Director and Practice Area Lead for Conflict and Violence Prevention at Dexis Consulting Group. He is a life-long mediator, having first been trained through a peer mediation program at the age of 10. Over 15 years  in international development, he has worked in East and West Africa, Eastern Europe, Southwest Asia and North Africa, and South Asia. He is working on his Ph.D. dissertation at Nova Southeastern University, where he is researching how individuals overcome cognitive biases in intergroup conflict. He holds an M.A. in International Politics and Security Studies from the University of Bradford (UK), and a B.A. in History from Manchester University. In addition, he is trained in the Art of Hosting and Participatory Leadership. 

Andrew Sinclair, Senior Technical Advisor, Center for Global Security and Stabilization, Dexis Consulting Group
Andrew Sinclair leads strategy and thought leadership across Dexis’ security and foreign assistance portfolios. He brings considerable expertise operating in complex conflict environments with the U.S. Government. Before joining Dexis, Andrew served as the USAID/OTI Country Representative for Libya and Syria. In Afghanistan, he led the Paktya Provincial Reconstruction Team for USAID. Before his federal service, Andrew researched multilateral peace operations at the Center on International Cooperation. Andrew holds an M.A. in International Affairs from Columbia University.

Bobbie Pennington, Project Associate, Center for Global Security and Stabilization, and Conflict and Violence Prevention practice, Dexis Consulting Group
Originally from Eswatini, Bobbie Pennington is an interdisciplinary scholar and practitioner, with his work centering the fields of international economic growth and development, security and stabilization, as well as public health and social sector development. Bobbie holds a B.A. in Economics and International Studies from Macalester College and is the recipient of several international scholarships and multiple academic and leadership awards.

Olivia Siegel, Business Development Manager, Dexis Consulting Group
Olivia Siegel manages proposals for multimillion-dollar contract opportunities. Before joining Dexis, Olivia worked in the Business Development Unit at Tetra Tech ARD and at the International Rescue Committee. She also served as a Project Manager with a Czech Republic-based human rights NGO and a Youth Development Specialist with the Peace Corps. Her primary areas of interest are gender equity and Central American human and migrant rights issues. She has a B.A. in International Relations and Political Science from Goucher College.

Peacebuilding When Civil Society is Under Attack

Rebecca Besant, Latin America Regional Director, Search for Common Ground
Rebecca Besant oversees Search’s relief and peacebuilding programming in Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and Guatemala. She is also Search’s Senior Director for Program Effectiveness, in which she leads Search teams in ensuring high quality peacebuilding programming around the world. Rebecca has expertise in strategic visioning, project design, and fundraising. She led the design and implementation of all of Search’s violent extremism (VE) programming in the region, oversaw the production of VE-related research in Kenya and Tanzania, and is the primary liaison with other P/CVE stakeholders in the region. She has nearly 20 years of experience in peacebuilding, media, gender equality, youth, peace and security (YPS) and transforming VE.

Zuhra Bahman, Country Director, Afghanistan, Search for Common Ground
Based in Kabul, Zuhra Bahman leads a team of 50 staff and 22 implementing partners working across the country. Zuhra has 20 years of experience in the fields of peacebuilding, human rights, gender, and the development of civil society in Afghanistan and abroad. She has been actively involved in the peace process in Afghanistan and was the youngest person addressing the first Bonn Conference in 2001. Zuhra previously served as the Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Women, Peace, and Security and prior to that worked for UN Women in Afghanistan. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Master’s degrees from King’s College London, and University College of London.

Kenesh Sainazarov, Country Director, Uzbekistan, Search for Common Ground
Kenesh Sainazarov previously worked as Search’s Country Director for Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia Programs Director, and Asia Regional Conflict Advisor. Kenesh expanded Search’s programming around conflict-sensitive journalism, promoting freedom of religion, alternative narratives to recruitment, women’s and youth empowerment, and preventing radicalization in Central Asia. Before joining Search, he directed large UN and USAID governance, democracy, youth empowerment, education policy, elections, voter education, disaster risk reduction and conflict mitigation programs in Central Asia, and Caucasus.

Kelsey Hampton, Senior Officer, Global Policy and Outreach, Search for Common Ground
Kelsey Hampton conducts outreach to policymakers and peer organizations, providing analysis and recommendations on opportunities to support peacebuilding in places like Afghanistan, Israel-Palestine, Myanmar, and Yemen. Previously, Kelsey worked with Search in Amman, Jordan on conflict-sensitive approaches to aid delivery in Yemen, and in Washington, DC on protection of civilians, mitigation of civilian harm in U.S. military operations, and application of international humanitarian law. Kelsey holds a Master of Arts in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University's School of International Service and a Bachelor of Arts from Seattle Pacific University.

Hamse Warfe, Former Senior Advisor, U.S. Department of State
From child refugee to U.S. presidential appointee, Hamse Warfa's life and career has navigated some astonishing twists and turns. A passionate leader, he has more than 25 years of global leadership experience across federal and state governments, philanthropic organizations, nonprofits, and in the private sector as a successful tech entrepreneur. In January 2022, the U.S. President appointed Warfa as his Senior Advisor in the U.S. State Department to advance a global democracy agenda, including the 2023 Summit on Democracy. Prior to joining the federal government, Warfa was the Deputy Commissioner for Workforce Development at the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) in Minnesota. Hamse is a 2016 Bush Foundation Fellow, a recipient of the 2017 Minnesota Statewide Facing Race Award, and an Ashoka Global Fellow for his social entrepreneurship work. In addition to his new book, The Transformational Leader: Twelve Practices for Driving Lasting Change, Warfa is the author of America Here I Come: A Somali Refugee's Quest for Hope, and the producer of an upcoming documentary film.

Rebecca Crall, AfP Vice Board Chair; Manager, Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention, Rotary International 
Rebecca Crall is the Area of Focus Manager for Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention, as well as the Vice Chair and Executive Committee Member of AfP’s Board of Directors. She has been with Rotary International since 2006, working primarily with the strategic and programmatic development of the Rotary’s Peace Initiatives. Her work as Area of Focus Manager centers on the strategic growth of the PCP portfolio with an emphasis on the development of the Rotary strategic partnership with the Institute for Economics and Peace.

Peter Digitale Anderson, Executive Director, Peace Catalyst International
Peter Digitale Anderson is Executive Director of Peace Catalyst International. He is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he is equipping community peacemakers and collaborating with others for racial justice and healing. Drawing on his experience in community organizing and development, interfaith peacebuilding, and contemplative spirituality, he weaves together internal and external liberation alongside neighbors, fellow activists, and people of faith. His projects include facilitating a healing and practice space for white men undoing white supremacist and patriarchal cultures; organizing white folk, especially people of faith, to work for racial justice alongside BIPOC partners; providing nonviolent protection for civilians and training others in safety skills; building community and inspiring activists through singing circles; and more. In addition, Peter leads trainings in conflict transformation, nonviolence, trauma awareness and healing, and community-based peacebuilding.

Hiba Qasas, Executive Director, Principles for Peace
Hiba Qasas is a development leader, peacebuilder and changemaker, who is the Head of Secretariat of the Principles for Peace Initiative, a collective effort to develop a new set of principles, standards, and norms to better enable national and international actors to craft more effective and inclusive approaches to peace. Hiba dedicated 16 years of service at the United Nations with a focus on crisis countries. She has been working passionately to advance women’s rights and gender equality across various regions worldwide. She served as the Chief of the Crisis Prevention and Response Office in Geneva, as the UN Women Country Representative in Iraq, and as the Head of the Middle East and North Africa Section at Headquarters in New York. Ms. Qasas also worked at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) at the country and HQ levels and as part of the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Response. Before joining the UN, Hiba worked for a Palestinian NGO with a focus on microfinance and rural development. Hiba is a Palestinian national and holds a Master of Sciences in International Cooperation for Development from the European School for Advanced Studies, University of Pavia, Italy.

Avi Meyerstein, Founder and President, Alliance for Middle East Peace
Avi Meyerstein is the Founder and President of the Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP). Starting in 2003, Avi brought together dozens of NGOs to build an umbrella coalition that would significantly expand resources, scale up Israeli-Palestinian grassroots partnerships, and create a growing, interconnected community of peacebuilders. Avi also developed and launched the initiative to create an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace. ALLMEP’s global campaign to create that fund led to the bipartisan passage of the Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act of 2020 (MEPPA), which provides $250 million for joint economic and people-to-people partnerships. Avi has led ALLMEP through several stages of growth and organizational development and is actively involved in its strategy, operations, and advocacy. Avi is a former national law firm partner, a business co-founder, and a Fulbright Global Scholar. He is a graduate of Columbia University and Georgetown University Law Center.

Caroline Mays, Executive Director, New Story Leadership
Caroline has served as the Executive Directory of New Story Leadership (NSL) since 2022.  Her earlier career was divided between staff experience in offices and committees on Capitol Hill and extensive work in media, non-profit development organizations and civil society institutions in the Middle East, including four years of work in the West Bank. Caroline served in both the offices of House members and for the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. Her work in the Middle East included leading communications and external relations for Ma’an Network, a Bethlehem-based NGO and the largest, independent media organization in the Palestinian Territories.  In addition, she held program management roles at the Bethlehem Development Foundation. A longtime advocate of women’s and girls’ rights and trained in conflict resolution, Caroline joined Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai’s official delegation at the 2014 celebration in Oslo, Norway. She holds a Master’s degree in Middle Eastern studies from The American University of Paris and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from The George Washington University.

Tehila Wenger, Deputy Director, Geneva Initiative
Tehila Wenger is the Deputy Director of the Geneva Initiative in Israel, an NGO promoting a peace agreement between Israel and Palestinians. Her work includes organizing and facilitating joint dialogue forums for key stakeholders, advocacy and outreach with Israeli decision-makers and international stakeholders, and coordinating research projects on reconciliation, Jerusalem, and the two-state solution. Previously, Tehila participated in the Dorot Fellowship in Israel and coordinated Jewish-Muslim dialogue initiatives as part of the Yakar-Tel Aviv cultural center. She has a B.A. in Politics from Princeton University and an M.A. in Diplomatic Studies from Tel Aviv University. Tehila has published articles about the conflict in Haaretz, The Jerusalem Post, and Bryant Literary Review, and has been invited to speak about the two-state solution and Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation work in conferences throughout Israel and Europe.

Hamze Awawde, Regional Manager of the Palestinian Delegation, Hands of Peace
A peacebuilder and leader, Hamze Awawde is committed to inspiring and empowering youth to create change. Before joining Hands of Peace as Regional Manager of the Palestinian Delegation, Hamze recruited young participants for skill-building and conflict resolution programs with YaLa Young Leaders, where he developed the YaLa Online Academy, YaLa Press, and YaLa Social Media channels. Most recently, Hamze organized and recruited 130 young activists from the Middle East and Africa for a six-week online leadership course and coordinated an online Facebook for Journalists program with the International Center of Journalists. Hamze earned an M.A. in Global Community Development from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a B.A. in Business Administration and Economics from Birzeit University in Ramallah.