Core Competencies & Skills
- Experienced professional with over 10 years working in international organizations & with private clients on responding to complex, sensitive, and current challenges around the world.
- JD – Georgetown University Law, Global Law Scholars Program.
- Proven expertise on the leadership, ideology, strategic communication, and operational trends of violent non-state actors (VNSAs) and how they are evolving in geographical, socio-cultural and historical context.
- Adjunct professor for course on VNSAs in Georgetown University’s graduate Security Studies Program.
- Skilled program leader workings with diverse populations in multiple regions and languages.
- Demonstrated expertise running programs focused on countering extremism and resiliency and writing proposals, concept notes, field assessments and delivering briefings.
- Country experience: Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Chad, Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Somaliland, South Africa, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, South Korea, North Korea, Japan, France, UK, Italy, Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, China, Iran, Iraq, Russia, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Yemen, Israel, Egypt, Algeria, South Sudan, Kenya,
Professional Experience
Recent Work
World Bank, Washington DC (2017)
- Carrying out literature review on drivers and perspectives of causes of violent extremism in Central Asia in anticipation of a project on violent extremism and developmental interventions in Central Asia.
British Council, Nigeria (2016-2017)
- Drafting National Policy Framework and Action Plan in consultation with civil society and Nigeria’s Office of National Security Advisor.
Swiss Government, Abuja, Nigeria (2015-2016)
- Designed and facilitated a mapping project on Boko Haram’s organizational structure for negotiations that led to the release of 21 and 82 of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls in October 2016 and May 2017.
EU Technical Assistance to Office of National Security Advisor (EUTANS), Nigeria, (2015-2016),
- Led component on strategic communication involving multiple activities with civil society, government, and the international community to counter Boko Haram messaging and provide alternative narratives.
United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Washington DC, (2014-2016),
- Co-drafted report and participated in a panel on violent extremism in Central Asia and drafted Case Studies of pathways to extremism in Nigerian for a project in Nigeria.
Professional Experience & Consulting Practice
Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University Security Studies Program (SSP)
Washington DC, 2016-present
- Teach graduate-level course on Violent Non-State Actors in fall
Legal Advisor, International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL)
Washington DC, 2011-2013 full-time (consultant 2013-present)
- Manage the Legal Resource Initiative, which President Obama said “empowers” human rights defenders at the 2013 UN General Assembly roundtable on civil society.
Eurasian and African Affairs Fellow, The Jamestown Foundation
Washington DC, 2011-present
- Authored more than 200 reports and articles on Nigeria, Central Asia and Southeast Asia and speak and publish widely in the academic and popular press.
Contract Analyst on Africa and Eurasia, Foreign Military Studies Office
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 2013-present, 2013 – present
- Write monthly reports on foreign perspectives on cutting-edge military and security issues.
Program Supervisor, University of Duhok
Dohuk, Iraq, 2007-2008
- Advised Kurdish Regional Government on international outreach and fundraising and trained Iraqi PhD students to pass tests and prepare to carry out academic scholarships in Europe.
Education
Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC, 2011
- Received Juris Doctorate and was honored as Global Law Scholar
Nanjing University-Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Nanjing, China, 2007
- Received Graduate Certificate in International Relations (classes taught in Mandarin)
B.A. Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 2001
- Majored in International Relations and History; studied abroad in Beijing and Osaka
Congressional Testimony
“Boko Haram and the Islamist Insurgency in West Africa” Hearing before the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Non-Proliferation, and Trade, February 24, 2016
“Islamist Militant Threats to Eurasia,” Hearing before the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade, February 27, 2013
“The Continuing Threat of Boko Haram and Ansaru in Nigeria,” Hearing before the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, November 13, 2013
