You are invited to join us for a compelling, in-person discussion on the findings of ten USAID-funded peacebuilding activities in Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Colombia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina aimed at enhancing social cohesion over the years.
University of Notre Dame researchers will present the methods for long-term follow-up, highlight outcomes by country and consider a comparative analysis across different intervention types and conflict contexts. These findings will be followed by an insightful roundtable discussion with leading experts from USAID, the World Bank, Mercy Corps, Search for Common Ground, and Pact on the critical need to measure the long-term impact of peacebuilding interventions, as well as the implications for policies such as the Global Fragility Act.
Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with thought leaders and gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics that contribute to peacebuilding.
Expert Speakers
- Jaimie Bleck, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. She specializes in African politics with a focus on democratization, civil society, education, participation, and citizenship. Her research has been funded by grants from the Spencer Foundation, National Science Foundation, American Council of Learned Societies and USAID-DRG. She is currently working on a book manuscript that looks at informal tea-drinking clubs, social capital, and democratic citizenship in Mali. Professor Bleck is also a concurrent faculty member in the Keough School of Global Affairs, Faculty Fellow with the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, and Faculty Affiliate with Notre Dame Program for Interdisciplinary Educational Research.
- Don Chisholm is currently the Acting Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Conflict Prevention and Stabilization Bureau. A foreign service officer, he joined the U.S. Agency for International Development in 2009 and has served in Afghanistan, Colombia, Mexico, and Washington as a Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance Officer. Previously, he was a Deputy Director of the Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance Center. Mr. Chisholm has worked in international development since 2000, when he joined the Peace Corps. He then served as a Chief of Party or Deputy Chief of Party on USAID Rule of Law projects in Latin America and Eastern Europe until he joined USAID. Prior to his career in international development, he was a US Army JAG officer. He holds B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of Notre Dame and an M.S. degree from the National War College.
- Manuel Figueredo is a Senior Social Development Specialist at the World Bank Group, based in the Cotonou country office. He leads community-driven development operations in West Africa, managing projects worth more than $500 million. Figueredo's operational experience spans several regions, including West Africa, East Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and the Middle East. He also leads global and regional analytical initiatives, focusing on digital technologies for local development, citizen engagement, and the nexus of climate change and conflict in West Africa. Figueredo specializes in integrating technology to address inclusion challenges. A Venezuelan national, he holds a master’s degree in public administration from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor of Science from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.
- Golnoosh Hakimdavar, MBA, LL.M., Ph.D., is a rule of law expert, and funds team lead at the U.S. Agency for International Development in the Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Stabilization. She has conducted field research in conflict and post-conflict countries. Before joining USAID, Dr. Hakimdavar was an Associate Professor of law and policy at Northeastern University. She is a published scholar and a recognized advocate for the rule of law throughout transition countries and also extensively researched the U.N. Security Council and economic sanctions. Dr. Hakimdavar holds a Ph.D. in Law and Economics from the University of Turin, Faculty of Law, Italy, LL.M., and Post-Doctorate from Cornell Law School, has received her MBA with a concentration in finance from Chapman University in California. Dr. Hakimdavar completed her B.A. degree at California State University, Fullerton, focusing on business and economics. Prior to her legal development career, Dr. Hakimdavar worked as a financial advisor and later as an executive in the high-tech industry.
- Alysson Akiko Oakley, Ph.D., is the Vice President of Learning, Evidence, and Impact (LEAP) at Pact. She is an experienced practitioner in the fields of international development, governance and democracy assistance, and specializes in improving program strategy and demonstrating impact. She is the Co-Editor of the International Advances in Evaluation section of the American Journal of Evaluation (AJE), serves as a board member of the International and Cross-Cultural Evaluation (ICCE) group of the American Evaluation Association (AEA), and is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University where she teaches courses on systems approaches to conflict resolution and program design and evaluation of democracy assistance interventions. Dr. Oakley earned a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University.
- Ifeoluwa M. Olawole, Ph.D., is the Director of Research for Peace and Governance at Mercy Corps. Before Mercy Corps, she was a foreign affairs analyst with the United States Government working on foreign public opinion and non-proliferation. She has also worked at the World Bank, Creative Associates, and the University of Pennsylvania Linguistics Data Consortium. She earned a Ph.D. in political science (international relations and comparative politics) and her research (on conflict, political behavior, political violence, governance, climate change, and democracy) has earned several grants and has been published in several journals and as book chapters.
- Katie Smith is Policy Specialist for Search for Common Ground, the largest dedicated peacebuilding organization. Katie leads Search’s engagement with US policy stakeholders on the importance of prevention and peacebuilding in foreign affairs, including atrocity prevention, critical cases of conflict, peacebuilding impact, financing for peace, and structural reforms. She has authored numerous reports and briefs on violent conflict, social cohesion, and the opportunities for peace in Nigeria, South Sudan, Myanmar, Yemen, and beyond. Last year she published Polarization, Social Cohesion, and Atrocity Prevention: Approaches for a Safer World, which looked at the key role social cohesion programming played to drain the enabling environment for atrocities. Prior to her time at Search, she worked in the Governance Global Practice of the World Bank, where she led initiatives on citizen engagement, anti-corruption, and transparency in Sub-Saharan Africa. She holds degrees in Political Science and Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame.