Sean O’Neill

Program Manager and Research Associate

Sean O’Neill has worked internationally for the past 15 years as a country manager, head of office, program manager, educator, journalist, and researcher. Prior to joining the Pulte Insitute, he worked for 5 years with Catholic Relief Services in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Bahamas in operations and program management, supporting projects in Primary-level Education (Afghanistan), Drought Relief (Afghanistan), Shelter Repair, (Bahamas), community-led MHPSS support (Bahamas and Iraq), Small Business Development (Iraq), and Multipurpose Cash and Cash for Work assistance (Iraq). In Iraq and the Bahamas he was seconded to local partners to accompany them through robust Capacity Strengthening initiatives. In Italy he worked at the Spring Hill College Bologna campus as a Professor of Human Rights and leading the student volunteer programs with local organizations.  He has worked as a journalist for Al Jazeera, The Outpost Magazine, and others covering migration and labor. He worked in Afghanistan for the U.S.-led NATO coalition as a social science researcher and in the West Bank for a small NGO monitoring human rights abuses with regards to primary age children’s access to education and land access for Palestinian farmers. 

He has a Master’s Degree in Middle Eastern Studies and Journalism from New York University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and International Studies from Loyola University Chicago.