Peace News Expert Network

Frank Okyere Osei is a researcher, educator, and peacebuilding practitioner specializing in atrocity prevention and peace architectures in fragile contexts. He is a doctoral student at the College of Community and Public Affairs, Binghamton University, State University of New York, and a Senior Fellow at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in Ghana. With nearly two decades of experience in research, policy, and training, his work focuses on bridging the gap between global norms like the Responsibility to Protect and local implementation strategies, particularly in Africa. He has published widely on international peacebuilding, atrocity prevention, and local infrastructures for peace. Frank also serves as a consultant on regional peace and security issues, contributing to risk assessment frameworks and policies that foster resilience and violence prevention.

Gabriela Taveras Ruiz is a Diplomacy and International Relations graduate from Seton Hall University, and youth representative at the United Nations.

Gabrielle Lynch is a Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Warwick. She has been awarded multiple grants and published widely. This includes three monographs – I say to you: Ethnic politics and the Kalenjin of Kenya (University of Chicago Press, 2011), Performances of Injustice: The politics of truth, justice and reconciliation in Kenya (Cambridge University Press, 2018), and The Moral Economy of Elections in Africa: Democracy, Voting and Virtue (Cambridge University Press, 2020) with Nic Cheeseman and Justin Willis – and three edited collections.

George A. Lopez is the Hesburgh Professor of Peace Studies, Emeritus, at the Kroc Institute, University of Notre Dame and one of the world’s ranking experts on economic sanctions. Over three decades Lopez has advised the United Nations, international agencies, and various governments regarding sanctions issues, ranging from the design of targeted financial sanctions to limiting their humanitarian impact. He also has written extensively on economic sanctions.

Goitom Gebreluel is a Henry Chauncey Jr. '57 Postdoctoral Fellow in the Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy. He specializes in the international and comparative politics of the Horn of Africa. His book project examines the role of ideology and policy learning in the making of Ethiopian grand strategies and how these strategies, in turn, shaped the onset, escalation and termination of its regional rivalries. His other research interests include alliance politics, nationalism and the sources of stable territorial orders. He holds a PhD in political science from the University of Cambridge and an MSc from the London School of Economics.

Gordon Crawford is Research Professor in Global Development at the Centre for Trust, Peace, and Social Relations (CTPSR), Coventry University.

Grace Yeanay is the Liberia Country Director of the Purdue Peace Project.

Harriet Lamb is the CEO of  International Alert, where she leads work across 20 countries.

Helen Kezie-Nwoha is a feminist peace activist and a women human rights defender from Nigeria. Since 2016, she has been working as the Executive Director at The Women’s International Peace Centre (The Peace Centre), formerly known as Isis Women’s International Cross Cultural Exchange (Isis-WICCE). The Peace Centre is a feminist organisation that focuses on promoting women’s rights in conflict and post-conflict settings.

Helen has supported and led initiatives to support women’s participation in peace processes and to promote gender responsive post conflict reconstruction and the implementation of UNSCR1325 at all levels. She has through the work of her organization supported the establishment of women’s mediators’ network in Ugandaand South Sudan including in refugee settlements in Uganda. These networks have been instrumental in promoting peace within the refugee settlements and host communities.

Ms. Kezie-Nwoha has an academic background in gender and international development with over 20 years of experience working on women’s rights, gender, peacebuilding, conflict resolution and governance in Africa. She is a member of the Network of African Women Mediators (FEMWISE), a member of the African Union ECOSSOC Advisory Group on Women, Peace and Security, and the Chair of the Gender Is My Agenda Campaign (GIMAC) a network of over 55 organizations that advocate for gender mainstreaming at the African Union.

Ian Quick is an independent consultant and writer. He produces and hosts the Rethink Fragility podcast, an oral history of conflict, crises and the aid business.