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About us Management Unit

Management Unit

Strong Cities is led by a Management Unit, hosted by ISD, which drives the overall network and its activities and provides support for our International Steering Committee. The Management Unit comprises a Central Team who direct and support several field-based Regional Hubs.

The Management Unit oversees the development and delivery of training and other capacity-building tools, and spearheads the development of Strong Cities good practices, ensuring that lessons learned are being shared across regions and with international stakeholders.

The Management Unit also coordinates the Network’s engagement with national governments, regional and multinational organisations, civil society and the private sector, and leads Strong Cities’ resource mobilisation efforts.

Management Unit

Eric Rosand

Executive Director

Eric Rosand

Executive Director

Eric Rosand is the Executive Director of the Strong Cities Network. He has nearly two decades of experience working with governments, multilateral organizations, civil society, academics, and the private sector on international counterterrorism and P/CVE issues. This includes more than six years as a senior official at the US State Department where was the international policy director for the White House CVE Summit and led efforts to develop and launch the Global Counterterrorism Forum, its inspired institutions, and the Strong Cities Network. He previously was a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and served as co-director of the Global Center on Cooperative Security, and a lawyer at the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. His writings, including on the role of cities and other local actors in P/CVE have appeared in a wide range of publications such as the American Journal of International Law, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, Global Observatory, Just Security, The Hill, Lawfare, Order from Chaos, Time, and War on the Rocks. He holds a BA in history from Haverford College, a JD from Columbia University School of Law, and an LLM (Hons) in international law from Cambridge University.

Daniel Hooton

Director, Global Engagement

Daniel Hooton

Director, Global Engagement

Daniel Hooton is Director of Global Engagement, with responsibility for strategy and delivery of international cities programmes. This includes current projects to develop institutional approaches to long-term governance, human security and social policy challenges in cities across Africa, Asia, the Western Balkans and the Middle East. He has advised and worked with numerous international governments, UN agencies and mayors on international counter-terrorism and counter-extremism strategy, briefing senior ministers and leaders and shaping multilateral cooperation on grassroots practice in cities around the world. Daniel previously served as policy advisor to the Shadow Minister for Communities in the UK Parliament, developing opposition policy and scrutiny on community cohesion, social exclusion and public services reform. He holds a Master’s degree with Distinction from the London School of Economics, a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Bristol, and has a longstanding interest in devolution, borders and port cities. Daniel previously served as policy advisor to the Shadow Minister for Communities in the UK Parliament, developing opposition policy and scrutiny on community cohesion, social exclusion and public services reform. He holds a Master’s degree with Distinction from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Bristol, and has a longstanding interest in devolution, borders and port cities.

Kelsey Bjornsgaard

Head of Practice

Kelsey Bjornsgaard

Head of Practice

Kelsey Bjornsgaard is our Head of Practice, leading the development of capacity-building models to enhance locally-led approaches to preventing and countering violent extremism. She works closely with youth, civil society and local government actors to build critical capacities and drive cross-sectoral coordination to promote community-based solutions on a global scale. Kelsey led the development and delivery of ISD’s flagship youth programme, YouthCAN, and continues to lead Young Cities, Strong Cities’ youth pillar. Young Cities has trained more than 750 young activists and facilitated 75 youth-led initiatives to counter hate, polarisation and extremism across Europe, Africa, Australia, South Asia and the MENA Region. She holds a Masters in International Conflict Studies from King’s College London and a Bachelors in European Studies from the University of Oklahoma.

Allison Curtis

Head, Networks and Partnerships

Allison Curtis

Head, Networks and Partnerships

Allison joined the Strong Cities Network in 2022 in the role of Head of Partnerships and Networks, drawing on more than fifteen years of experience in international policy and programming on counter-terrorism, CVE, national security and the rule of law. Previous roles have included Senior Manager for Communications & Strategic Planning at the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law (IIJ) in Malta, where she also led the Institute’s Global Central Authorities and Addressing Homegrown Terrorism Initiatives. She also served as Policy Analyst for the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) Administrative Unit in The Hague and Senior Policy Officer at the Australian Embassy in Washington, DC, where she worked on the counter-terrorism, national security and legal portfolios. She has degrees in law and journalism, and a master’s degree in international relations.

Duaa Khalid

Head, Project Operations

Duaa Khalid

Head, Project Operations

Duaa is the Head of Strong Cities Project Operations at ISD, leading on all Strong Cities operational management including grant management, financial management, new business development, compliance, procurement, risk management and resource management. Duaa has 15 years of experience working with non-profit organisations and international charities managing international programs and donor relationships with DFID, the EU and USAID, among others. Previously, she worked with Save the Children UK and Marie Stopes International. Duaa holds a BSc Hons in Economics from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and an MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences (LSE).

Simeon Dukic

Senior Manager, Global Engagement

Simeon Dukic

Senior Manager, Global Engagement

Simeon oversees the Strong Cities Regional Hubs in the Western Balkans and South Asia. Key responsibilities include facilitating city-to-city learning and national-local coordination, and supporting the deployment of local initiatives based on member needs. He also supports strategic Central and East European city engagement under the Strong Cities Transatlantic Dialogue initiative. He previously served as a Project Associate at the National Committee for Countering Violent Extremism and Counterterrorism of the Republic of North Macedonia, where he supported the coordination of 22 government ministries, CSOs, and multilateral and regional counterparts, and was involved in the drafting of the country’s first National CVE Strategy. He holds an MA (Distinction) in Intelligence and International Security from King’s College London and a BA (Magna Cum Laude) in Global Challenges from Leiden University College. He is fluent in Macedonian, Serbo-Croatian and English, and has intermediate proficiency in Russian.

Charlotte Moeyens

Senior Manager

Charlotte Moeyens

Senior Manager

Charlotte Moeyens is a Senior Manager, supporting the development, coordination and management of global programming. Her responsibilities include project management for the European Union-funded STRIVE Cities Initiative, which supports the Strong Cities Regional Hubs in East & Southern Africa and MENA, and other global outreach activities. She is also responsible for internal coordination of the Network’s Management Unit, assisting with the development and roll-out of infrastructure and processes. In addition, Charlotte supports ISD’s work with the McCain Institute’s US-based Prevention Practitioners Network. She speaks English, Spanish and Dutch/Flemish.

Lara Petricevic

Senior Manager, Global Engagement

Lara Petricevic

Senior Manager, Global Engagement

Lara Petricevic-Williams is our Senior Manager for Global Engagement, supporting the East & Southern Africa Regional Hub in its work with local governments to identify their relevant needs and priorities. She previously served as a Senior Operations Manager at ISD, working primarily on East Africa programmes, and providing support to ISD’s growth and business development efforts. Her earlier positions have included Resident Regional Director for the Great Lakes and Southern Africa at the International Republican Institute, managing multi-million and multi-donor projects in the region and spearheading business development efforts. She is an experienced democracy and governance professional with more than 15 years of experience in the Balkans, Middle East, South East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. She holds a Master of Science in International Economics from John Naisbitt University and a BA in International Business from the Grenoble School of Management. She is fluent in Croatian/Serbian and English, and has conversational French.

Tim Hulse

Manager, Monitoring & Evaluation

Tim Hulse

Manager, Monitoring & Evaluation

Tim leads the Strong Cities Network’s Monitoring & Evaluation function, designing and implementing evaluation frameworks to ensure our work is delivering effective and sustainable impact. He also supports a number of partners in demonstrating the impact of their projects, including serving as an independent evaluator for the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime’s (MOPAC) Shared Endeavour Fund. He previously led research for a number of UK charities and non-governmental organisations focusing on extremism, Middle Eastern politics and refugee issues, among other topics. He holds a Masters in Intelligence and International Security from King’s College London and a Bachelors in the Study of Religions from the School of Oriental and African Studies.

Gabriel Camilleri

Manager, Communications

Gabriel Camilleri

Manager, Communications

Gabriel is our Communications Manager, leading internal and external communications efforts and implementation of the Strong Cities Network’s communications strategy. Gabriel previously served as Communications Officer for the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law (IIJ) in Malta, supporting delivery of counter-terrorism capacity-building in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. He also served as Local Assistant for a Member of the European Parliament. Gabriel holds a Bachelor’s degree in European Politics and Communications and a Master’s degree in Creativity and Innovation Management from the University of Malta.

David Leenstra

Coordinator, Networks & Membership

David Leenstra

Coordinator, Networks & Membership

David Leenstra is our Networks & Membership Coordinator, supporting day-to-day engagement with our member cities and liaising with local governments interested in joining the Network. He is also involved in developing and implementing strategies to improve Strong Cities’ outreach and engagement with members. Prior to joining the Strong Cities Management Unit, he was an ISD Research Associate, contributing to a wide range of research projects focusing on extremism, hate and conspiracy theories online. He has also conducted ethnographic fieldwork in Flanders on right-wing extremist youth movements and research on Islamic State online propaganda, politics and legitimation strategies. He holds Master’s degrees in Conflict Studies & Human Rights from Utrecht University and in International Relations History from the University of Amsterdam.

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East & Southern Africa Regional Hub

Gertrude Rose Gamwera Buyinga

Head

Gertrude Rose Gamwera Buyinga

Head

Gertrude Rose Gamwera Buyinga is the Head of the East & Southern Africa Regional Hub, leading engagement with cities, local leaders and practitioners to promote cooperation across and between regions, develop policies and programmes, and implement programming and training to address hate, extremism and polarisation. She serves concurrently as Secretary-General of the East Africa Local Governments Association (EALGA) and is an active member of various regional and global working groups and steering committees on decentralisation and public service co-ordination projects, programmes and related initiatives. Gertrude is a lawyer and a graduate of the Executive Masters in Business Administration, awarded jointly by the Maastricht School of Management and the Eastern and Southern Management Institute (ESAMI) of Arusha.

Geofrey Ochieng

Programme Lead

Geofrey Ochieng

Programme Lead

Geofrey Ochieng is Programme Lead for the East & Southern Africa Regional Hub. He has more than 15 years of experience working with both local and national governments, and in the private sector, as well as international organisations working in the fields of human settlement, urban planning and sustainable development, urban governance and resilience. This included three years as Chief Officer for Housing and Urban Development at the County Government of Kisumu and three years on Pan African Empowerment Work through Project Pakati, an African Leadership Institute initiative. He holds a Master of Arts in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Nairobi, a Bachelor of Arts (Geography) from Moi University and Certificate in Environmental Impact Assessment and Audit from Africa Nazarene University.

Simon Sentamu

Network Officer

Simon Sentamu

Network Officer

Simon Sentamu serves as the ESA Regional Hub’s Network Officer, supporting outreach and engagement, identifying and on-boarding new city members, collecting data for capacity and needs assessments, and supporting the delivery of regional activities. He previously worked as HRBA Capacity Development Officer with ActionAid Global Secretariat and as Regional Training and Development Advisor with MS-TCDC. Simon is a development leadership graduate of the Coady International Institute, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish and the Kimmage Development Studies Centre, Dublin.

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Middle East & North Africa Regional Hub

Zouhair Racheha

Head

Zouhair Racheha

Head

Zouhair is Head of the MENA Regional Hub, leading engagement with local governments across the Middle East and North Africa to promote the Strong Cities mission and facilitate the sharing of lessons learned and approaches to effectively address hate, extremism and polarisation. His key responsibilities include facilitating city-to-city learning and national-local coordination and supporting the operationalisation of multi-stakeholder prevention frameworks. He previously served in various roles at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) Terrorism Prevention Branch (TPB), implementing counter-terrorism capacity-building programmes in the Middle East, North Africa, and West Africa. He also served as an Assistant Legal Officer at the Chambers of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. He holds a Master’s in Law from the Lebanese University and Master’s in Criminal Law and Criminal Sciences from the University of Lyon 3 in France. He speaks Arabic, English and French.

Maria Sarkaz

Programmes Lead

Maria Sarkaz

Programmes Lead

Maria serves as the MENA Regional Hub’s Programmes Lead, driving forward engagement with cities and partners and supporting programme delivery across the region on city-led approaches to address hate, extremism and polarisation, and promote city resilience and social cohesion. With previous experience at the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law (IIJ) in Malta, and the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) Administrative Unit, Maria brings valuable expertise to her role. She holds a master’s degree in international relations and has a deep passion for Arabic dialects, which helps her understand and truly appreciate the region’s rich linguistic and cultural diversity.

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South Asia Regional Hub

Gulmina Bilal

Head

Gulmina Bilal

Head

Gulmina Bilal Ahmad is Head of the South Asia Regional Hub, leading efforts to engage cities, local governments, women, youth and civil society, promoting cooperation across and between regions, developing policies and programmes, and implementing programming and training to address hate, extremism and polarisation. She has a rich 19 years of experience in the development sector, including on counter-terrorism, prevention programming and technical capacity-building initiatives. She has worked as an international facilitator with organisations based in Bulgaria, Germany, India, Romania, Pakistan and the United States. Since 2009, she has served as the Executive Director of Individualland, a civil society organisation involved in a number of community engagements, youth outreach and capacity-building programmes in Pakistan.

Anika Ahmed

Programme Lead

Anika Ahmed

Programme Lead

Anika is Programme Lead for the South Asia Regional Hub, coordinating interactions with provincial and local government authorities, including mayors and city-level social welfare and civil society stakeholders in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Her key responsibilities include reaching out to local municipalities, city leaders and practitioners, and coordinating both in-person and virtual events, to facilitate the exchange of good practices. She has 18 years of experience in facilitating training on conflict-sensitive journalism, safety mechanisms for journalists, gender-inclusive journalism, peace-building, countering violent extremism and civic education. She holds a doctorate degree and is fluent in English, Pashto and Urdu.

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Western Balkans Regional Hub

Miloš Bogičević

Head

Miloš Bogičević

Head

Miloš Bogičević is Head of the Western Balkans Regional Hub, where he leads engagement with cities, governments and other relevant partners across the region. He focuses on building high-level strategic partnerships and strong relationships with relevant stakeholders and partner institutions and leads ongoing development and sustainability efforts. He previously worked at the OSCE’s Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he served as Legal Adviser for Anti-Discrimination, Head of Human Rights, and Chief of Policy and Planning. He has also served as a lawyer at the European Court of Human Rights, Campaigner for the Balkans at Amnesty International in London, and Legal Adviser at the Human Rights Ombudsman in Vojvodina. He holds an MA (Distinction) in Human Rights from University College London and a BA in Law from University of Novi Sad.

Emir Hasanović

Programme Lead

Emir Hasanović

Programme Lead

Emir Hasanović is Programme Lead for the Western Balkans Regional Hub, responsible for coordination, research and analysis, communications and engagement opportunities. He has worked for communications agencies in the Middle East and the US, advising clients on issues related to the environment, corporate social responsibility, and human rights. He also served as Special Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of North Macedonia for communications and international relations during North Macedonia’s successful bid to join NATO, and Program Development Officer for the USAID/OTI North Macedonia Support Initiative. He is a graduate of the Georgetown School of Foreign Service and speaks fluent Albanian, Macedonian, Bosnian and English, as well as conversational French.

Besim Dogani

Network Officer

Besim Dogani

Network Officer

Besim Dogani serves as Network Officer for the Western Balkans Regional Hub, responsible for coordination with municipalities, communications and network engagement. He has extensive experience in project management and consulting for international actors, governments and non-profit organisations. Prior to joining Strong Cities, he worked for non-profit agencies based in the Balkans and the United States, advising on issues such as social responsibility, education, human rights and prevention. He served as a Member and Vice Chair of the Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia. He holds degrees in literature and marketing management and speaks fluent Albanian, Macedonian and English, and conversational Turkish and Bosnian.

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Young Cities

Sameen Zehra

Youth Civic Action Coordinator

Sameen Zehra

Youth Civic Action Coordinator

Sameen is a Youth Civic Action Coordinator at Young Cities, Strong Cities’ youth pillar. She supports delivery of programmes, assists in developing online communications and campaigns, and supports youth activists and their projects in Belgium and Pakistan. She previously worked for the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN), developing strategic communications and digital advocacy campaigns, and coordinating a multimedia training programme for local women-led peacebuilding organisations. As a graduate student, she served as a consultant for the UN Counterterrorism Executive Directorate and the Ugandan-based African Youth Initiative Network. She holds an MS in Global Affairs with a peacebuilding specialisation from New York University, and a BA in Peace, Conflict and Justice from the University of Toronto.

Khadija Abdallah Mohamed

Coordinator

Khadija Abdallah Mohamed

Coordinator

Khadija is a Coordinator for Young Cities, Strong Cities’ youth pillar, in Sub-Saharan Africa. She supports the implementation of all Young Cities activities in the region and serves as a key focal point for youth groups implementing their community cohesion initiatives and city initiatives. She plays a vital role in liaising with local implementing partners and is a point of contact for local government officials and stakeholders. She has worked with various private and civil society organisations, with more than seven years of experience in administrative, commercial and operations roles. She was among the first beneficiaries of, and ambassador for, a Young Cities programme held in Kenya in 2018. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in business and logistics management.

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Our careers

Join us

The Strong Cities Network Management Unit is a small and dynamic team of experienced professionals drawn from diverse geographies and backgrounds. We are committed to helping member cities realise their potential and capacity to address hate, extremism and polarisation, and build strong, resilient cities. We are looking for passionate individuals who share this commitment and who are want to make a difference.

As new vacancies become available, they will be posted here. Join us and be part of a global mission with local impact!

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