Management Unit

Eric Rosand

Executive Director

Eric Rosand is the Executive Director of the Strong Cities Network. He has more than 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.

Allison Curtis

Deputy Executive Director

Allison joined the Strong Cities Network in 2022, first in the role of Head of Partnerships and Networks, and then as Deputy Executive Director. 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.

Charlotte Moeyens

Chief of Staff

Charlotte Moeyens is the Strong Cities’ Chief of Staff and supports 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 programmatic and operational infrastructure and processes. Previously, she worked as a Senior Manager with the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, where she led the development of resources and trainings for counter-extremism practitioners, including for the US-based Prevention Practitioners Network. Charlotte speaks English, Spanish and Dutch/Flemish.

Kelsey Bjornsgaard

Director, Practice

Kelsey Bjornsgaard is our Director 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.

Duaa Khalid

Director, Project Operations

Duaa es la Directora de Operaciones de Proyectos de Ciudades Fuertes en ISD, liderando toda la gestión operativa de Ciudades Fuertes, incluyendo la gestión de subvenciones, la gestión financiera, el desarrollo de nuevos negocios, el cumplimiento, las adquisiciones, la gestión de riesgos y la gestión de recursos. Duaa tiene 15 años de experiencia trabajando con organizaciones sin ánimo de lucro y organizaciones benéficas internacionales gestionando programas internacionales y relaciones con donantes como DFID, la UE y USAID, entre otros. Anteriormente, trabajó con Save the Children UK y Marie Stopes International. Duaa es licenciada en Ciencias Económicas por la Universidad de Ciencias de la Gestión de Lahore (LUMS) y tiene un máster en Estudios de Desarrollo por la London School of Economics and Political Sciences (LSE).

Lara Petricevic

Director, Global Engagement

Lara Petricevic-Williams is our Director of Global Engagement overseeing the work of Strong Cities’ Regional Hubs, managing regional senior staff and partners to ensure that the Network’s activities address the needs of cities and local governments on preventing and responding to hate, extremism and polarisation and related resilience and security challenges. 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 20 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.

Simeon Dukic

Deputy Director, 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.

Gabriel Camilleri

Communications Manager

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.

Kirsty McNeill

Grants Manager

Kirsty is the Grants Manager of Strong Cities Projects at ISD. She assists with operational management projects including grant and financial management, business development, compliance, and procurement. Kirsty has over 5 years’ experience in grant management, managing large complex grant programmes funded by the European Union and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. She previously worked within KPMG’s Grants Centre of Excellence and as a Senior Project Officer at the Centre for Economic Policy Research. Kirsty holds a Bachelor’s degree in Languages for International Business.

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.

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.

Kudzai Mukaratirwa

Programme Lead

Kudzai Mukaratirwa serves as the East & Southern Africa Regional Hub’s Programme 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. He previously worked for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime at their Regional Offices in Kenya and South Africa. His work covered the prevention of youth crime and violence, criminal justice and transnational-organised crime in East and Southern Africa. Kudzai has a legal background and is a graduate of the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal’s School of Law (LL.B).

Khadija A Mohamed

Project Coordinator

Khadija A. Mohamed serves as Project Coordinator for the Strong Cities Network’s East and Southern Africa Regional Hub, where she leads initiatives focused on peacebuilding, community cohesion and youth engagement. In this role, she manages projects that address conflict, foster dialogue and support sustainable peace efforts across the region.

With over 12 years of experience across the public and private sectors, Khadija has worked extensively in the maritime industry and community development. She holds a degree in Business Commerce with a specialisation in Transport and Management, and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Project Management.

Geofrey Ochieng

Network Officer

Geofrey Ochieng is Network Officer for the East & Southern Africa Regional Hub, responsible for coordination with municipalities, communications and network engagement. 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.

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

Programme 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.

Simeon Dukic

Deputy Director, 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.

Simeon Dukic

Deputy Director, 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.

Eric Rosand

Executive Director

Eric Rosand is the Executive Director of the Strong Cities Network. He has more than 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.

Bill Peduto

Senior Adviser

William (Bill) Peduto is a Senior Adviser to the Strong Cities Network and a Distinguished Executive in Residence at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy. He served as the 60th Mayor of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) from 2014 until 2022 and served on the Pittsburgh City Council from 2002 to 2014. He operated a political consulting business and served as general consultant, campaign manager, finance director and other roles for several Democratic candidates and elected officials. At 28, he served as a political director for then Acting Governor Mark Singel. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Pennsylvania State University and a master’s degree in public policy and management from the University of Pittsburgh.

Eunice Lee

Senior Programme Manager

Eunice Lee is a Senior Program Manager for the North America Regional Hub, leading coordination with local governments and community-based organisations across North America to enhance community-based prevention of, responses to, and reporting of hate crimes and incidents. She previously served as the Deputy Executive Director for the New York City Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, where she led the development and implementation of New York City’s strategic initiatives around hate and bias-motivated incidents. She has also supported community outreach efforts and data management for the Office of the Inspector General for the New York City Police Department, provided safety planning, advocacy and support services at police precincts for individuals in crisis through Safe Horizon’s Crime Victim Assistance Program. She also offered academic, professional development and generalised reentry services for youth with prior justice involvement at the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services. Eunice holds a Master of Public Administration in Inspection and Oversight, with a specialisation in organisational assessment and monitoring from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a BA in English from Amherst College.

Jordan Reimer

Senior Manager

Jordan Reimer is our Senior Manager for North America, responsible for managing our prevention programming in the United States and Canada, assisting in the development of local prevention frameworks and the provision of capacity-building efforts. Prior to joining Strong Cities, Jordan was the ISD Senior Manager for Threat Prevention, where he managed projects related to targeted violence threats and built relationships with relevant stakeholders to share information on salient threats identified by ISD researchers. He has also served as a policy analyst at RAND, focusing on targeted violence prevention; an intelligence analyst for the NYPD, specialising in counter-terrorism investigations related to the Syrian civil war and the foreign fighter threat; and a Middle East policymaker at the U.S. State Department and Department of Defense. He is a recipient of Princeton’s Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative fellowship and has a Master in Public Affairs (International Relations) from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.

Katie Wells

Programme Manager

Katie Wells is a Programme Manager for the North America Regional Hub, responsible for prevention training, guidance and support to mayors, city council members and senior city officials from small and mid-sized cities across the United States. Through an innovative new partnership with the National League of Cities, Katie works with city leaders to better understand and identify targeted violence and related threats, needs and vulnerabilities in their communities and operationalize a public health approach to prevent and respond to them. Prior to joining Strong Cities, Katie served as a Senior Policy Advisor to Andy Berke, Mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee where she helped coordinate the response to a violent extremist attack and led the Council Against Hate, aimed at understanding and addressing the factors that lead to hate extremism and polarisation.

Caroline Wade

Project Coordinator

Caroline Wade is our Project Coordinator for North America, responsible for delivering project activities across a range of city-level stakeholders in North America. Prior to joining Strong Cities, Caroline was an analyst at Moonshot delivering a wide range of research and intervention programming focused on preventing domestic violent extremism in the United States. Her subject matter expertise focuses on racially and ethnically motivated violent extremism and anti-government/anti-authority violent extremism in the United States.

Owen Foster

Project Coordinator

Owen Foster is a Project Coordinator for the North America Regional Hub. His work supports community-based organisations and local governments in addressing hate in their communities through capacity-building training, resources and opportunities for peer learning. Prior to joining Strong Cities, Owen was the Junior Fellow at the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy (CCLP), where he was a journalism educator and led research inquiries into broadband discrimination of access, the American presidential primary delegate selection process and social media news ecosystems. At CCLP, he founded the Local News and Student Journalism Initiative, which explores the ways in which student journalists can help fill gaps in local news coverage in communities across America and rebuild social cohesion. Owen has also worked for Search for Common Ground, where he taught bi-partisan activism skills to young changemakers; the Global Livingston Institute, where he fostered cross-cultural understanding and supported HIV/AIDS prevention work, and as the campaign manager for a successful city council race in LA County. He has a B.A. from Williams College and studied politics at Exeter College, Oxford.

Lauren Nish

Project Coordinator

Lauren Nish is a Project Coordinator for the North American Regional Hub, working on prevention programming, capacity building and local framework creation in cities across the continent. Prior to joining Strong Cities, Lauren worked in local and federal government, and at an anti-doxxing organisation, where her team ensured that those serving their communities were safe from threats and violence. Recently, she spent time advancing gender and security while working at an organisation fighting to end armed conflict and build sustainable peace. Lauren holds degrees in International Relations from Universities in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Eric Rosand

Executive Director

Eric Rosand is the Executive Director of the Strong Cities Network. He has more than 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.