Management Unit

Eric Rosand

Global Chair

Lara Petricevic

Director, Europe, Middle East and Africa

Lara Petricevic-Williams is the Regional Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). In this role, she provides strategic leadership across the EMEA region, overseeing Strong Cities’ Regional Hubs, managing senior staff and partners, and ensuring that the Network’s activities support cities and local governments in preventing and responding to hate, extremism and polarisation. She leads the development and delivery of EMEA-focused programming, drives business development and funding strategies, and ensures that regional initiatives align with Strong Cities’ global strategy and ISD’s counter-extremism and prevention objectives.   Lara brings more than 20 years of experience in democracy, governance, conflict prevention and social cohesion across Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. She previously served as Senior Operations Manager at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), focusing on East Africa programmes and supporting organisational growth and business development. Among other roles, Lara served as Resident Regional Director for the Great Lakes and Southern Africa at the International Republican Institute, managing multi-million, multi-donor portfolios, leading regional teams and spearheading strategic initiatives. Lara holds an MSc in International Economics from John Naisbitt University and a BA in International Business from Grenoble School of Management. She is fluent in Croatian/Serbian and English, with conversational French.

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.

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).

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.

Lara Petricevic

Director, Europe, Middle East and Africa

Lara Petricevic-Williams is the Regional Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). In this role, she provides strategic leadership across the EMEA region, overseeing Strong Cities’ Regional Hubs, managing senior staff and partners, and ensuring that the Network’s activities support cities and local governments in preventing and responding to hate, extremism and polarisation. She leads the development and delivery of EMEA-focused programming, drives business development and funding strategies, and ensures that regional initiatives align with Strong Cities’ global strategy and ISD’s counter-extremism and prevention objectives.   Lara brings more than 20 years of experience in democracy, governance, conflict prevention and social cohesion across Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. She previously served as Senior Operations Manager at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), focusing on East Africa programmes and supporting organisational growth and business development. Among other roles, Lara served as Resident Regional Director for the Great Lakes and Southern Africa at the International Republican Institute, managing multi-million, multi-donor portfolios, leading regional teams and spearheading strategic initiatives. Lara holds an MSc in International Economics from John Naisbitt University and a BA in International Business from Grenoble School of Management. She is fluent in Croatian/Serbian and English, with conversational French.

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.

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.

Lara Petricevic

Director, Europe, Middle East and Africa

Lara Petricevic-Williams is the Regional Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). In this role, she provides strategic leadership across the EMEA region, overseeing Strong Cities’ Regional Hubs, managing senior staff and partners, and ensuring that the Network’s activities support cities and local governments in preventing and responding to hate, extremism and polarisation. She leads the development and delivery of EMEA-focused programming, drives business development and funding strategies, and ensures that regional initiatives align with Strong Cities’ global strategy and ISD’s counter-extremism and prevention objectives.   Lara brings more than 20 years of experience in democracy, governance, conflict prevention and social cohesion across Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. She previously served as Senior Operations Manager at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), focusing on East Africa programmes and supporting organisational growth and business development. Among other roles, Lara served as Resident Regional Director for the Great Lakes and Southern Africa at the International Republican Institute, managing multi-million, multi-donor portfolios, leading regional teams and spearheading strategic initiatives. Lara holds an MSc in International Economics from John Naisbitt University and a BA in International Business from Grenoble School of Management. She is fluent in Croatian/Serbian and English, with conversational French.

Eric Rosand

Global Chair

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.

Kate Nelson

Senior Adviser

Kate Nelson is a Senior Advisor for Strong Cities, bringing a distinguished career across the public, private and non-profit sectors. She is a recognised expert in applying public health methodology to address complex, global community challenges, including mental health access, urban heat mitigation, and access to quality early childhood education. In her previous role as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Boise, she provided executive leadership to a team of more than 500 employees and managed the development of a $500 million municipal budget. She has extensive experience managing and deploying braided funds creatively and strategically, a crucial capability for tackling nuanced issues in increasingly resource-constrained environments. Kate was instrumental in ensuring city departments—including Arts and History, Libraries, and Parks and Recreation—actively cultivated social cohesion and healthy, resilient communities, successfully implementing citywide initiatives, including direct collaboration with Strong Cities.  

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.

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.

Eunhye Lee

Programme Manager

Eunhye Lee is a Programme Manager at Strong Cities, where she leads programmes with local governments and communities to address digital harms, foster resilience and prevent hate and polarisation. She brings over a decade of cross-sector experience, including roles with UNHCR and other UN agencies, academic institutions, civil society organizations and the private sector, focused on dialogue-based approaches to policy, equity and social resilience. Eunhye has managed multi-stakeholder dialogues on international policy topics including women’s leadership in conflict and atrocity prevention, climate change, reconciliation, anti-racism and strengthening democratic engagement. Her work connects global frameworks to local contexts through participatory engagement. She also co-led the award-winning research project Beyond Inclusion: Equity in Public Engagement, conducted at Simon Fraser University’s Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue. Eunhye holds a Master of Global Affairs from the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, where her research explored humanising digital dialogue processes. Her work integrates emotional governance and relational trust as strategic tools for designing inclusive, dialogue-based systems in polarized or sensitive contexts.    

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.

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.

Lara Petricevic

Director, Europe, Middle East and Africa

Lara Petricevic-Williams is the Regional Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). In this role, she provides strategic leadership across the EMEA region, overseeing Strong Cities’ Regional Hubs, managing senior staff and partners, and ensuring that the Network’s activities support cities and local governments in preventing and responding to hate, extremism and polarisation. She leads the development and delivery of EMEA-focused programming, drives business development and funding strategies, and ensures that regional initiatives align with Strong Cities’ global strategy and ISD’s counter-extremism and prevention objectives.   Lara brings more than 20 years of experience in democracy, governance, conflict prevention and social cohesion across Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. She previously served as Senior Operations Manager at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), focusing on East Africa programmes and supporting organisational growth and business development. Among other roles, Lara served as Resident Regional Director for the Great Lakes and Southern Africa at the International Republican Institute, managing multi-million, multi-donor portfolios, leading regional teams and spearheading strategic initiatives. Lara holds an MSc in International Economics from John Naisbitt University and a BA in International Business from Grenoble School of Management. She is fluent in Croatian/Serbian and English, with conversational French.

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.

Lara Petricevic

Director, Europe, Middle East and Africa

Lara Petricevic-Williams is the Regional Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). In this role, she provides strategic leadership across the EMEA region, overseeing Strong Cities’ Regional Hubs, managing senior staff and partners, and ensuring that the Network’s activities support cities and local governments in preventing and responding to hate, extremism and polarisation. She leads the development and delivery of EMEA-focused programming, drives business development and funding strategies, and ensures that regional initiatives align with Strong Cities’ global strategy and ISD’s counter-extremism and prevention objectives.   Lara brings more than 20 years of experience in democracy, governance, conflict prevention and social cohesion across Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. She previously served as Senior Operations Manager at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), focusing on East Africa programmes and supporting organisational growth and business development. Among other roles, Lara served as Resident Regional Director for the Great Lakes and Southern Africa at the International Republican Institute, managing multi-million, multi-donor portfolios, leading regional teams and spearheading strategic initiatives. Lara holds an MSc in International Economics from John Naisbitt University and a BA in International Business from Grenoble School of Management. She is fluent in Croatian/Serbian and English, with conversational French.

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.

Lara Petricevic

Director, Europe, Middle East and Africa

Lara Petricevic-Williams is the Regional Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). In this role, she provides strategic leadership across the EMEA region, overseeing Strong Cities’ Regional Hubs, managing senior staff and partners, and ensuring that the Network’s activities support cities and local governments in preventing and responding to hate, extremism and polarisation. She leads the development and delivery of EMEA-focused programming, drives business development and funding strategies, and ensures that regional initiatives align with Strong Cities’ global strategy and ISD’s counter-extremism and prevention objectives.   Lara brings more than 20 years of experience in democracy, governance, conflict prevention and social cohesion across Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. She previously served as Senior Operations Manager at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), focusing on East Africa programmes and supporting organisational growth and business development. Among other roles, Lara served as Resident Regional Director for the Great Lakes and Southern Africa at the International Republican Institute, managing multi-million, multi-donor portfolios, leading regional teams and spearheading strategic initiatives. Lara holds an MSc in International Economics from John Naisbitt University and a BA in International Business from Grenoble School of Management. She is fluent in Croatian/Serbian and English, with conversational French.

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.

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.