Young people are uniquely positioned to effect change, yet they are often excluded from local decision-making processes and frustrated by limited opportunities for collaboration. Young Cities works in partnership with young people and local governments to promote and strengthen youth-led, collective solutions to community challenges such as hate, extremism, polarisation and violence. By working simultaneously with both groups – youth and local government – Young Cities fosters a shared understanding of youth-related issues, facilitates new opportunities for cooperation and ultimately strengthens the capacity of both groups to tackle community-level challenges.
Partnering with local organisations is pivotal to the implementation of Young Cities programmes and ensuring that youth participants receive the continuous support and guidance they need to build their projects from the ground up, tackling real issues in relevant and impactful ways. Local partners help further tailor the programme to their context, connect with key community actors and play a vital role in fostering creative talent among young people.
Strong Cities membership is open to local authorities at the city, municipal or other subnational level. Membership is free of charge.
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.
Deputy Executive Director
Allison joined Strong Cities 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.
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.
