Ali Altiok

Doctoral student

Ali Altiok is a doctoral student in Peace Studies and Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. His research examines political inclusion and securitization of young people in the context of peacebuilding processes. Ali previously worked as a researcher, policy officer, and coordinator for several international peacebuilding organizations in New York. As an in-house research consultant at the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office, he supported data analysis and narrative development of The Missing Peace: Independent Progress Study on Youth, Peace and Security, mandated by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2250. He is co-author of the policy paper, We Are Here: An Integrated Approach to Youth Inclusive Peace Processes for the UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth. Ali is a former member of the United Networks of Young Peacebuilders and the founder of the Youth, Peace, and Security Research Network.

Elisa Novoa

World Alliance for Citizen Participation (CIVICUS)

Elisa Novoa is an international development project manager and networks development specialist from Colombia who helps individual activists and organisations to increase their impact, effectiveness, sustainability, and resilience to defend human rights, achieve long lasting change for their communities and advance joint social justice agendas. Since 2016, Elisa leads CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen participation youth workstream that seeks to connect the over 3500 young CIVICUS members, foster meaningful youth inclusion in civil society, and give tools to grow as citizen action innovators.

Emma Johnston

Youth Action Northern Ireland

Emma has been involved in youth work from a young age participating in a range of youth activities and programmes in her local community, this inspired Emma to work with young people and support young people from Northern Ireland who are most invisible and underrepresented. Emma is a graduate from University of Ulster at Magee where she undertook a Bsc Honours in Community Youth Work. A worker within the Equality work with young women’s team of YouthAction Northern Ireland Emma is committed and passionate about the work with young women and challenging the systems which continue to delimit young women’s opportunities.

Emma is a representative of young women’s voices on Northern Ireland Women’s European Platform and the UK Joint Committee for women with a seat on the European Women’s Lobby attending conferences at national/international level to order to lobby for women’s equality worldwide. Emma also sits on the Irish NAP for Women Peace and Security and was part of the Foyle Pride Committee for 4 years organising a week of pride activities in Derry and LGBT Awareness week.

Jordan Sanchez

Student and poet

Jordan Sanchez is a Junior at Harvard University studying Mathematics, Physics, and Education. Despite this, she has always loved using creative writing as a form of activism. Now a spoken word poet dedicated to leaving the world better than she found it, her words have reached hundreds of millions of people, including Lizzo, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Chadwick Boseman, and Lupita Nyong’o. She has done commissioned work for the United Nations Environment Programme, Everytown for Gun Safety, and more. She has performed at several events including Rare Org’s BE.Hive On Campus, Climate Week NYC, and the March For Our Lives, and has been featured in various publications and documentaries by PBS, The New Republic, and Reuters.

Noura Berrouba

President, The National Council of Swedish Youth Organizations

Mina Jhowry

Senior program manager/ specialist climate and human security at Sida

Mina works at Sida’s unit for Peace and Human Security, where she works closely with colleagues and partners to develop and improve the understanding and response to conflicts related to environmental pressures and the effects of climate change. Before joining Sida, Mina worked for 15 in programme and policy development, mainly in the field of humanitarian response and resilience to climate change, with a strong gender perspective. Her academic merits include a Master’s degree in Politics and Development from the University of Stockholm and studies in International Relations at Sciences Po, Paris. In her professional life, she lives by the motto “prevention first”. In her private life, she loves spending time by the sea and in the mountains with her family.

Danica Damplo

Youth, Peace and Security Programme Manager at Interpeace

Danica Damplo is the Youth, Peace and Security Programme Manager at Interpeace, based in the Interpeace New York office. Most recently, Danica worked for three years as a Policy Analyst and Head of the New York Office of the Universal Rights Group, a human rights think tank, and prior to that served as a Research Officer with the office of the UN Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence. Danica has an MSc in International Affairs from both the London School of Economics (LSE), and Peking University (PKU) in Beijing, as well as a BA in Political Science and History from Columbia University.