“Stopping As Success: planning for success from start to exit” is being implemented by a consortium consisting of Peace Direct, Search for Common Ground and CDA Collaborative Learning. Below you will find the profiles of SAS team members:
SAS Consortium
Farzana Ahmed, Senior Researcher, Peace Direct
Farzana manages the “Stopping As Success” learning project at Peace Direct. She has a BA in Politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies and an MA in International Conflict Studies from King’s College London. Previously, she worked for the Africa Directorate at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, an international NGO based in Yemen and a research consultancy in South Sudan.
In the SAS project, Peace Direct are leading on case studies in Morocco, Colombia, DR Congo, Bangladesh, Philippines and Mali. Contact: [email protected]
Isabella Jean, Director, CDA
Isabella Jean is Director at CDA. She oversees CDA’s collaborative learning processes and monitoring and evaluation efforts to capture the results of CDA’s initiatives. Her learning and advisory focuses on conflict-sensitivity, peacebuilding effectiveness, design, monitoring and evaluation and accountability to communities and feedback loops. Isabella has led collaborative learning efforts and field research in Africa, Asia, the Caucasus and the Middle East. In 2012, she co-authored CDA’s book, Time to Listen: Hearing People on the Receiving End of Aid.
Prior to joining CDA, Isabella conducted policy research on conflict, coexistence, democracy and education in multi-ethnic societies. She directed training programs for community organizers and conducted evaluations of programs for at-risk youth in urban centers in the United States. She currently teaches a graduate-level course on design, monitoring and evaluation of strategic peacebuilding interventions as an adjunct faculty at Brandeis University’s Heller School and at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Isabella holds an MA in Conflict and Coexistence from Brandeis University and a BA in International Relations from Bowdoin College.
In the SAS project, CDA are leading on case studies in Bosnia, Georgia, Thailand and India. Contact: [email protected]
Kiely Barnard-Webster, Program Manager, CDA
Kiely joined CDA as a program manager in 2015. Her professional areas of expertise are in gender and development, monitoring, evaluation and learning, theories of change and peacebuilding effectiveness At CDA Kiely works on peacebuilding and conflict sensitivity in Myanmar as well as with new approaches to combating corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where she is supporting ongoing monitoring and evaluation efforts.
For two years, Kiely lived in Nicaragua working for Manna Project International teaching ESL to adult English learners, sexual and reproductive health to middle school students, and assisting with the organization’s early childhood development program. This is also where she first learned to drive a manual transmission mini bus.
Kiely earned her Master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and earned her Bachelor’s degree from Bates College.
In the SAS project, CDA are leading on case studies in Bosnia, Georgia, Thailand and India. Contact: [email protected]
Marin O'Brien Belhoussein, Senior Program Manager, Search for Common Ground
Marin has worked on conflict prevention, peacebuilding, and international development policy and programming throughout her career. Currently, she is the Senior Program Manager within the Institutional Learning Team at Search for Common Ground. Her portfolio centers on experimental evaluation and research, building the evidence base for what works to transform conflict and foster enduring social change. Previously, she worked for Conflict Dynamics International; the United Nations Development Program; Chemonics International, Inc.; and non-governmental organizations in the United States, Lebanon, and Guatemala. Marin holds a B.A. in History with a concentration in Peace and Conflict Studies from Haverford College and a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.
In the SAS project, Search for Common Ground are leading on case studies in Burundi, Timor-Leste and Kenya. Contact: [email protected]
Grace Boone, Project Associate, CDA
Grace joined CDA in 2018. Throughout her professional experience, Grace has developed skills as a strategist, capacity builder, and critical thinker, which she brings with her to the peacebuilding field. Her primary interests are learning alongside communities affected by conflict, improving peacebuilding effectiveness, and gender and development. Her current areas of focus are responsible international aid exits, monitoring and evaluation, and collective impact in the peacebuilding field.
Grace is in the process of earning her Master’s degree in Conflict Resolution and Coexistence from the Heller School of Social Policy and Management, and earned her Bachelor’s degree in Applied Psychology and Human Services from Carson-Newman University.
In the SAS project, CDA are leading on case studies in Bosnia, Georgia, Thailand and India. Contact: [email protected]