Emiliano Alessandri
Emiliano Alessandri is AP’s Senior Advisor on International Partnerships and Global Outreach. He brings significant conflict-cycle expertise in key regions, from the Middle and North Africa (MENA) to Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. Emiliano’s entire career has focused on conflict management and conflict resolution, drawing on a 15-year plus track record of working at the cusp of research and policy in the field of international security. He is a non-resident scholar with the Middle East Institute of Washington and a non-resident senior transatlantic fellow with the German Marshall Fund. He is also the senior officer for the Mediterranean and MENA regions for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
ASSOCIATE
Valentina Bartolucci
Valentina is a researcher affiliated with the Interdisciplinary Centre Science for Peace, in Pisa, a visiting professor at the University of Pisa and an Invited Professor at Dauphine University in Paris. She is the recipient of a research fellowship from the Veronesi Foundation, for 2015-2016, and a Visiting Fellowship at Derby University, in the UK; she also collaborates closely with the Faculty of Social and International Studies at Bradford University, also in the UK. In 2013-2014, Valentina was a Fulbright Research Scholar at Arizona State University. She regularly consults with national and international agencies on issues of terrorism, organized crime, migration and foreign policy. Her interests focus on foreign and security policies, peacebuilding, terrorism and counter-terrorism, and on strategic communication.
COMMUNICATION OFFICER
Dafne Carletti
Dafne is AP’s Communication Officer.
She combines a background in International Relations with two years of professional experience in communication. After graduating in International Affairs from the University of Bologna first and the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins after, Dafne started a long collaboration with WIIS Italy that introduced her to the communication world. She grew as Communication Officer for WIIS Italy and the Mediterranean Women Mediators Network for a year. Then, she interned at FAO as Gender and Human Rights Assistant and at the European Commission as Press Officer. Dafne is also a researcher for the NGO EgyptWide.
ASSOCIATE
Celina Del Felice
Celina Del Felice is an educator and researcher working on topics related to peace, intercultural and global citizenship education, youth participation in peacebuilding processes and transnational activism related to global justice issues. She has experience as a trainer and consultant, developing educational resources, tutoring online courses, facilitating learning processes and conducting evaluations. Currently, she teaches at the Open University of Catalonia – UNITAR Conflict, Peace and Security Master Programme and is an e-learning tutor for The Network University. Celina has a PhD in International Relations from Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands, a Master in Peace and Conflict Studies from the European Peace University, Austria, and a BA in Political Science from the National University of Rosario, Argentina. Recently, she co-edited the Manual “WE CAN! Taking action against hate speech through counter and alternative narratives” for the Council of Europe No Hate Speech Youth Campaign (2017) and the book “Youth in Africa, agents of change” (2018).
SENIOR ADVISOR
Caterina Francesca Guidi
Economist and expert in migration and public health: her research interests are mainly concentrated on the impact of mobility and migration on European welfare and health systems. She also works on the organization of reception systems and integration of migrants in Europe. She is currently working as researcher at Department of Social, Political and Cognitive Sciences at University of Siena as a member of the Inequality Lab (Laboratorio delle Diseguaglianze).
For seven years she has worked at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS) of the European University Institute (EUI) as Research Fellow and Project Coordinator. She has also collected working experience with international organizations, other research centres and NGOs on policy analysis in Belgium, Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Netherlands, Serbia and Spain. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics by the University of Siena (Italy), a M.Sc. degree in Development Economics from the University of Florence (Italy) and a B.Sc. degree in Law and Economics from the University of Bologna (Italy). She is an active contributor and a peer reviewer for several journals and she has been invited as speaker and guest lecturer at different international conferences and universities.
ASSOCIATE
Stefano Marinelli
Stefano has a PhD in international law at Middlesex University in London. He researches and lectures on the role of international tribunals in conflict resolution and the relation between international justice and peace and security. He has experience in the field of human rights and conflict transformation in the NGO sector, and has worked in the Middle East, South Caucasus, Balkans, North Africa and Sudan. He collaborates with public institutions in the management of European funds, is a lawyer at the bar of Madrid and a consultant for different law firms. Stefano has been living and working in Italy, Switzerland, the UK and Spain. He holds an MA in International Relations from the University of Florence, an LLM from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, an MPhil from Middlesex University. He co-founded and co-ordinates An International Law Blog, a platform that promote discussions on issues related to international, transnational and European law among lawyers and scholars.
PRESIDENT
Bernardo Monzani
Bernardo has more than 12 years of experience in the international cooperation sector, where he is an expert on conflict resolution, peacebuilding, governance and support to civil society in fragile countries. He has worked for several international NGOs—including International Alert in the UK, Search for Common Ground in Belgium and Morocco, and the European Centre for Minority Issues in Georgia—and for UN peacekeeping missions in Haiti and Liberia. As a consultant, Bernardo has also completed multiple assignments in other countries, including the Philippines, Guinea, Kosovo, Timor Leste and Uganda. His areas of expertise include monitoring and evaluation (M&E), research and analysis (specifically on issues of conflict, governance and social accountability), and programme design and development. Bernardo holds a BA from Tufts University in Boston and an MA from the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington DC. Bernardo is AP’s President.
SENIOR ADVISOR
Hashim Pondeza
Hashim Pondeza has over 10 years of working experience in social, economic and political aspects of Tanzania, with a long professional experience in Zanzibar. He is a founder of a youth championing non-profit organization named Center for Youth Dialogue (CYD). Among other assignments, Hashim worked as a Zanzibar Coordinator for a UNDP project and consulted for UNODC’s CVE project in East Africa. Hashim holds a master’s degree in Public Administration obtained from the Bowling Green State University (BGSU) in Ohio, USA.
SENIOR ADVISOR
Ylenia Rocchini
Ylenia has more than 10 years of experience in research, project management and monitoring and evaluation, particularly in the areas of migration, international protection, and global citizenship education. She has worked for academic institutions and international organisations in Europe, North and West Africa, the Middle East, the Balkans and Southeast Asia. As a consultant, she has been conducting assignments, mainly in the field of monitoring, evaluation and learning, for several development cooperation actors. She was a postdoctoral research associate at the “Borderlands” project hosted by the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute. Ylenia holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Law from the Sant’Anna School for Advanced Studies, an MA in International Relations from the University of Florence and BA in International and Diplomatic Sciences from the University of Genoa.
Associate
Huma Saeed
Huma is an affiliated senior researcher at the Leuven Institute of Criminology (KU Leuven) and an independent research consultant with national and international human rights and development organizations, including the Afghansitan Independent Human Rights Commission, GIZ, ECHO (European Commission), Alert International and other institutions. Her research area is human rights (with focus on women’s rights and Housing, Land and Property rights) and transitional justice with extensive fieldwork in Afghanistan. Previously she has worked with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Kabul as well as human rights and women’s rights organizations in Afghanistan, Pakistan and internationally. She has a PhD in criminology (KU Leuven), MA in human rights (LSE) and BA in Political Science (UMBC). She is the recipient of numerous academic awards, including the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarship, and is a published author in a number of peer reviewed international academic journals.
SENIOR ADVISOR
Anthony Sarota
Anthony is a social science researcher and practitioner with more than 10 years of experience in the spheres of security, terrorism, violent extremism and radicalization, peacebuilding and governance. Anthony has worked as a consultant on research, monitoring and evaluation in the context of various projects in East and Central Africa, and was previously a law enforcement officer for the Tanzanian government. Anthony has significant experience working at the local, national, and regional levels, designing and conducting complex research assignments. An expert on East Africa’s security and political economies, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Dar-es-Salaam, and a master’s degree and a Post Graduate Certificate in Strategic Security from The George Washington University. He is currently in his final semester for a Post Graduate Certificate in Criminal and Intelligence Analysis at American Military University. Anthony is AP’s Senior Advisor on research, including monitoring and evaluation.
ASSOCIATE
Mikhail Silvestro Sustersic
Mikhail Silvestro Sustersic is a peacebuilding expert with an interdisciplinary and intersectional background. After a Ma in Modern Philology, he obtained the European Master’s Degree in Human Rights and Democratisation (E. Ma) from EIUC and Maastricht University and, later, a Ma in Cultural Diplomacy. His area of expertise is conflict transformation, peacebuilding, post-conflict transitions and supranational criminology. His work experience ranges from international advocacy and strategic lobbying to research and evaluation, from project management to electoral observation. Mikhail has a record of successful contributions to projects and evaluations on youth, peace and security (YPS) and women, peace and security (WPS) and completed assignments for, among others, UN, OSCE-ODIHR, Search for Common Ground, United States Institute of Peace (USIP), United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY). He is also experienced in the framework of hate crimes, anti-discrimination and SOGIESC (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics). Mikhail is a playwright and an experience designer who creates immersive life experience and larps (live-action role playing) in Italy and abroad for personal and social transformation.
SENIOR ADVISOR
Alessandro Totoro
Alessandro is a peacebuilding practitioner with over 10 years of experience. He has worked with the United Nations and with leading peacebuilding agencies such as Search For Common Ground and International Alert, where he managed large and complex projects, mainly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Alessandro’s focuses include research, training and facilitation in conflict analysis, as well as conflict sensitivity and “Do No Harm” methodologies. His areas of interests include conflict dynamics over access to services and resources, with a specific focus on conflicts between refugees and host populations and conflicts between sedentary and nomadic populations in Central and Western Africa. Alessandro holds a University Degree in Political Sciences from the University of Florence, an MA in Human Rights and Conflict Management from the University of Sant’Anna in Pisa, and a Degree in Research Methods from the University of Bradford (UK).
DIRECTOR
Bernardo Venturi
He has over 15 years of experience in research, training, project management and advocacy specifically focusing on peacebuilding, conflict transformation and international cooperation. He likes to blend theoretical analysis and fieldwork in order to bring practicality to the former and reflection to the latter. Bernardo is also a researcher for the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), an Italian think-tank, he consults for international organizations and NGOs and lectures in several MA courses and training programmes in Italy and abroad. Bernardo obtained his PhD in 2009 from the University of Bologna, where he also held a post-doctoral research fellowship. Periods of study and research led him to Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, Moldova State University, the Peace Research Institute in Oslo (PRIO), the US Institute for Peace (USIP) and Sussex University. Among his past positions, he was the Director of the Centro Studi Difesa Civile (CSDC) for 5 years, where he also contributed to the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO) serving as Steering Committee member.
Bernardo is AP’s Director.
