Diversity and Leadership in International Affairs
Thursday, September 22nd, 2022
1:00 - 2:00 pm
Zoom
About the Event
International Day of Peace represents a globally shared day for all humanity to commit to building a culture of peace in communities around the world. The Vermont Council on World Affairs is excited to mark International Day of Peace with programming focused on this important topic.
Join us with special guests Hadeil Ali and Naz Subah as they discuss Diversity and Leadership in International Affairs.
This event will be via ZOOM.
About the Session
Elevating diverse voices and perspectives in international affairs
Decision-making processes that include diverse voices and perspectives lead to more ideas, more innovation, and more robust policy solutions. But many of those who are best positioned to provide those diverse perspectives are underrepresented, particularly at senior levels, in the organizations that lead policy development on U.S. national security and foreign policy priorities and challenges.
About the Speakers
Hadeil Ali
Deputy Director, Diversity and Leadership in International Affairs Project
Hadeil Ali is deputy director of the Diversity and Leadership in International Affairs Project. She is responsible for supporting all diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She previously served as a program manager with the Abshire-Inamori Leadership Academy at CSIS, where she developed training opportunities for interns, staff, and external stakeholders. Prior to joining CSIS, she worked for World Learning, where she led youth educational development initiatives in the Middle East. Ms. Ali is the chair of the Think Tank Diversity Consortium. She is the events and programming lead with the Race Across the Pond Initiative at Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security, and Conflict Transformation (WCAPS) and a facilitator with the Anti-Racism Project. She holds an MA in contemporary Arab studies with highest honors from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and a BA in international relations and communications summa cum laude from Drury University. She speaks French, Arabic, and Spanish.
About the Moderator
Naz Subah
Program Coordinator, Diversity and Leadership in International Affairs Project
Naz Subah is a program coordinator with the Diversity and Leadership in International Affairs Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She started her career in financial services, making her way through human resources, management consulting, and strategic planning. She spent close to five years at Liberty Mutual, where she built her research, storytelling, advising, and financial analysis capabilities. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management & Administration, with minors in international studies and philosophy. Naz has always been vocal about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues, whether as a student ambassador and advocate at Boston College or as a leader of multiple employee resource groups in her professional work. She recognizes that leveraging DEI is crucial in policymaking to ensure proper consideration of diverse perspectives for decisionmaking. Naz is joining CSIS as she pivots her career to be more aligned to foreign policy, intending to advance CSIS’s DEI journey to make it a leader in this space.
Dr. Sherwood Smith is a multicultural educator and human development assistant research professor at the University of Vermont. He currently serves as director of the Center for Cultural Pluralism, and he has played an important role in the University's effort to address affirmative action issues on campus. His experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania and as an academic director for an overseas program in Kenya give him an international perspective. Most recently he co-edited a two-part series titled: Our Stories: the Experience of Black Professionals on Predominantly White Campuses.
Dr. Sherwood Smith
Moderator