Peace Direct believes in the power of local people to build peace in their communities. Yet, they are often left out of making decisions that directly impacts their safety. This #PeaceTalks will bring together three experts on peace and security to discuss why power must be kept in the hands of local people.

Peace Direct’s US Executive Director, Elana Aquino, will be moderating from Washington, DC. She will be joined by peacebuilding activist Binalakshmi Nepram, and policy experts Alexandra Stark PhD. and Amanda Van Dort.

There is no charge to attend, but Peace Direct hopes you’ll donate what you can, if you can, now or during the event. Big or small, whatever you give will help support lifesaving work around the world.

Join Peace Direct on Wednesday, April 27th for a conversation that centers on the power of local peacebuilders, and why it’s important to include them in all spaces of decision-making.

About the speakers:

Ms Binalakshmi Nepram, born in the state of Manipur located in India’s Northeast region is a writer, humanitarian and civil rights activist spearheading work on making women-led peace,security and disarmament a movement and an issue that is meaningful to people’s lives. In 2004, Ms Nepram co-founded India’s first civil society organization which is working on conventional disarmament issues, namely the Control Arms Foundation of India. And in 2007, in order to help thousands of women who are affected by gun violence in her home-state Manipur, Ms Nepram launched the Manipur Women Gun Survivor Network.

Alexandra Stark PhD is a senior researcher for the Political Reform program. She has a PhD from the government department at Georgetown University. She was previously a research fellow at the Middle East Initiative of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and Minerva/Jennings Randolph Peace Scholar at the United States Institute of Peace. Stark has written for Foreign Affairs, the Washington Post, War on the Rocks, and other publications, and her academic research has been published in the journals International Security and Security Studies.

Amanda Van Dort currently serves in the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, mandated to promote the rights and empowerment of women and girls through U.S. foreign policy.  From 2018 to 2021, Amanda was the Senior Advisor on Women, Peace, and Security and Policy Team Lead in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO). Previously, Amanda served as the Country Director for Emerge Global, a non-profit based in Sri Lanka that supports teenage girls who are survivors of sexual assault and abuse.