Marion is a co-director at BASIC in London, where she leads the organization’s risk reduction, disarmament, and gender programs. She is interested in finding new approaches to security that are based in collaboration and inclusion, is always looking for connections between issues, and wants to develop innovative solutions for persistent problems in the nuclear and security policy space. This includes focusing on the role of emotions in international agreements.

I am most excited to work on projects that… bring together different policy areas or disciplines to advance interdisciplinary problem solving.

I am looking for partners who can help me… push my thinking further and learn about methods I haven’t yet discovered.

A moment when I felt most inspired in my work was… when the Swedish Foreign Minister launched the Stockholm Initiative in June 2019, on the basis of the Stepping Stones to Disarmament methodology we had developed at BASIC.

Innovations in my field that I am most excited to work on… are applying a new lens to old problems, such as the new conversations around finding solutions to reducing risks introduced by new intersections between different technologies.

Erin is program coordinator and research assistant for the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She has previously held internships at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), The Hudson Institute, and the US House of Representatives. Erin received her BA in international affairs with a certificate in global studies from the University of Georgia, where she was a Richard B. Russell Security Leadership Scholar. She is currently an MA candidate in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service.

I am most excited to work on projects that… require critical thinking and collaboration. 

I am looking for partners who can help me… see and think about issues in a different way. 

A moment when I felt most inspired in my work was… working on a big project where everyone on the team was equally enthused. I enjoy working on the topics that interest me but I think the team makes or breaks the work. 

Innovations in my field that I am most excited to work on… include fostering a more diverse workforce, building a strong and collaborative community, and creating a field that young people want to get into and stay in because they feel supported.

Valerie is executive director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control. She leads the organization’s research on weapons of mass destruction supply networks, used by governments and companies to support sanctions and counterproliferation actions. She is also editor of the Wisconsin Project’s Iran Watch website, which she created in 2003 to track and analyze Iran’s nuclear and missile programs and international efforts to counter these programs, and oversees the Wisconsin Project’s Risk Report, a comprehensive database of entities suspected of involvement in WMD proliferation. She leads outreach efforts in some 40 countries to support effective strategic trade controls, including through use of the Risk Report. Previously, Valerie worked in the Paris bureau of The New York Times and Newsweek and as a researcher in several Washington-based nonprofit institutes.

I am most excited to work on projects that… uncover information and bring it forward in an impactful way.

I am looking for partners who can help me… make our work more visible and reach more people.

A moment when I felt most inspired in my work was… engaging with government officials around the world and discussing how our research can support their work.

Innovations in my field that I am most excited to work on… involve the availability of open source information and the analytics that allow broad use of these data.

Ellen is a field associate with Beyond the Bomb, working on congressional candidate outreach for no first use legislation. She is also a volunteer for the Digital Organizing Council for NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, fighting for reproductive freedom. Ellen recently graduated from the University of New Hampshire, where she interned as a campaign manager for a NH state representative and studied abroad in Italy, becoming fluent in Italian.

I am most excited to work on projects that… raise awareness of the atrocities of nuclear testing and mobilize people to prevent it from ever occurring again.

I am looking for partners who can help me… learn new perspectives and creatively integrate them into our projects.

A moment when I felt most inspired in my work was… during conversations with the people in my organization, especially when I first entered the field. Hearing everyone’s passion was (and still very much is) invigorating.

Innovations in my field that I am most excited to work on… are how to promote the anti-nuclear movement digitally and engage with people remotely.

As program associate at the Peace and Security Funders Group, Tamaki (she/her/hers) supports the team across all programs and activities. Prior to this role, she served as program coordinator for the US–Japan Council, connecting American and Japanese interests throughout sectors. Tamaki also has experience with student and union organizing around academia and race through her role as academic officer at the University of York Students’ Union. She is part of United Philanthropy Forum’s 2020-2021 Racial Equity Peer Learning Cohort, as well as the Focal Point for Gender Champions in Nuclear Security. Tamaki holds a BA in politics with international relations from the University of York, in England.

I am most excited to work on projects that… introduce me to people from different sectors, bringing in creative elements that I wouldn’t normally have access to in my job.

I am looking for partners who can help me… grow and learn more about systems and perspectives from different organizational positions.

A moment when I felt most inspired in my work was… when funders talked about their own definitions of what risk was to their organization, and how to mitigate as well as embrace those risks within grantmaking. It felt like an important moment, because I learned about their challenges as well as their own attempts to change their thought process with their peers. 

Innovations in my field that I am most excited to work on… are ones I don’t know about yet!

Bonnie is founder and executive director of Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security & Conflict Transformation (WCAPS), a 501c3 organization established in 2017. She is also nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Previously, Bonnie chaired the steering committee of the International Women’s Conference on Preventing the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction to Non-State Actors. From 2009 to 2017, she was an ambassador at the US Department of State (DOS), where she served as coordinator for threat reduction programs. She was the US representative to the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction, the DOS lead to the Nuclear Security Summits, and a leading US official on the Global Health Security Agenda. Bonnie also worked at the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and was a Ford Foundation program officer. A retired Navy Reserve officer, she holds a PhD in international relations from the University of Virginia, as well as LLM, MPA, and JD degrees. Her BA comes from Amherst College.

I am most excited to work on projects that… include individuals from different backgrounds.

I am looking for partners who can help me… expand my perspectives.

A moment when I felt most inspired in my work was… seeing the results of hard work.

Innovations in my field that I am most excited to work on… aim to improve the diversity of perspectives.