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.

Daryl has worked in the nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation field for 30 years. He joined the Arms Control Association (ACA) as its executive director in 2001. Since then, he has energized ACA’s program and outreach efforts, expanded its staff, revitalized its monthly journal Arms Control Today, and positioned ACA to play a leading role on key weapons-related security debates. From 1997 to 2001, he was executive director of the Coalition to Reduce Nuclear Dangers, and from 1989 to 1997, he worked as associate director for policy and later as director of security programs for Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR). At PSR, he organized media, lobbying, and public education campaigns against nuclear weapons production and testing, as well as research projects on the health and environmental impacts of the nuclear arms race.

I am most excited to work on projects that… leverage the energy, skills, and political power of a wide range of organizations and individuals toward common efforts to reduce and eliminate nuclear weapons risks.

I am looking for partners who can help me… try to save the world from nuclear catastrophe.

A moment when I felt most inspired in my work was… seeing a former staff member go on to succeed and excel, and when the impact of our organization’s work is evident in moving toward positive outcomes.

Innovations in my field that I am most excited to work on… include finding new ways to widen the ranges, constituencies, and partners we engage with to seek a more peaceful, just, and safer world.

Haneen recently completed her master’s in international development and policy from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and is currently an Obama Foundation Scholar. As a former aide at the National Assembly of Pakistan, she supported over 80 women parliamentarians to help inform better policy and legislation, particularly on social justice, security, and climate issues. Haneen also built and led the only region-wide grassroots movement for nuclear nonproliferation in South Asia, working with thousands of young people in Pakistan and India to promote peace, a world safe from nuclear weapons, and the role of women in breaking stereotypes and barriers in the security landscape. As part of that effort, she helped develop a first-of-its-kind campaign strategy and volunteer recruitment, leadership, and training program to bring the movement to local communities in innovative ways and develop new activists and leaders to continue the effort. Currently, Haneen is doing editorial, communications, and policy consulting to support the international nuclear policy community.

I am most excited to work on projects that… directly impact peace and security for communities that are underrepresented in the field.

I am looking for partners who can help me… think about human security in new and innovative ways, support my coding efforts, and help work toward a world safe from nuclear weapons.

A moment when I felt most inspired in my work was… watching young activists, particularly women, step up to the leadership table; watching them see how powerful their work is and commit to serving in bigger and brighter ways; and knowing I had a hand in their process. I couldn’t ask for a greater reward. 

Innovations in my field that I am most excited to work on… include those at intersection of nuclear and cyber security, ways to include and train new voices in the field, and new discourse emerging about building human security in ways that are not centered around nationalism. I believe our upcoming challenges—including climate, nuclear, and pandemic-related issues—are global in nature and require thinking as a human family. I am excited to learn more about this.

Heather directs the New Models of Policy Change project at New America’s Political Reform program. Her work explores the intersection of international affairs policy and domestic political polarization, and develops policy approaches on topics from trade, climate, and political violence to nuclear security. New Models also supports analysis and convening around diversity, gender, and equity in international affairs. Previously, Heather was a special assistant and speechwriter to President Bill Clinton, served in the State Department as a speechwriter and member of the policy planning staff, and worked on Capitol Hill and on the US Delegation to the OSCE. She has also held senior positions in international affairs advocacy, including at the International Crisis Group, National Security Network, and Human Rights First. 

Hurlburt is a regular contributor to New York Magazine and frequently appears in print and broadcast media. She is a cofounder and co-chair of the Leadership Council for Women in National Security, serves on the boards of National Security Action and the Scoville Fellowship, and holds degrees from Brown and George Washington Universities.

I am most excited to work on projects that… combine practical problem-solving with sky-is-the-limit thinking that transcends categories and silos.

I am looking for partners who can help me… understand, respond, and adapt to this completely new moment we’re in.

A moment when I felt most inspired in my work was… anytime I see colleagues able to take something I can offer and run with it in entirely new directions.

Innovations in my field that I am most excited to work on… thinking in network theory, diversity theory, feminist foreign policy, and global activism successes that ought to be completely renovating the what and how of our field.