About Me

I earned my PhD in Political Science from Arizona State University’s School of Politics and Global Studies in July 2025, specializing in Peace and Conflict studies with a focus on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS). My dissertation, “Gatekeepers of Inclusion: How Peace Negotiation Participants Shape Gender Inclusivity in Post-Conflict Peacebuilding,” investigates why women and gender inclusive perspectives continue to be excluded from peace-making and peace-keeping processes despite the adoption of UNSCR 1325 and formal commitments to gender inclusion. I focus on how negotiation actors and institutional design shape the conditions under which gender becomes included—or sidelined—in post-conflict agreements.

My broad research  interest is in peace and conflict studies. Currently, I examine women’s roles in peace processes, human rights and the structural determinants of political exclusion. I also occasionally work on projects related to income inequality in the EU. Regionally, my work usually centers around  the MENA region, particularly Iran and Afghanistan. In addition to academic publishing—including an article in the Journal of Human Rights and a forthcoming book chapter—I contribute to public scholarship through APSA platforms such as PoliticalScienceNow and Political Science Today.

I aim to be an active member of my academic community and have presented my research at major conferences including ISA, ISA-West, ISA-Midwest, APSA, EPSA, Four Corners Conflict Network and Alternative Routes. In these settings, I have also served as a chair, discussant, and invited speaker on panels related to gender, diplomacy and international ethics both academia and policy spheres.  My efforts to to be an active participant in the field have been recognized with numerous national and international awards for my scholarship, public engagement and contributions to the field. 

Prior to beginning my doctoral studies, I earned an M.A. in International Relations from the Graduate Institute of Geneva (IHEID) and an M.A. in Development from the Universidad de Valencia in Spain. I completed my B.A. in International Economics and Spanish Language and Literature at the University of Washington in Seattle.

I am deeply committed to producing research that equips policymakers with evidence-based insights and advances gender-inclusive peacebuilding. Teaching is also central to my work. I strive to create classrooms where students see how political science  effects everyday life and where engagement fosters political literacy, civility and understanding that they will carry with them far after leaving my classroom. 

My life and career have taken me across different geographic and professional spaces. I have lived and worked in the United States, Spain, and Switzerland, conducted fieldwork in Costa Rica and Nicaragua and held roles in international organizations, NGOs, government, as well as in the finance/investment banking sector. I am fluent in English, Spanish, and Farsi, with working proficiency in French.