Our Team
Elizabeth (Liz) Hume, Executive Director
Liz is a conflict expert and has more than 25 years of experience in senior leadership positions in bilateral, multilateral institutions and NGOs. She has extensive experience in policy and advocacy and overseeing sizeable and complex peacebuilding programs in conflict-affected and fragile states in Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa.
Jessica Baumgardner-Zuzik, Deputy Executive Director - Research & Finance
Jessica is a field-wide leader with extensive research and peacebuilding experience who has published several ground-breaking reports that bridge the gap between organizational-relevant research and sector-wide learning. She works on improving capacity and understanding within the field of peacebuilding on monitoring, evaluation, and impact tools and analysis in conflict-affected settings.
Shaziya DeYoung, Senior Researcher - Learning & Evidence
Shaziya provides in-depth research and analysis for Afp's Learning and Evidence portfolio. Using her skillsets as a researcher and MEL specialist, Shaziya focuses on initiatives that build an evidence base for peacebuilding, including synthesizing, translating, and disseminating evidence for a wider reach, while also fostering field-wide capacity development. Shaziya graduated from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies with a M.A. in International Policy and Development with a dual specialization in Peace and Conflict Studies and Monitoring and Evaluation.
Megan Corrado, Senior Director - Policy and Advocacy
Megan E. Corrado is an international lawyer and policy and advocacy practitioner working to promote human rights, peacebuilding, gender mainstreaming, transitional justice, and post-conflict legal and governance reform. She has extensive experience in international development, grant implementation, and political campaign management. Megan has worked on democracy- and peacebuilding programs and processes in conflict-affected and post-conflict states across the Middle East and North Africa region, South and Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Eastern Europe.
Nick Zuroski, Manager - Policy & Advocacy
Nick’s interests lie at the intersection of peace and stability, gender equality, and grassroots-oriented understandings of human security. He has professional experience in strategic communications, investment research, political economy analysis, and international development. In 2021, Nick received his M.A. in International Affairs — concentrating in Global Gender Policy and International Law & Organizations — from The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, and his B.A. in Mandarin Chinese and World Politics from Hamilton College in 2017.
Dawn Blais, Office Manager - Operations
Dawn is a dynamic and result-oriented professional with 15+ years of experience in office management, supervision, and administration. Dawn joined AfP to provide confidential support to senior and high-level officials to ensure compliance with AfP’s objectives. She is passionate about building peaceful and meaningful connections throughout communities around the world. She has provided casework and counseling services to clients and members of their families to aid them in achieving more satisfactory adjustment to their specific problems or situation, resulting in positive mental health and laying the foundation for peace within the community. Everything that she has engaged in throughout her professional career has aided in helping others achieve greatness, peace, and success.
Maria Tata, Policy & Advocacy Assistant
Maria is a current graduate student at The George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs where she is completing an M.A. in Security Policy Studies with a concentration in Conflict Resolution. She previously graduated from Boston University in 2018 with a BA in International Relations and a minor in Business Administration and Management. During college, she studied abroad in Brussels, Belgium, and Geneva, Switzerland — where she interned at the NGO, Graduate Women International.