our people

Kamissa Camara is a sub-Saharan Africa policy analyst and practitioner with 15 years of experience. She served as Mali’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Digital Economy and Planning, and Chief of Staff to the President. Camara is a well-published political commentator and television pundit who has been featured on CNN, Aljazeera, Voice of America, and other media outlets.

Camara has held leadership positions with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, the National Endowment for Democracy, and PartnersGlobal. She co-founded the Sahel Strategy Forum at NED and led a multi-million-dollar program supporting civil society initiatives in West and Central Africa. Camara trained US diplomats on the Sahel and sub-Saharan Africa at the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute.

She holds a master’s in international economics and development from Université Grenoble Alpes and a bachelor’s in international relations from Université de Paris.

Since 2020 Atje Drexler is Senior Vice President International Cooperation and Understanding at the Robert Bosch Stiftung, Germany, overseeing the work of the foundation in the topics Inequality and Conflict. From 2013 to 2019 she headed the department International Relations Europe and its Neighbors, and in addition was responsible for developing the Africa portfolio of the Robert Bosch Stiftung.

Atje has been with the Robert Bosch Stiftung since 2001 starting her career in the Health and Science Department where she held the position of Deputy Head of Department from 2007 through 2012. In this position, she was responsible for research at the foundation’s medical institutions, namely the Robert Bosch Hospital, the Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch-Institute for Clinical Pharmacology and the Institute for the History of Medicine. Before joining the foundation, she worked in the automotive industry after graduating from the University of Göttingen in 1998 with degrees in Slavic Studies and Economics.

Liz Hume is the Executive Director at the Alliance for Peacebuilding, with over 25 years of experience in conflict resolution and policy development in various institutions and NGOs. She has worked in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa, managing large-scale peacebuilding programs in conflict-affected and fragile states. Liz also has experience working as a mediator and is a frequent guest lecturer and author on conflict analysis and peacebuilding.
She holds a BA from Boston College, a JD from Vermont Law School, and a MA in Negotiation, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding from California State University.

Ambassador Kress is the Head of Department for Migration, Stabilization and Fragility of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2020. Prior to her appointment, she served as Ambassador to Mali between 2018 and 2020 and as Deputy Ambassador to Mali from 2017 to 2018. She was also the Deputy Head of Development Cooperation at the Danish embassy in Burkina Faso.
Ambassador Kress also has extensive experience and expertise on EU foreign policy, having been seconded as senior policy advisor to the European External Action Service (EEAS) from 2011 to 2015. She holds a MSc in International Development Studies/Economics from Roskilde University.

Dr. Osoble Ali is the co-founder of Idman Community Bank and a former member of the Somali Transitional National Parliament and a Minister of State from 2000 to 2002.
Idman Community Bank is a community-based financial institution in Somalia. Idman Community Bank’s mission was to establish a financial institution that enhances empowerment, promotes positive social impact and contributes to economic development. They also work to close the gender gap in entrepreneurship and fuel the growth of women-owned enterprises all over Somalia.
She is a doctoral student at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University and a contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus.

Teresita Quintos Deles, also known as Ging, has been at the forefront of peace initiatives in the Philippines, as a civil society activist for many years and, more recently, as a public servant. She was the first woman to be appointed as Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, with Cabinet rank, serving a first term in 2003-2005 and a second term under the 2ndAquino government from July 2010 to June 2016. Under her watch the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) was signed in 2014, marking the end of four decades of armed conflict between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Three other peace tables were brought to peaceful completion and a nation-wide peace-and-development program, specifically targeting conflict-affected areas, was successfully implemented.
She sat as an Expert-Member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (UN CEDAW) in 1991-1994. She served as the Philippine Permanent Representative in the Advisory Board of the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (AIPR) from its founding of 2013 to June 2016. Under her leadership, the Philippines became the first country in the Asia-Pacific to adopt and implement a National Action Plan (NAP) on UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS). Teresita Quintos Deles was a member of the International Commission on Inclusive Peace (ICIP), spearheading the Principles for Peace initiative.