About Peacebuilding Deeply

Peacebuilding Deeply is an independent news and information platform covering global peace and security. Our reporters and editors provide a mix of investigative and data-driven journalism, on-the-ground reporting, clear and compelling visuals and high-level events. We want to answer the question: how do you put a country back together?

The platform will engage local and international actors to connect expert voices and coordinate peacebuilding efforts and insights in one centralized hub. By building a passionate community and connecting a variety of disciplines, Peacebuilding Deeply provides a forum for learning, knowledge-sharing and problem-solving.

Peacebuilding Deeply is the latest platform launched by the team behind Syria Deeply – News Deeply’s flagship platform.

News Deeply is a network of theme-driven information and community platforms, led by an award-winning team of domain-expert journalists. In an increasingly complicated information environment, we surface the vital insights and stakeholder connections that help to advance conversations and inform decision-making on the issues that matter, deeply, to the state of our world today. For more information on News Deeply and its other platforms, please visit www.newsdeeply.com.

Alessandria Masi, Managing Editor

Alessandria is the Managing Editor of Peacebuilding Deeply and Syria Deeply, as well as chief of News Deeply’s Beirut bureau. Previously, she was the Middle East correspondent for International Business Times. She was a featured author in the 2016 and 2017 editions of “Attacks on the Press” with the Committee to Protect Journalists, and her coverage of the Syrian refugee crisis won a Society for American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW) international reporting award. She is a native of Canada and a cat enthusiast. She tweets from @AlessandriaMasi and you can email her at [email protected]

Hashem Osseiran, Deputy Managing Editor

Hashem is the Deputy Managing Editor of Peacebuilding Deeply. He has previously worked with the Associated Press, the Arab Weekly and the Daily Star. He is on Twitter at @HashemOsseiran

Natalie Sikorski, Community Editor

Natalie is the Community Editor of Peacebuilding Deeply and Refugees Deeply. She has previously worked with Nonviolent Peaceforce as a programme officer in Beirut, Lebanon and as the global social media officer.

Advisors

Andrew Blum

Executive Director, Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, University of San Diego

Donna Hicks

Associate, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University

Brie Laskota

Executive Director of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture, USC

Tiffany Easthom

Executive Director, Nonviolent Peaceforce

Mike Jobbins

Senior Director, Partnerships and Engagement, Search for Common Ground

Melanie Greenberg

President and CEO, Alliance for Peacebuilding

Elizabeth (Liz) Hume

Senior Director for Programs and Strategy

Fleur Ravensbergen

Assistant Director and co-Founder, Dialogue Advisory Group (DAG)

Fadi Abi Allam

President and Founder, Permanent Peace Movement, Lebanon

Evan Cinq-Mars

United Nations Advocacy and Policy Advisor, Center for Civilians in Conflict

Ashley Jackson

Overseas Development Institute, Research Associate

Patrick Youssef

Deputy Director for Africa, International Committee of the Red Cross

Fernando Travesi

Executive Director, International Center for Transitional Justice

Contribute

Peacebuilding Deeply welcomes original contributions.

We are always open to story pitches for news features and interviews, as well as videos, audio stories and photo essays.

We are also interested in receiving submissions from researchers, community leaders and policymakers for our community section.

We regret that, owing to the volume of submissions we receive, we may contact only those writers whose work we will commission.

Peacebuilding Deeply is editorially independent and is part of News Deeply, the digital media and community-building company that TIME Magazine called “the future of news.”

Please send your story pitches to Managing Editor Alessandria Masi on [email protected] and Hashem Osseiran on [email protected]

Created by the team at News Deeply.

Lara Setrakian

CEO, Co-Founder and Executive Editor

Lara is an award-winning journalist, strategist and entrepreneur. She spent five years in the Middle East reporting via television, radio and digital platforms for ABC News, Bloomberg Television, the International Herald Tribune, Business Insider and Monocle magazine. Her 2009 coverage of Iran’s election protests and the Arab Awakening of 2011 garnered industry praise. Lara is a Young Global Leader with the World Economic Forum and a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University, with a degree in government. Lara enjoys a strong yoga practice, reading poetry and cooking vegetarian meals.

Daniel Beaulieu

Chief Content Officer

Dan is responsible for content strategy and operations on all News Deeply platforms. He previously led the World Economic Forum’s Knowledge Lab, the incubation arm of the Global Agenda Councils Network. He was a founding editor of the award-winning national newspaper of the United Arab Emirates, the National, and an editor at both the Middle East and Asia headquarters of Agence France-Presse. As a regional correspondent, he took on multiple assignments in Iraq, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jerusalem, Thailand and Hong Kong. Dan also worked as a journalist for Reuters in Tokyo and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. He holds a master’s in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Samir Sheth

Chief Business Officer

Samir is responsible for business growth, strategy and operations at News Deeply. He brings with him experiences ranging from a stint as a consultant at McKinsey, to leadership positions at Sony Music and Bertelsmann, to investing in consumer and media start-ups. He holds a degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to being a passionate consumer of News Deeply content and an overall news and policy junkie, Samir enjoys playing and composing music, design and architecture, and working with his wife on a social enterprise focused on maternal health in the developing world.

Matt Unger

Chief Product Officer

Matt is the Chief Product officer of News Deeply, where he oversees digital product strategy as well as community development initiatives. Matt has decades of experience building useful and usable digital products for B2B, mobile application development, media, and retail organizations. As the Chief Digital Officer of K2 Intelligence, an investigative consultancy, he led the development of an innovative data analytics practice as well as software tools for case management, information gathering, and data visualization. At Gerson Lehrman Group, he led software initiatives to help recruit, manage, and scale the global expert network at the heart of GLG’s business. Prior to his work at GLG, he held leadership and creative technology roles at media and publishing companies like Conde Nast, iVillage, Zagat Survey, and Time Inc. He graduated from Tufts University. When he’s not at News Deeply’s New York office, he’s probably on a bicycle.

Arindam Biswas

Development Operations

Arindam is a backend developer, startup mentor and serial entrepreneur. He’s also a founder at CollectiveZen, an award-winning technology services and solutions provider with clients in India and North America. He bootstrapped his first startup in 2000 and went on to merge operations with Mixercast, where his roles included product design and management. His passions include the convergence of commoditized infrastructure, multi-gestural interfaces, the emerging ubiquity of the mobile Internet and location-based services. His daily pursuit of happiness ends with a smile when he makes a difference in the lives of the next generation.

Kim Bode

Manager, Community and Product Operations

Kim Bode is the manager of community and product operations at News Deeply, working at the intersection of community and product. Prior to joining News Deeply, she graduated from New York University’s Studio 20 program, which focuses on innovation in journalism, completing a research project with Facebook’s Journalism Partnerships team. Born and raised in Berlin, she came to New York in 2011 as Wall Street correspondent for the Financial Times Deutschland and NZZ am Sonntag, and later also reported for Die Zeit. When she manages to get offline, Kim enjoys a steady yoga practice and contemplating where to travel to next.

Arpiné Grigoryan

Director of Operations

Arpine Grigoryan is a new media professional, project manager and trainer with 15+ years of experience. Arpine is the Director of Operations at News Deeply and is the head of the Yerevan office. Arpine is actively engaged in co-organizing popular TEDx events in Armenia and the biggest Armenian tech conference BarCamp Yerevan for the past 6 years. Prior to joining News Deeply, Arpine acted as the Head of Corporate Affairs and Communications at PanARMENIAN.Net – the first Armenian online media platform. For the past decade, Arpine has led workshops and training sessions for various organizations and provided communication and marketing support for several local startups. Arpine received her Master’s degree in Management Information Systems from the State Engineering University of Armenia and has studied Information Security and Computer Science for her Bachelor’s. Her free time Arpine likes to spend reading and sewing. She has established the “Sewing Club in Armenia” with a few thousand members online.

Laura Mandel

Director, Partnerships & Business Development

Laura is responsible for sales and business development at News Deeply. Prior to joining the team, she worked in syndication and licensing for The New York Times, as well as in fundraising for a social justice philanthropy. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with degrees in History and French and is passionate about human rights, women's rights and foreign languages. Currently based in New York, Laura has lived and worked in both Paris and Jerusalem.

JC Medina

Senior Product Manager

JC is a product manager and digital producer responsible for shipping dozens of software projects since 2001. Prior to joining News Deeply, he was a senior manager at LookSmart Ltd., leading strategic initiatives in adtech, ecommerce, and social media marketing platforms. Before he moved to New York, JC managed the corporate development and mentoring program of G2VC, a venture capital firm based in Manila, Philippines. With years of entrepreneurial and corporate experience, JC has advised a handful of startups on product strategy and customer acquisition. A passionate runner, JC has completed multiple half and full marathons in the past eight years.

Ali Moore

Chief Copy Editor

Ali Moore is the chief copy editor for News Deeply. She has an extensive catalog of experience, spanning a full range of roles, from commissioning editor to project manager, and working with a number of high-profile organizations, including Microsoft, the Consumers’ Association, Reader’s Digest, Time Magazine, the Glasgow Herald, McGraw-Hill, Bertelsmann, Bloomsbury and the Institute of Education, as well as being an occasional seller of vintage clothing. When not at her desk or running a busy household, she enjoys Glasgow’s vibrant music scene.

Tania Karas

Managing Editor, Refugees Deeply

Tania Karas is managing editor of Refugees Deeply. She has reported on refugees and global migration from the US, Turkey, Lebanon, Greece and elsewhere in Europe. She was a 2015-16 Fulbright Fellow in Greece covering the country’s refugee crisis at the time of its financial crisis. Previously, she was a reporter for the New York Law Journal, a small daily newspaper, where she covered New York courts and immigration. She has degrees in journalism and political science from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

Thank You, Deeply