Carla Koppell

Carla Koppell directs The Institute for Inclusive Security and the Washington, DC office of Hunt Alternatives Fund. In that role, she works extensively with women and civil society leaders from conflict areas worldwide including the Middle East, Iraq, Sudan, and Uganda. Carla speaks and writes widely on the contributions of women and civil society to peace building. She has addressed officials from the UN, World Bank, NATO, US State Department, and the US Congress in addition to providing commentary for myriad other research and policy making institutions. Her opinions have been published in such publications as the Christian Science Monitor and the International Herald Tribune.

Previously, Carla was senior adviser and interim director of the Conflict Prevention Project at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, where she authored “Preventing the Next Wave of Conflict: Understanding Non-Traditional Threats to Global Stability.” Ms. Koppell served as deputy assistant secretary for international affairs of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, where she oversaw a portfolio of cooperative programs that included efforts to assist humanitarian aid and reconstruction in Central America, housing reform in China, and post-conflict reconstruction in South Africa. Ms. Koppell also was special assistant to the administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and director of the USAID climate change program. She has worked for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. She received her master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and her bachelor’s degree from Cornell University. Ms. Koppell is married and has three wonderful sons.